Here is a rundown of what I do at Prometheus:
I am an intern with the Full-Power Campaign. The FCC has opened a filing window for full-power non-commercial educational radio licenses, and we are helping groups to apply for them by recommending engineers and lawyers, as well as answering general questions. Basically, I talk on the phone to people across the country.
The filing window is from October 12-19th, which is less than a month away. Applying for an FCC license is far from a simple process - these NCE licenses require a great deal of paperwork, access to funds or at least a strong fundraising strategy, and a shit load of conviction, organization, and single-mindedness in terms of working towards this goal. This is not something that is casual, and there is really no way for somebody to start on this now and succeed in getting a license.
Of course, we still have people who call, asking us to tell them how they can get a radio station. And to have to tell somebody, "I'm sorry, but you can't," is really depressing. There is no good reason why they should not be able to have a radio station - the FCC only opens up filing windows like this once every ten or fifteen years, which leads to mad rush. It is not these peoples' fault that they are only hearing about this opportunity now (although it is their fault if they have known about it for a few months and are only now contacting us - shame on them!).
Anyway, it's a total bummer.
Also, there are some days when I only talk to crazy people - today I had a scientologist and a person from PETA. Last week I had the most excruciating phone call with one of the craziest people I have ever had the opportunity to talk to on the phone but that is all too hard to explain on the internet. Lesson: crazy people LOVE radio.
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3 comments:
I take offense to someone from PETA being called crazy!! just kidding. Are you the no person while there is a yes person somewhere? Has the project been successful in helping anyone really be prepared for this filing window?
We have a really good number of applicants who we have really helped through the process and who will probably be successful in their bids at least partially because of our help. My role as the "no" person isn't unique among the interns; it's increased in the past week as we've gotten closer to the filing window and have decided that at this point, we have to turn people away. I also think that, as the newest intern, I have had much less of a chance to develop relationships with strong applicants. That's okay though, I still feel like I'm doing good work in the end. Turning people away isn't the only aspect of my internship, it's just the most depressing!
Only crazy people... like you, right?
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