National Federation of Community Broadcasters

The National Federation of Community Broadcasters (NFCB) is a national membership organization of community-oriented, non-commercial radio stations, media organizations and producers committed to community radio in the United States. History NFCB was founded in 1975, out of meetings that began at the National Alternative Radio Conference that June, held in Madison, Wisconsin. The preceding years had seen an explosion of community radio stations, led largely by Lorenzo Milam, who founded Seattle radio station KRAB in 1963. These new stations included KBOO in Portland, WORT in Wisconsin and KGNU in Colorado, which were founding stations of NFCB. Around Milam's concept of "the right to be heard," community radio stations were established to provide access to the airwaves. Milam would join others in convening the NARC in 1975. In Madison, the 75 Madison conveners held four days of meetings, exploring a variety of issues facing community radio stations and new licensees. A name, the League of Stations, was originally circulated. However, at a follow-up gathering dubbed The Constitutional Convention, held in Columbia, Mo. in August of the same year, attendees settled on Federation of Community Broadcasters, adding "National" in incorporation filings. The Delaware Secretary of State recorded the Articles of Incorporation for the National Federation of Community Broadcasters, Inc., on September 15, 1975. NFCB's first office was in Washington, DC. It shortly thereafter opened an office called the Radio Program Exchange in Champaign, Ill. Due to financial hardships, NFCB leaders Tom Thomas and Terry Clifford left NFCB in 1984, closing one of the organization's most productive periods.