The Technology and Politics of Broadcast Radio

Broadcast Radio

Technology and Politics

Jury awards $16.57 million to radio contestant's survivors. A Sacramento Superior Court jury today awarded the survivors of Jennifer Lea Strange $16,577,118 as a result of her death nearly three years ago in a water-drinking contest conducted by a local radio station.

Digital Killed the Radio Star. Today, the technology to create and compose music has become idiot proof and dirt cheap — the gates have been thrown open, and the hordes have rushed in. As a result, the quantity of music has risen to choke the fiber cables and wi-fi networks encircling the globe, just as the quality has suffered a corresponding and predictable degradation.

KPRC listeners say no to fill-in host after one day. Filling in for conservative talk-show host Michael Berry Tuesday morning, Houston lawyer Geoff Berg was direct with KPRC radio's listeners. "I am a moderate," he announced. "Michael is a right-wing fanatic. We are going to disagree." … The station fired him after "one day of diverse opinion."

Radio Free America: Sen. Dianne Feinstein and the liberal left have a problem with unfettered free speech on talk radio and are calling for government regulation. Is it because in the marketplace of ideas they're bankrupt?

Hispanic Radio Hits Rough Wave. These days the subprime mortgage meltdown has hit many Spanish-language radio stations hard. Real estate companies that targeted the Hispanic community have closed their doors or cut back on advertising and sponsorships.

The Editor says...
I do not feel sorry for people who bought what they could not afford with money they can't pay back.

Liberal Talk Shows Held to Different Standard, Radio Host Says. A popular left-wing talk show host claims liberal radio listeners are being denied the "fair market opportunity" their conservative counterparts receive, but a national media expert countered that the only standards any radio personality must meet are "ratings and revenue."

Radio 'Imbalance' Is In the Talent. Rush Limbaugh, the conservative talk-radio pioneer, has been called many nasty things before, but never a "structural imbalance." That's the fancy term a liberal think tank uses to characterize his success — and to dress up its proposal for counteracting that success through new government regulation.

Man of the Year: Rush Limbaugh. Rush Limbaugh's detractors never learn. They've tried everything to come between Rush and his more than 20 million listeners, intending to destroy his appeal and impact. But it's a hopeless, almost laughable endeavor. They led boycotts against his advertisers — yet his show continues to generate more revenue than any other on radio.

HD Radio Grabs the Ear of Satellite Rivals. Over the past few months, high-definition radio technology, which delivers clearer and crisper sound for over-the-air radio, has made inroads into the new-car market, a major battleground for audio entertainment.

Will Digital Radio Boom in U.S.?. U.S. radio broadcasters are banking on HD Radio — which transmits digital signals over normal AM and FM bands — as a crucial weapon in their battle with satellite broadcasters. But so far the response from listeners has been lukewarm.

[HD Radio, like AM stereo, is like putting a tuxedo on a pig. It's still a pig. Nobody cares about AM radio, except for the 50,000-watt powerhouse stations. The rest of the signals are just clutter. But this introduces another point: AM radio still exists because extremely high sound quality is not that important. How many people can tell the difference between the sound quality of an FM radio versus HD radio in a moving vehicle?]

Judge allows music industry to sue XM Satellite. A judge has ruled that the music industry is free to go ahead with a lawsuit against XM Satellite Radio, the company accused of allowing customers to store songs without paying for them. … The record industry alleged in a civil suit filed in May that XM allows subscribers to listen to, store and replay songs as MP3 files.

800-Lb. Gorilla Slims Down To 750 Pounds. [Clear Channel has] announced plans to sell off 448 of its 1,150 radio stations. The stations now on the block are in 90 markets outside of Arbitron's top 100 metros. Additionally, the San Antonio-based company is selling all 42 of its TV stations, which are located in 24 small and mid-sized markets. Since it took advantage of the 1996 Telecommunications Act to super size its radio holdings, the company has been viewed — rightly or wrongly — as the poster child for all things wrong with the radio business.

Congress Urged to "Clean House" at FCC Over Profanity Ruling. (Editor's Note: The following contains references to language the reader may find offensive.) A pro-family group is calling on Congress to "clean house" at the FCC. The demand follows the FCC's ruling in October that the "f-word" does not violate the commission's obscenity standards.

Omitting Air America: On July 26, bloggers busted open a brand-new talk radio scandal, and the hypocrisy was juicy: The ultraliberal Air America radio network, the folks who would call themselves Compassion for the Poor Radio, had taken $875,000 from a children's charity as a "loan" that it hasn't paid back. An Air America executive that also served as development director for the Gloria Wise Boys and Girls Club of the Bronx made a "diversion" of funds for the struggling leftists.

