Allston-Brighton residents may be missing out on a valuable community resource in free radio. According to station administrators, the Allston-Brighton Free Radio station (1670 AM) has been on the air providing residents with a wide variety of news, information and music, and without the support of the community, the station will be unable to continue operating.

Free radio has become a fairly large underground movement throughout the country, with local disc jockeys volunteering their time and efforts to help keep the stations up and running. At Allston-Brighton, DJs pay dues in order to host their shows, according to Seth Albaum, the current program director, training coordinator and webmaster at the station.

Albaum said the DJs drive free radio because they have creative control over all aspects of their shows – the station is not regulated by the Federal Communication Commission.

“The most important difference [between free and commercial radio] is that our DJs are real. They’re from the neighborhood,” Albaum said.

Currently, the Allston-Brighton station faces budget constraints and is under financial pressure to remain on the air, Albaum said. Unlike college stations, he added, community-based free radio does not have the advantage of a university to pick up the tab. Instead, free stations must pay rent, electricity and other bills with limited sources of funding.

Albaum said Allston-Brighton radio is running a membership drive in order to attract new show hosts willing to pay dues. In addition, he said, the station also holds benefit concerts and sells T-shirts and other merchandise.

Free radio offers several resources to the community that commercial radio stations – like those operated by companies such as Clear Channel Entertainment or Infinity Radio – do not, according to Albaum and others in the free radio field. Mitch Perry, assistant news director of WMNF 88.5 FM in Tampa Bay, Fla. said unlike commercial radio, free radio stations have “editorial freedom, with nobody telling us what to do.”

Unlike Allston-Brighton and other free radio stations, however, WMNF follows FCC guidelines. Perry said all stations on the air should follow FCC rules.

96.9 FM Free Radio San Diego, however, does not follow FCC rules, according to their website. Pirate stations, such as Free Radio San Diego, choose not to follow FCC rules that regulate interstate and international communications.

“If the FCC had kept itself to that end alone, we wouldn’t be running and hiding from them,” the San Diego station’s website says. “But along came an agency called the NAB [National Association of Broadcasters].”

The San Diego station website says television and radio media giants “give their money to the NAB,” which then allows the FCC to “act like the NAB’s personal thug squad, acting on behalf of the large corporations exclusively.”

Despite regulations or funding difficulties, free radio has remained on the air throughout the country, offering services to the community that commercial radio may not.

“We are currently talking about doing Chinese language shows, Albaum said. “No other station in Boston currently does that.”

Albaum added that Allston-Brighton Free Radio has already aired multiple shows in foreign languages.

“Allston-Brighton has had programs in several languages, including Haitian-Creole, Portuguese and Spanish,” Albaum said. “These programs often bring different parts of the community together, providing for a very broad and diverse listener base.”

Albaum said Allston-Brighton Free Radio listeners are loyal to the shows.

“People are tuning in for a specific show more than for the station as a whole,” Albaum said. “It creates a rather unique dialogue.”

Perry said volunteers at WMNF contribute enormously to the station because they are eager to voice their opinions to the community.

“Voices from the community are on the air,” Perry said. “All people have access.”

Because free radio relies on the public for funding, Perry stressed that the station must be “responsive to listeners.” In addition, his station strives to include the entire community by having a left-of-center view, unlike the predominantly conservative talk stations.

“There are not a lot of choices on the dial,” Perry said. “There needs to be diversity in content.”

Both Perry and Albaum acknowledged that there is a competition with local NPR stations, especially in regard to news. Yet, because free radio is often smaller, it can focus more on a specific community, creating a strong listener base, they said.

“We have been endorsed by the Boston City Council, which is very symbolic,” Albaum said.

Calls to Clear Channel Entertainment were not returned. A spokeswoman from Infinity Radio declined to comment.