News
Local radio statute puts 90FM at risk
The Pointer
jlutz715@uwsp.edu
Students can now start writing to Congressman Dave Obey to keep the campus radio station on air before tuning into their favorite station isn’t an option anymore.95.5 WIFC, out of Wausau, has a post on their Web site that says, “A bill that is currently being discussed, called H.R. 848 has the potential of taking us off the air. This bill would severely impact radio and has the possibility of silencing your favorite radio station.”
If the H.R. 848 bill is passed it will require 90FM and other radio stations to pay a tax just to operate. The bill that has been approved in the past is known as the Local Radio Freedom Act, or H. Con. Res. 49, which lets stations operate tax-free.
“Being a non-commercial radio station, we would have to pay a flat tax of $500, where now we don’t have to pay any,” said Scott Clark, station manager of 90FM.
But commercial stations are getting hit even harder. Stations like WIFC will get taxed a percentage of their commercial profit for the entire year.
“And with the economy, commercial radio stations’ funding is already going down because less companies have the money to advertise,” said Clark.
The number one cause for this is people who download free music. “Artists are getting mad because they are not getting money from songs that people download for free. So, they are putting a tax on radios, but radios are really free advertisement for artists. It’s upsetting that artists are supporting this,” said Clark.
Clark said because this is the number one cause, the mentality of those downloading free music needs to change. People, mostly students, hear a song they like and instead of going to sites like iTunes.com, they search for a place to download it for free.
If illegal downloading continues, congress already has a plan to tax Internet listeners. This would mean radios online would have to pay a fee for every person that listens to their station via the Web.
“I’ll admit, I like getting things for free, but people just need to start paying for their music so this doesn’t happen,” said Clark.
If students want to keep 90FM on the air, they can pay for music downloads and can also contact Dave Obey asking him to say “yes” to the Local Radio Freedom Act and “no” to the H.R. 848.
Students can e-mail Russ Feingold and Herb Kohl, who also have an influence in the outcome of this bill. Neither one of these Wisconsin congressmen have taken a stance on the bill. If H.R. 848 is voted down, radio stations like 90FM can stay on the air.