Radio host urges poor to loot. In a broadcast yesterday [9/2/2005], Air America radio talk radio host Randi Rhodes repeatedly urged listeners in the hurricane-devastated Gulf Coast to go out and loot, insisting the poor should be allowed to steal goods at will.

Editor's Note: If the FCC deserves its continued existence, the radio stations carrying that message should have their licenses challenged at renewal time. Radio stations exist, according to the Communications Act of 1934 as amended, to serve the "public interest, convenience and necessity," and statements of this sort, inciting an already lawless crowd to further violent felonies, are well outside the envelope of protected free speech.

Update:
Air America to Cease Broadcasting Immediately. Air America, the progressive talk radio network, said Thursday [1/21/2010] that it would cease broadcasting immediately, bowing to what it called a "very difficult economic environment."

The Editor says...
Rush Limbaugh doesn't seem to be having trouble with a "very difficult economic environment."

FNC Keeps Rising, Air America Crashes. On the same day Neilsen reported competition-dwarfing numbers for Fox News's coverage of the special election in Massachusetts on Tuesday night [1/19/2010], Air America radio declared bankruptcy and will cease live broadcasts immediately.

The Broadcast Flag comes to radio...
Digital Radio Flag Archive. Radio broadcasters have begun rolling out a new digital radio technology, known as "HD Radio," which piggybacks digital signals onto traditional analog FM and AM frequencies. … The recording industry sees the introduction of this new radio technology as an opportunity to renew their decades long effort to take away your right to make personal recordings off the air. … Led by the RIAA, the recording industry is particularly eager to make sure that there will never be a TiVo-like recorder for radio.

The $50 Billion New Socialist Media. Robert W. McChesney, the socialist professor whose Free Press organization is leading the charge for the $50 billion transformation of the media, hosts a one-sided, tax-supported radio program sponsored by the University of Illinois that could serve as a model for the "New Public Media" the group has envisioned for America. As Accuracy in Media was the first to disclose, McChesney recently introduced Obama's anti-American pastor Jeremiah Wright at a celebration of the socialist publication Monthly Review. Wright praised Marxism and called America "land of the greed and home of the slave."

Did someone mention the "Reverend" Jeremiah Wright?

Galveston radio station leases airtime to Chinese. Unable to dial in enough financial support from advertisers, owners of KGBC radio have leased all the station's airtime to one of China's state-owned media companies, ending a yearlong effort at local programming. The sudden format switch killed local shows and surprised and disappointed loyal listeners and a few advertisers.

The Editor says...
Personally, if I owned a money-losing radio station, I would shut the station down and sell its remains before I'd sell air time to Chinese commies. But here's the good news: The commies are wasting their money and don't even know it. Keep reading.

Tune in to Chinese station, but not in Houston. China Radio International bought "a pig in a poke" when it leased a Galveston radio station in January that network officials mistakenly believed broadcast to the Houston market, according to a former China Radio International employee. "It was the dumbest thing they could have ever done," said Mark Shorey, a consultant at CRI headquarters in Beijing before his resignation last month. "CRI believes that they are broadcasting in Houston and continue to announce this fact on the air and on their Web site."

How Taxpayer-Funded Broadcasting Is "Surging" Left Under Democrats. The Democratic takeover of Congress in 2007 quickly made one definitive change in the national media infrastructure. ... In previous years with Democratic control of Congress, PBS has played a more activist role within the media, dragging the rest of the national media further to the left and spurring more aggression and ill will against conservative and Republican leaders. Just as 2007 has been a year for a "surge" of troops in Iraq, it's also been a year of "surging" activism within PBS.

FCC Chair Cites 'Spectrum Crisis'. Addressing "America's Mobile Broadband Future" Wednesday, FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski said there is a "looming spectrum crisis' and he then went on to offer some solutions to the crisis. Speaking at a telecommunications industry meeting in San Diego, Genachowski underscored the growing spectrum crunch by noting that in recent years the FCC has authorized a three-fold increase in commercial spectrum while many observers have anticipated a thirty-fold jump in wireless traffic.

The Editor says...
There is no "Spectrum Crisis." Earlier this year, hundreds of analog TV stations (occupying six megahertz of bandwidth each) went off the air. If that didn't open up a bunch of VHF and UHF spectrum space, what purpose did it serve?

