Radio Fara Frecventa (Zero Frequency Radio)

Radio Fara Frecventa (Zero Frequency Radio) started on October 3, 2002 with the first experimental transmission made during the Hybrid Broadcasting workshop led by Derek Holzer, who has been active in community and underground radio in North America, and has worked with some of the pioneers of net.radio in Eastern Europe. The inspiration for Radio FF goes back to the 1 watt community radio movement during the 1970s and 1980s, whose unique possibilities for experimentation have been praised by philosophers like Felix Guattari who stressed the radical difference of community radio from conventional mass media. While conventional radio tries to cover as large a service area as possible by conveying information from one to many, both the mini-FM movement and the more recent net.radio phenomenon have been more interested in using radio as a way of making social connections rather than circulating information. Tetsuo Kogawa calls this narrowcasting (rather than broadcasting), and emphasizes the bi-directional, participatory nature of the medium as well as its therapeutic function: “an isolated person who sought companionship through radio happened to hear us and visited the station; a shy person started to speak into the microphone; people who never used to be able to share ideas and values found a place for dialogue.”

Radio Fara Frecventa volunteers were students from journalism, philosophy, literature, cybernetics, as well as musicians and artists. Narrowcasts were simultaneously on air and online, and have included live coverage from underground art and poetry festivals (cenacle KLU), live performances by local musical groups, interviews with international guests, a special feature on the poverty of student life, and occasional utopian stories about the media. Radio FF was a mobile toolbos (1 watt transmitter, home-made antenna, laptop and mobile phone) that changed locations throughout the city - narrowcasts have included a former synagogue, outdoor events and festivals, and the library of the Peace Institute. In 2004 RadioFF found a stable location for transmitting on the internet - it was granted the newly built radio studio at the Students' Cultural Center of Cluj. RadioFF was scheduled to begin a regular net.radio program in October 2004 and was recruiting new volunteers, when it stopped for technical reasons (it was evicted by the Director of the Cultural Center).