In an era of high-speed internet and streaming video, it can seem a bit antiquated to focus on good ol’ fashioned radio. A new piece over at Pitchfork, however, brings up the good point that in many poor communities broadband internet access is hardly a given. Combine that with serious media consolidation (the number of commercial radio owners has dropped from 5,133 to 3,143 since 1996, a 39 percent decrease) and you have very little room for local, community-focused radio programs.

The solution? It just might be LPFM, short for low-power FM, which broascasts at 100 watts, enough to be heard within a 7-square-mile radius. The idea is that these little radio stations will all be operated by non-profits (churches, city governments, groups of concerned citizens, etc.), a kind of haven away from the corporate conglomerates currently dominating the airwaves. It’s not uncommon to hear the exact same political blowhard or Jack FM playlist in every city in the country, leaving very little room for local commentary. It makes sense; why would a Clear Channel ever want to pay local talent when it can just spend the money for one set of programming and beam that out to its 110 million listeners?

Now, seven miles isn’t exactly a huge area. In rural areas, where LPFM is now mostly concentrated, it doesn’t really add up to a big audience. LPFM has been severely limited in cities thanks to 2000′s Radio Broadcasting Preservation Act, which essentially banned LPFM because the stations would have frequencies too close to those of big, commercial radio stations. This changed with the passing of the Local Community Radio Act of 2010, which is expected to open the floodgates to hundreds of new radio stations. Now those same seven square miles that barely reach anybody in the middle of Kansas can spread almost over the entirety of Manhattan.

While Pitchfork naturally took a look at how this would affect independent music, I don’t think it’s the future of indie rock we should be concerned about. I mean, I love listening to obscure jams on WFMU, but I don’t really think iPod-toting music nerds are the focus of this bill. In the end, it’s going to be programs like Portsmouth Community Radio‘s “Don’t Dis’ My Ability.” Founding member Tim Stone summed up his feelings about the show:

“There was a program they did a few months ago where they interviewed a Vietnam War veteran with post-traumatic stress disorder,” Stone says. “The fellow they were interviewing, who had just learned he had PTSD in the past 10 years, after he tried to commit suicide– he’s being interviewed by, in some cases, these significantly disabled adults that are running this program. And you’re just sitting back there, almost in tears. This is what community radio is about. It’s your democratization of local media. Anybody can walk in the door.”

A lot more valuable to a local community than, say, a zany morning show or yammering shock jock, wouldn’t you say?