Leftist Church Leaders vs. Free Speech. The war on conservative speech has moved from the White House to your neighborhood pews. Left-wing church leaders want the Federal Communications Commission to crack down on "hate speech" over cable TV and right-leaning talk-radio airwaves. President Obama's speech-stifling bureaucrats seem all too happy to oblige.

The Fairness Doctrine

The remainder of this page is devoted to the subtopic of the so-called Fairness Doctrine, and since there is so much to be said about it, this section may soon spin off to a page of its own.

Fairness Down Your Throat. Those old enough will remember how afternoon sitcom reruns were regularly interrupted by some little old lady or wild-eyed activist being given several minutes of "equal time." The mind-numbing interludes were how TV and radio complied with that erstwhile Federal Communications Commission (FCC) regulation requiring "balance" on the airwaves.

Fairness Doctrine hammered 309-115. The House voted overwhelmingly Thursday [6/28/2007] to prohibit the Federal Communications Commission from using taxpayer dollars to impose the Fairness Doctrine on broadcasters who feature conservative radio hosts such as Rush Limbaugh and Sean Hannity. By a vote of 309-115, lawmakers amended the Financial Services and General Government appropriations bill to bar the FCC from requiring broadcasters to balance conservative content with liberal programming such as Air America.

Lawmakers Reject Fairness Doctrine. Abandoned some 20 years ago, the "Fairness Doctrine" — requiring public and privately owned broadcasters to provide airtime to opposing political and social viewpoints — briefly reared its head again on Capitol Hill in May and June. The flap erupted when leading congressional Democrats suggested the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) could bring back the disputed policy. Republicans, with substantial bipartisan backing, trounced the idea in a relatively easy legislative maneuver.

Radio Free America: By just about any measure, the Fairness Doctrine was an unfair impediment to free speech, and a public disservice in an open democracy. But it was something else as well: It was a federal regulation that had kept Rush Limbaugh — and Laura Ingraham and William Bennett and Sean Hannity and others — off the air. That is why Democrats have been seeking (in Dick Durbin's word) to "reinstitute" the Fairness Doctrine: It would require any station that carries Limbaugh to offer equal time to his critics.

Let the Fairness Doctrine rest in peace. The FCC reasoned in 1987, when it closed the book on this doctrine, that with the emergence of cable to compete with broadcast, media markets had become sufficiently competitive to preclude government policing. If true 20 years ago, how much more so now.

Get your hands off our talk radio. Why do liberals like Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., keep trying to tell the rest of us what political opinions we must listen to in the media? Feinstein says she is "looking at" reviving the Fairness Doctrine to counteract the decidedly conservative bent of talk radio. Former President Reagan and a Democratic Congress repealed the Fairness Doctrine in 1987.

Too Little Too Late On Fairness Doctrine? FCC chairman Kevin Martin, a Bush appointee, doesn't seem too concerned. In a recent interview with John Eggerton of Broadcasting & Cable magazine, Martin was asked about "talk of trying to re-institute the FCC's Fairness Doctrine" and whether he would support that. His reply was, "No. The commission eliminated the doctrine in 1987. Doing so has made for a lot of opportunities in things like talk radio." That was it. Martin decided not to challenge any of the Democratic proposals to reinstate the Fairness Doctrine or to make a strong statement in favor of the First Amendment.

What's Fair About the Fairness Doctrine? Lately, I've been hearing rumors that prominent liberal politicians, the very same people who are always proclaiming themselves passionate advocates for free speech, are looking into ways to muzzle conservative radio talk show hosts.

The (Un)Fairness Doctrine: Who should decide what you hear over the radio and on TV? You? Or policymakers in Washington? If freedom of speech appeals to you — if you think we need robust debate to keep democracy alive and well — the answer should be clear. Unfortunately, it's not so clear to certain liberal lawmakers.

The "No Fairness Left" Doctrine: Could the Left be any clearer about its intensions? … Since the Left can't compete in the marketplace of ideas, it wants to shut it down. The aborted push to revive the misnamed Fairness Doctrine, and apply it to talk radio, is but the latest example of liberalism's drive to gag the opposition.

Turning The Dial: Ever since the repeal of the Fairness Doctrine in 1987, liberals have been trying to figure out a way to eliminate conservative talk radio. It appears that in Boston, Mass., they've actually managed to do it.

Dems Exploit Coulter in Fairness Doctrine Push. The disarray in the Republican Party can be seen in the belated response to Democratic proposals to reinstate the federal Fairness Doctrine.

