AlterNet: Is the Tyranny of Right-Wing Radio Coming to an End?

[marmar]

Is the Tyranny of Right-Wing Radio Coming to an End?

By Rory O'Connor, AlterNet. Posted June 20, 2008.

The notion that the days of right-wing dominance of the airwaves may well be numbered is rapidly becoming a reality.



Conservative fears of an impending Democratic attack on talk radio - dubbed the "Hush Rush" effort in an homage to top-rated radio talker Rush Limbaugh -- continue to escalate, despite ample evidence that such an assault is unlikely to occur when (as is likely) Democrats sweep back into power in the forthcoming elections in November.

As noted recently on the "Focus on the Family action" website citizenlink.com, conservative fears of a supposed return to the Federal Communications Commission's long-defunct Fairness Doctrine remain unabated. In a post entitled "Take Action: Ask Congress to Protect Talk Radio," Managing Editor Jennifer Mesko recently wrote, "Democrats have threatened to reinstate the Fairness Doctrine which would force conservative stations to broadcast liberal viewpoints."

In response, says Mesko, "Radio broadcasters and some members of Congress are calling on Democrats to celebrate July Fourth -- dubbed "Radio Independence Day" -- by pledging to protect the airwaves from censorship."

As previously reported, "Leading hard-right conservatives, led by their talk radio 'shock jock' shock troops, have been worrying aloud about the supposed return of the long-defunct Fairness Doctrine ever since their stunning success last year in defeating bi-partisan immigration reform."

Although most informed observers believe the right's existential angst is unfounded, it is nonetheless real -- and has spurred former broadcaster and current congressman Mike Pence, R-Ind., to introduce the Broadcaster Freedom Act (H.R. 2905), which would prohibit the FCC from reinstating the Fairness Doctrine. "Bringing back the Fairness Doctrine would amount to government control of political views on the commercial and religious airwaves of America, and it must be opposed," Pence told Family News in Focus, while calling on Congress to support the Broadcaster Freedom Act before July Fourth. Shock jock Laura Ingraham joined Pence, saying, "This is nothing more than an attempt to have government regulate one of the most effective forms of political discussion today."

Of course, only a year ago more than three hundred members of Congress -- including 113 Democrats -- supported a moratorium on the Fairness Doctrine!

Meanwhile, other conservatives, such as Jim Boulet Jr., executive director of English First and organizer of the website KeepRushontheAir.com are claiming that the cunning (if Republican-controlled) FCC -- employing a little known tactic Boulet terms "legislation by stealth" -- may instead "reinstate the Fairness Doctrine via something called 'localism.'" ......(more)

The complete piece is at: http://www.alternet.org/mediaculture/88792/

[Bandit]

1. While I despise Rush Limbaugh I don't want to censor him but I would like

If it can be documented he is telling lies then he should be fined and or removed.Documented Lying should not be tolerated. Opinion should be.

[BOSSHOG]

2. You can always count of focus of the family to LIE to its lemmings

"force conservative stations to broadcast liberal viewpoints." NO christian zealot leaders. Isn't lying a commandment you break over and over again? But you know your target audience.

[DailyGrind51]

3. "Christian" Radio believes that a lie in the service of what

they believe is the "greater truth" is not wrong.

[KharmaTrain]

4. DeRegulation Is Killing Hate Radio...

Again...the Fairness Doctrine never applied to the content on talk radio...has no effect on network programming (which Rushbo is) and only applied to public service programs (which most stations aren't required to do anymore) or commercial access...so that one candidate couldn't buy all the airtime or a station could prohibit a candidate they didn't like from buying time...at the lowest station rate.

Hate radio, like radio in general, is in a major depression due to the arrogance and avarice of the large corporates who have monopolized the radio dial and forced these asshats down our throats. They've turned the public airwaves into their own little commodity market where radio station licenses are like pork belly futures...most values in these stations these days are in over-inflated property values rather than on ratings or revenues. Many stations no longer have any local news or even management...little attraction to their communities and are nothing more than relay stations of networks controlled by the large corporates. On the music side, this greed has turned IPODs into where kids turn for music...most reject the commercial pablum forced on listeners by the corporates and now people are turning away from hate radio to other sources (cable, internet, et al) as both radio listening and revenues sink to all-time low levels.

Pence is fighting against the same "marketplace" he claims to be a champion of. This "bill" is wolf in sheeps clothing as it really is an attempt to force stations to keep these hate shows...either from a future format change or from stations going off the air altogether (lots of rumors of that about to happen). But then what else would you expect from the GOOP?

People are turning off the vitriol of hate radio...it's novelty has long worn off and the country has changed...radio hasn't.

[Larkspur]

5. Fairness doctrine, no, busting Media monopoly, yes

We need the part in the 1996 Telecommunications Act that allowed corporations to buy up and consolidate more media outlets to be ended. We need to bust the Media Trusts.