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William Seger

(10,742 posts)
Sat Jul 14, 2012, 10:04 AM Jul 2012

White House response to petition to dump Limbaugh from Armed Forces Radio


Rush Limbaugh and Armed Forces Radio

By Bryan G. Whitman, Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Public Affairs for Department of Defense

Thank you for your interest in American Forces Network (AFN) programming for our service members overseas. We appreciate your participation in the "We the People" platform on www.whitehouse.gov and your concerns about the programming available to our troops.

AFN is charged with providing current information and entertainment programming to our Department of Defense audiences overseas, similar to what they could see and hear via the media in the United States. AFN acquires top-rated radio programs, as measured by audience ratings in the United States, and delivers them via satellite to our soldiers, sailors, Marines, and airmen stationed worldwide in 177 countries. AFN does not advertise on, provide any funding for, offer products for sale, or sponsor any of the programs (including the Rush Limbaugh Show) it relays to its audiences.

AFN does not censor content, and we believe it is important that service members have access to a variety of viewpoints.

See the complete list of political talk shows offered on AFN.

Review all of our radio and television services/schedules.

Again, thank you for your interest in our service members and the programming services AFN extends to them.

Tell us what you think about this response and We the People.


You can leave a response whether or not you signed the petition. Here was mine: This petition was NOT because Limbaugh is a rightwinger; it was because his insults of Sandra Fluke were not only misogynistic but also based on blatant lies about her testimony before Congress. You do our armed forces a great disservice by thinking that a "variety of viewpoints" should include such garbage.
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White House response to petition to dump Limbaugh from Armed Forces Radio (Original Post) William Seger Jul 2012 OP
Done, thanks, my response: chknltl Jul 2012 #1
What about faked ratings? PATRICK Jul 2012 #2

chknltl

(10,558 posts)
1. Done, thanks, my response:
Sat Jul 14, 2012, 10:39 AM
Jul 2012

"Our boys and girls suffer too much already in the military. Limbaugh, by his very words condones rape of women by men. Our troops do not need such inspiration. They deserve better, they have earned better. Our leaders should be better than this too. Please remove Mr. Limbaugh."

PATRICK

(12,227 posts)
2. What about faked ratings?
Sat Jul 14, 2012, 11:09 AM
Jul 2012

And offensive, divisive material? How about "decent rah rah propaganda" instead of a partisan political hack?

I am sure there has been research done here to undercut the fundamental argument here about real ratings. Because Clear Channel tells you so? No, it is not market share or cropped access to corporate monopolies but actual individual station performance which I think was stated Big Ed wins hands down.

If you are going to weigh corporate thumbs on the scale as actual representation of anything then you still have to weigh actual audience share and then the silent intangibles like WTH the Armed Forces wants to put between the grunts' ears in the first place, and whteher Rush's real audience represents the military population in macro- or microscosm.

Perpetuating the unwilling spreading of a really inferior product put in for private purposes alone by having it blare through work area media, occupying space to the degree it occupies space in corporate markets(a topdown false impression of "market share" as public choice) is not the function of the military. No matter the argumentative niceties.

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