Unfairness Doctrine: Sen. Diane Feinstein (D-Ca) said on Sunday that she thought it would be a good idea if the Congress would pass a law bringing back what used to be known as "The Fairness Doctrine." It is a perfectly horrid idea.

The Effort to Reimpose the So-Called Fairness Doctrine Grows. As those of us who grew up in the days of transistor radio and black and white television might recall, the FCC required all radio and television stations to devote a certain percentage of airtime to public information and political issues. In 1949, this in turn led the FCC to institute the so-called "Fairness Doctrine," an uncodified regulation based on the principle that the American people were entitled to all sides of controversial political issues on publicly owned airwaves.

Fairness' Doctrine — Round Two. Netroots activists intend to engage in a campaign of harassment aimed at crippling the business end of any media outlet they view as the enemy. Fox News may be first, but talk radio, the Wall Street Journal editorial pages and the Internet will be next. The liberal netroots are not interested in contributing to public discourse. They want to wipe out the competition and silence those voices that do not support their agenda.

Democrats' New 'Fairness' Push May Silence Conservative Radio Hosts, Critics Say. Democrats in Congress are pushing for legislation that they say would bring more balance to the media, but critics say would muzzle conservative voices. The Fairness Doctrine, a federal regulation requiring broadcasters to present both sides of a controversial issue, was enforced by the Federal Communications Commission from 1949 to 1987, when it was dropped during the Reagan administration.

The Liberal Attack on Freedom of Speech: Did you know that the same liberal group that helped to get Don Imus fired for his offensive "ho" remark tried to get Rush Limbaugh censored from the Armed Forces Network? Or that this group, Media Matters, which reportedly is backed by anti-American financier George Soros, has declared war on conservative talk radio? Imus, who is not a conservative, was merely the test case.

Hillary's Lap Dogs: When Don Imus was fired … a great deal of attention was focused, appropriately, on the influence of Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton, each of whom expressed outrage over the broadcaster's racial insensitivity and demanded that he be fired. The real guiding hand over Imus' downfall, however, belonged neither to Sharpton nor Jackson, but to Hillary Rodham Clinton.

The Un-Fairness Doctrine: Unevening the Playing Field, by Law. Beware of liberals using such words as "fairness." In resurrecting the "Fairness Doctrine," liberals are trying to kill conservative talk radio and restore their media monopoly. Period. The doctrine would selectively stifle free political discourse, which is essential for our representative government. The Fairness Doctrine, an FCC regulation in force from 1949 to 1987, required broadcasters to present "both sides" of controversial issues. During that time, liberals had a virtual monopoly on the media.

All's Fair in Love and Talk Radio. Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., caused a stir recently when she criticized talk radio for its role in stopping the recent immigration bill. Talk radio, she lectured, "pushes people to … extreme views without a lot of information." Feinstein then went on to suggest that it might be time to bring back the "Fairness Doctrine, repealed in 1987, that mandated private radio stations devote time to all points of view during discussion of controversial topics.

How the Left Intimidates the Media. Environmentalist Robert F. Kennedy Jr. was recently paid $20,000 by Virginia Tech to tell the students that there aren't two sides to the global warming debate and that the problem with the media today is that we don't have a fairness doctrine. Those positions, which sound contradictory, betray the modern liberal agenda. They want to bring back the fairness doctrine not to ensure true fairness and balance in journalism but to intimidate and censor those expressing a view contrary to their own.

Old media unrepentant on damaging disclosures. Every time the Old Media are criticized, they trot out the First Amendment, as if they are its exclusive guardians. Heaven help us if that's the case. For it's not the First Amendment they worship, but their self-anointed stewardship of it. Why else would they so adamantly favor suppression of political speech for all but themselves during the 60 days preceding elections? Why else would many of them favor the "Fairness Doctrine" to squelch their successful conservative competitors on radio? Why else would they defend draconian campus speech codes?

The Next Conservatism: The other side has no compunction about using state power in all its hideous fullness to ram its ideology down our throats. For example, leftists now want to restore the so-called "fairness doctrine," which if implemented would destroy talk radio.

The Plan to Silence Conservatives: Media reform sounds like a good cause. But the gathering here of more than 2,000 activists turned out to be an effort to push the Democratic Party further to the left and get more "progressive" voices in the media, while proposing to use the power of the federal government to silence conservatives. In short, triumphant liberals now want to consolidate and expand their power. Several speakers, including Senator Bernie Sanders and Rep. Maurice Hinchey, declared that they think Congress should use a new federal "fairness doctrine" to target conservative speech on television and radio.

