Clear Channel Donating Several AM Stations For Diversity Initiative

A day after Obama administration official Susan Crawford said the administration recognized the importance of broadcasting, and in particular radio, to minority audiences, Clear Channel announced that it was donating several AM radio stations to a project that will train future minority and women owners.

In an announcement at the Minority Media & Telecommunications Council (MMTC) access to capital conference in Washington Tuesday, the company said it was donating the stations to MMTC and partnering with it on the MMTC-Clear Channel Ownership Diversity Initiative.

Clear Channel will donate KYHN Fort Smith, AR; WTFX Winchester, VA; KMFX Rochester, MN; and WHJA Laurel, MS, to the project.

The National Association of Broadcasters Education Foundation's Broadcast Leadership Training Program will then team up with MMTC to use the stations as a training facility for future station operators.

Boosting minority ownership and broadcast diversity are among the stated goals of both the Obama administration and its new chairman, Julius Genachowski.

John Eggerton

Contributing editor John Eggerton has been an editor and/or writer on media regulation, legislation and policy for over four decades, including covering the FCC, FTC, Congress, the major media trade associations, and the federal courts. In addition to Multichannel News and Broadcasting + Cable, his work has appeared in Radio World, TV Technology, TV Fax, This Week in Consumer Electronics, Variety and the Encyclopedia Britannica.