Pete Tridish

Pete Tridish (Pete Tri Dish; Pete TriDish) was "a member of the founding collective of Radio Mutiny, 91.3 FM in Philadelphia In 1996, He was an organizer for the station's demonstrations at Benjamin Franklin's Printing Press and the Liberty Bell; on both occasions the station broadcast in open defiance of the FCCs' unfair rules that prohibit low power community broadcasting. He was the organizer and speaker for the Radio Mutiny tour of 25 cities from January to March of 1998, and undertook another 20-city tour in February 1999 with the Prometheus Radio Project.

"He was an organizer for the first two microradio conferences on the East Coast -- the first in Philadelphia in April 1998, and the second in Washington D.C. in October of the same year. At the October conference, there was also a demonstration at which radio pirates broadcast directly into the FCCs' main office. He actively participated in the rulemaking that led up to the adoption of LPFM. He sat on the committee that sponsored the crucial Broadcast Signal Labs study, which proved to the FCC that LPFM would not cause interference.

"He has spoken at colleges, coffee shops, living rooms, and even the Cato Institute. He has been interviewed for several segments on NPR, a number of college, public and pirate radio stations, CNN, for Maximum Rock and Roll, Radio Ink, Radio and Records, Philadelphia City Paper, Baltimore City Paper, Albany Times Union, Philadelphia Inquirer, Freedom Forum, Chicago Tribune, LA Times, the Nation, Talkers Magazine, Washington Post, Broadcasting and Cable, Radio World, Hollywood Reporter, Z Magazine, Paper Tiger TV and other news outlets.

"He holds a BA in Appropriate Technology from Antioch College."

Source: Prometheus Radio Project.

Laurie Kelliher, Q&A: Pete Tridish of the Prometheus Radio Project, Columbia Journalism Review, September/October 2003:


 * "Pete Tridish first became involved in radio as a pirate broadcaster in 1996. He is now the technical director of the Prometheus Radio Project, a nonprofit organization providing legal, technical, and organizational support to low-power FM stations (see "Low Power, High Intensity" in the September/October 2003 issue). Prometheus has played a significant role in the struggle by community groups to establish low-power radio stations -- a struggle that has involved the FCC, the National Association of Broadcasters, and National Public Radio. It has also been influential in the fight against media consolidation. A recent ruling in its suit, Prometheus Radio Project v. Federal Communications Commission, has prevented the FCC from enacting new rules that would ease long-standing media ownership limits. Prometheus operates with a staff of three out of a church basement in Philadelphia. Their work has been recognized by the Ford Foundation, the List Foundation, the Open Society Institute, and the MacArthur Foundation."


 * 1997: "We all took fake names because we were trying to hide our identities - we didn't want to make it so easy to get hit with a $10,000 fine. My girlfriend at the time was Millie Watt. There was Anne Tennah, and Noah Vale. The one I really liked was Bertha Venus. These sorts of names were common among pirates and I've kept the name ever since."

"Pete Tridish" is Dylan Wyrnn: "Born Dylan Wyrnn 33 years ago in Brooklyn, Pete Tridish first made waves in Philadelphia broadcasting in 1996 as a pirate broadcaster. He ran a low-power, illegal community radio station in West Philadelphia -- until the FCC shut him down." 

"Pete Tridish abandoned his pirate ways and founded Prometheus in 1997 after the FCC shut down his unlicensed station, Radio Mutiny." 

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"Pete Tridish" was scheduled to speak at a March 2003 Act Now to Stop War & End Racism (A.N.S.W.E.R.) rally [in Philadelphia]:


 * "Pete Tridish, Technical Director for Prometheus Radio Project, and a well known DJ for the historic Radio Mutiny Collective, who will talk about Clear Channel Communications"