Government regulation syndrome: Liberals want to resurrect the Federal Communications Commission's Fairness Doctrine, a tenet created to ensure fair and balanced coverage of controversial issues, so that they can regulate talk radio and require "equal time" be given to opposing political views. Liberals don't like talk radio's mostly conservative content.

Talk radio 'dominated' by right. A report from a liberal think tank yesterday criticized the "right-wing domination of talk radio," saying the current landscape does not serve all Americans.

Liberals hate it when their propaganda supply exceeds demand.
Right's Reign on Talk Radio Called 'Structural Imbalance'. Charging that "right-wing talk reigns supreme on America's airwaves," two liberal groups on Thursday called for increased government regulation and greater diversity of commercial radio station owners to "close the gap" between the amount of conservative and "progressive" talk.

The Editor says...
If the proverbial shoe were on the other foot, such a move would be called government censorship.

Are Politicians Targeting The Correct Medium? The Democrats now seem to control and have access to all TV networks except one, and to liberal blogs and internet sites like www.MoveOn.org. They also seem to have the complete editorial support of almost all newspapers in the nation, especially large metropolitan ones, such as The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Chicago Tribune, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, The San Francisco Chronicle and The Los Angeles Times. We must also remember the fact that the Fairness Doctrine originally was added by the FCC when cities were limited to only one TV station owner per locale.

The "Fairness Doctrine" Power Grab. Empires of oppression and intimidation, built upon real threats and empty promises, simply cannot endure the scrutiny of an informed public. Thus, the only means by which they can hope to preserve their hold on power is to maintain a monopoly of information.

The Fairness Doctrine Is Not Dead. A blogger called the 309-115 vote against federal funding of the Fairness Doctrine a "historic vote for freedom of speech." A columnist called it "A big victory for radio broadcast freedom." But it was nothing of the sort. Even if the amendment from Rep. Mike Pence were to pass the Senate, it would do absolutely nothing to stop a Democratic president and Congress from reinstating the Fairness Doctrine. It was a political maneuver that has confused many people.

Liberals try to get a mouthhold on Rush. Imagine Rush Limbaugh ordered to give Michael Moore a say on his radio show. Or Air America required to broadcast Ann Coulter's take on the news. Broadcasters were forced to offer opposing views on political issues until 1987, when federal regulators dropped a rule called the Fairness Doctrine.

Beyond the Fairness Doctrine: Talk of re-imposing the requirement by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) that broadcasters air opposing views on controversial topics sparked an intense and highly publicized debate this summer. Almost lost in the "fairness" furor, however, has been a second, but no less intense, radio industry battle over the merger of satellite radio providers XM and Sirius.

They can't be Sirius!
Three months after merger, Sirius XM struggles. Barely three months after the long-delayed merger of satellite radio companies Sirius and XM, the newly combined Sirius XM Radio is struggling to stay afloat. The company has just another three months to start paying down more than $1 billion in debt that's maturing in 2009 at a time when credit markets are freezing up.

Sirius XM at 17 cents — look out below. "Brother, can you spare a dime?" During the Great Depression, ten cents could buy a little something for those really hard up. During this financial crisis, ask for two dimes, and you can get a share of Sirius XM. That's right, the stock of the much-ballyhooed satellite-radio merger has plunged more than 90% this year and was trading recently at just 17 cents.

Update:
Sirius XM sticks it to subscribers. How's the Sirius XM satellite radio monopoly working out for subscribers? Not so well. Now that Sirius XM is the only game in town, it's nudging up fees for subscribers.

The MoveOn-dot-Democrats: [Senator Jeff] Sessions said, "There's no doubt that the Democrats have liked the favored position they've had for decades with the mainstream media. It's very painful for them to have alternative voices out there like talk radio. These attacks on Rush [Limbaugh] could be part of a long-term plan the Dems have to revive the Fairness Doctrine." Republicans such as DeMint, Cornyn and Sessions stand in their way.

Attacking Talk Radio: Over the span of some 20 years, Rush [Limbaugh] has been attacked from just about every leftist corner, as would anyone who tirelessly espoused the founding principles of our nation — private property, rule of law and limited government. What has made Rush so effective with this message has been his ability to put things, and ask questions, in a manner that the average citizen can understand and relate to, and do so with a bit of humor. Humor creates madness among leftists who want their interventionist agenda taken seriously.

