WXDU-FM, licensed in 1983, is the University's nationally recognized, noncommercial FM radio station, operated by student and community volunteers.

Because the program is aired on noncommercial radio, it is forbidden from carrying real advertisements.

Latin alternative music has been gaining exposure on noncommercial radio, on programs like the Los Angeles television show LATV (online at www.latv.com) and on tour.

"The MacNeil/Lehrer NewsHour" has no competition at all, and neither does most of noncommercial radio.

"I'm all for the guidelines of noncommercial radio and television," Mr. Fogarty said.

Jim Hightower, who once had a nationally syndicated three-hour show, is still in the radio business, but as the host of a two-minute commentary segment heard mostly on noncommercial radio.

In a reflection of the fractious, fragmented character of noncommercial radio, each of the small Los Angeles stations under threat is using different strategies to satisfy the new qualifications.

Because only 10 percent of listeners contribute to noncommercial radio, the new rules also force more reliance on corporate support, which some critics believe jeopardizes the independence of broadcasts.

The other was the Pacifica network started by Lewis Hill on KPFA in Berkeley, Calif., which viewed noncommercial radio as a vehicle for political dissidence and participatory democracy.

McChesney suggests that to better our current system we need to "establish a bona fide noncommercial public radio and television system, with local and national stations and networks.