The Left's Gag Rule: A Democratic Congress voted to turn [the Fairness Doctrine] into law in 1987, but Ronald Reagan vetoed the bill and the rule was scrapped. In the bloom of freedom, conservative talk radio has dominated. Which is why Democrats want to revive the Fairness Doctrine.

The Plan To Rein In Free Speech: A manufactured flap over Rush Limbaugh has stirred talk of new "fairness doctrine" hearings in Congress. That's just what Media Matters, the flacks behind it, were after. Their agenda is worse than it looks.

'Fairness' Is Foul. It wasn't that hard for Indiana's Rep. Mike Pence to build media and congressional support for his Free Flow of Information Act, which would protect the confidentiality of contacts between reporters and sources. It passed the House this month by an overwhelming vote of 398-21. His next battle will be a lot harder — to permanently ban the Fairness Doctrine, the regulation many liberals are now actively trying to revive in an effort to silence their critics.

Hillary's Campaign To Turn Off Talk Radio: The Fairness Doctrine is that outmoded, likely unconstitutional regulation requiring balance on the air. But since newscasts are excluded, the Doctrine made it possible for ABC, CBS and NBC — and especially the left-leaning Public Broadcasting System — to be as liberal as they wanted. But talk radio was stifled. During the Reagan era, the country had about 125 talk stations. Since the demise of the Doctrine we have more than 2,000 of them with hosts espousing every conceivable opinion that free speech can muster. It's just that most of those opinions are from the Right, and that drives Mrs. Clinton and the Democrats nuts.

Bush: 'Fairness Doctrine' unfair. In Nashville today [3/11/2008], during a speech to the National Religious Broadcasters Convention, President Bush said there's nothing fair about the so-called "Fairness Doctrine" that once required broadcasters to offer air time for competing ideologies. The FCC got rid of it about 20 years ago. Now, some Democrats in Congress — long the target of popular conservative radio talk-show hosts — think it's time to bring it back.

Conservatives Rally to Defeat the Fairness Doctrine. Several high-profile conservatives gathered on Capitol Hill to rally support for the Broadcaster Freedom Act, a measure to block the government from any future attempts to chill political speech on the airwaves. Specifically, the legislation would kill the Fairness Doctrine, an old Federal Communications Commission policy to require broadcasters must provide equal time to both sides of a debate. Although abolished in 1987, several congressional Democrats have recently expressed interest in renewing the Fairness Doctrine.

The tyranny of "cultural diversity": Thanks to a little-noticed item in the Federal Register, the Federal Communications Commission may soon be handed the power to drive Rush Limbaugh off the air. There are liberals obsessed with "balancing" Limbaugh, Sean Hannity, Hugh Hewitt, Mark Levin, and the rest of conservative talk radio, even though plenty of other outlets — the Washington Post, the New York Times, USA Today, ABC, CBS, NBC, CNN, MSNBC, PBS, and National Public Radio — constantly flog the liberal agenda.

Unfairness Doctrine. Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes famously wrote that the best test of truth "is the power of the thought to get itself accepted in the competition of the market..." But today many are turning away from this theory, calling for greater government intervention in media ownership over the perceived lack of fairness in the press.

The Fairness Doctrine at Work: The Fairness Doctrine was originally intended to encourage a public dialogue on controversial issues by ensuring that both sides of a topic were aired. As a former radio and TV journalist, I can assure you that the opposite was true. Station owners were afraid that their licenses would be yanked if there was the slightest possibility that they could be accused of violating the doctrine; it was far safer to simply avoid controversial matters. That, and its questionable constitutionality, caused the Reagan-era F.C.C. to repeal the Fairness Doctrine.

Affirmative action gone mad: Here in the land of the free and the brave, some liberals are looking more like cowards not much interested in real freedom. They have basically conceded that their ideas are on the losing side in the free market of ideas. Why else would some Democrats — and their think tank boosters — be calling, once again, for laws that mandate equal time on the airwaves for left-wing voices and right wing voices? That sounds like manipulating the free market of ideas, using laws to make sure people hear progressive views even if people don't want to hear them.

Fairness Despotism: Forty years ago, Walter Cronkite could declare on the evening news that the Vietnam War was lost, and that's the way it was. Do Americans want to return to those days by reviving the so-called Fairness Doctrine? Think of it in terms of consumer choice. You're on vacation, and you take your family into the $10.95 all-you-can-eat buffet. How would you like it if, when you walk up to fill your plate with lobster and ribs, you find the government has made the restaurant replace those with liver and brussels sprouts?

Time to Bury the Fairness Doctrine Once and For All. Now that the Democrats have control of Congress, their leaders are openly championing the return of the Fairness Doctrine. If they can't beat conservative ideas in the radio marketplace, they might as well stifle them through government fiat. Make no mistake: a return of the Fairness Doctrine would end talk radio as we know it, for religious broadcasters, the right, the left, and everywhere in between. And that's just what the left wants. Democratic leaders have not been shy about their desire to stifle free speech on the airwaves.

Stealing Freedom: Democrat 'Media Reform'. The usual suspects will be doing the dirty work. Congresswoman Louise Slaughter (D-NY) or Congressman Maurice Hinchey (D-NY) will likely resurrect the failed Media Act (Meaningful Expression of Democracy in America Act) intended to make political commentary unflattering to Democrats more difficult to deliver and easier to suppress through congressional oversight and, of course, litigation. They have been trying for years.

The 'Fairness Doctrine' and Multiculturalism's Monoculture: Liberals are chafing at the bit, waiting for regime change in Washington to give them the ability to reinstate the "fairness doctrine;" a regulation which requires talk radio stations to devote equal programming hours to both liberal and conservative formats. All it would take is a Democrat president and a couple of appointments to the Federal Communications Commission to accomplish it. Of course the use of the word "fairness" in relation to this "doctrine" is an awful abuse of our language.

There Should Be No Fairness-Doctrine Secret Agenda. Off the record the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) says that it has no plans to reinstate the Fairness Doctrine. Nevertheless, earlier this month in a public letter to FCC Chairman Kevin J. Martin, House Minority Leader John Boehner (R-OH) charged that the doctrine was going to be re-imposed secretly upon broadcast media.

Opposing the Fairness Doctrine with a Real Fairness Doctrine: When outlets like talk radio are successfully attacked, the tools to end the encroaching tyranny upon free dialogue, independent thought and the right to be contrarian will be distracted and weakened. That is the goal. … When the scattered voices of dissent are cowed or crushed, then minds which do not know they live in prisons will find escape and freedom harder and harder, until it is impossible. That is the grim lesson of George Orwell, whose dystopian fantasy, 1984, seems less fanciful each year.

Pelosi Supports Return of Fairness Doctrine. Talk radio's suspicions of a movement to reinstate the Fairness Doctrine were confirmed by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) on Tuesday June 24 during her comments at a Christian Science Monitor breakfast. When John Gizzi, an editor for Human Events asked Speaker Pelosi whether she favored a return of the Fairness Doctrine, she told him an unhesitating "yes," reports Gizzi.

The Democrats' Fairness Doctrine Dilemma: Congressional Democrats remain silent, acquiescing in Speaker Nancy Pelosi's determination to prevent legislation to block the reimposition of the so-called Fairness Doctrine. For all their prattling about protecting civil liberties, none of them — not a single one — has so far signed the discharge petition to allow the Broadcasters' Freedom Act to be wrested from Pelosi's grip to protect our freedom of speech.

Will Democrats hush Rush? The doctrine was withdrawn in 1987 under President Reagan's sweeping deregulation program, and the FCC has not sought to enforce it since then. With the 2008 election fast approaching, however, conservative pundits and politicians worry a Democratic victory could mean the demise of talk radio's conservative stars like Rush Limbaugh and Sean Hannity. "All it takes is one appointment to the FCC of someone who would want to bring this back and there you go," said Matt Lloyd, spokesman for Rep. Mike Pence, R-Ind., a former talk radio host who is leading the legislative crusade against the return of the doctrine.

The Fairness Doctrine: An Archaic Policy That Violates the First Amendment. It is abundantly clear that, if the Fairness Doctrine were reimposed today, it would have the same chilling effect on broadcast television and radio programming that it previously had. The Fairness Doctrine is disturbingly reminiscent of George Orwell's classic 1984 in which "Big Brother" was always watching and listening to ensure that no one dared to question the government. The Fairness Doctrine is nothing more than a thinly-veiled attempt by some members of Congress to silence those who disagree with them, particularly conservative talk radio show hosts. As one Congressman recently observed, "attempts to restore the Fairness Doctrine are based in attempts to reduce public speech, not enhance it."

The Never-Ending Quest to "Hush Rush". It takes some big numbers to measure Rush Limbaugh's success — 20 million listeners, a $400 million contract. But the best index of Limbaugh's effectiveness can be found in a much smaller figure, somewhere between a few dozen and a few hundred, which is the number of Democratic-party officials and liberal advocates who want to use the law to shut him up.

FCC Commissioner: Return of Fairness Doctrine Could Control Web Content. There's a huge concern among conservative talk radio hosts that reinstatement of the Fairness Doctrine would all-but destroy the industry due to equal time constraints. But speech limits might not stop at radio. They could even be extended to include the Internet and "government dictating content policy."

The Real Threat of Censorship: Since losing power in 1994, the Left has been making ugly noises about what would happen when it regained power. The "fairness doctrine" has been bandied about, but that is not what should alarm us most. The rise of this Frankenstein is specifically directed at conservative talk radio. In other words, the Left does not believe or does not care about the Leftist unfairness of every other medium in our nation: NPR, PBS, television news, television entertainment, public schools, academia, and library systems.

If you are a fan of talk radio, electing Democrats is a bad idea this November. There is a real possibility that if Democrats obtain firm control of all three branches of government after this November's election, the 'fairness doctrine' will be enacted, and talk radio will be inexorably altered. Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi, US Senate majority leader and Harry Reid (D) Nevada have strongly indicated that they would support legislation to bring back the 'fairness doctrine'.

Obama's Publicists: Should Obama be elected and the Democrats gain large majorities in both congressional chambers, we expect the Fairness Doctrine, scrapped in 1987, to be resurrected. To paraphrase a note from one of our contributors: Who knew the Democrats were closet totalitarians? We'll all know, however, when constitutionally guaranteed free speech is snuffed out.

Beyond the Fairness Doctrine. First the good news: The fairness doctrine is still dead, and it probably will stay dead even if Barack Obama becomes president. ... Now the bad news. There's a host of other broadcast regulations that Obama has not foresworn. In the worst-case scenario, they suggest a world where the FCC creates intrusive new rules by fiat, meddles more with the content of stations' programs, and uses the pending extensions of broadband access as an opportunity to put its paws on the Internet.

Censoring Conservative Radio. It seems plausible, even fair, that people should be afforded an opportunity to receive communication about both (or several) sides of controversial issues. No one contends with the right of people to propound any side of any issue. That's the First Amendment. The rub comes when government, in the name of fairness, tries to force some providers of information to present "balanced" views.

Who Defines 'Fair and Balanced,' Sen. Schumer? Question for Chuck Schumer: Who appointed you — or anybody else in government for that matter to decide what qualifies as "fair and balanced" political news and commentary on radio and television? ... Democrats like Schumer and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-CA, have been talking up bringing back the Fairness Doctrine because they hope to use it to stifle conservative dissent, particularly that which is heard daily from the likes of Rush Limbaugh and Examiner columnist Michael Reagan on Talk Radio.

Liberal Censorship and Its Roots: Democrats fully intend to reinstitute the Fairness Doctrine, a euphemistically named regulation aimed at shutting down conservative talk radio, which Sen. Chuck Schumer has compared to pornography. Remember that conservatives have never advocated government action to suppress or censor the liberal media monopoly, which has existed for decades and still dominates mainstream media today. Their answer was the alternative media.

The Porno-fication of Rush Limbaugh. Limbaugh's very existence is an insult to the Left. They'll never admit that. Instead, they'll take the low road, comparing him to pornography or pointing out how unpatriotic he is. I vaguely remember Democrat complaints against President Bush, wherein they accused him of falsely accusing them of being unpatriotic. They cried foul over the fact that anyone would dare question someone else's patriotism and hurled words like "fascism" and "dictator" at Bush and the Republican Party for doing it.

Broadcast Blackout of Left's 'Fairness' Doctrine Push. Barack Obama's transition team has tapped former FCC Commissioner Henry Rivera, a longtime proponent of the so-called "Fairness Doctrine," to head the team looking for the man or woman who will soon give Democrats a 3-to-2 advantage on the Federal Communications Commission. It's another troubling sign that Democrats are serious about trying to reinstate the long-defunct FCC regulation, which can more aptly be described as the "Censorship Doctrine" because of its chilling effect on free speech.

The Unfairness Doctrine. Broadcasters should act before they're forced to react if Congress brings the so-called Fairness Doctrine back from the dead. The Fairness Doctrine, which should be called The Gag Rule, will effectively silence talk shows on broadcast stations and the millions of Americans who tune in and talk about what was talked about.

Another Assault on Freedom of the Airwaves. As free speech advocates gear up to oppose revival of the so-called "Fairness Doctrine," another Orwellian-named government effort to dictate the content of radio and TV news and opinion has been hatched by the Bush administration's Federal Communications Commission (FCC). So far, there's been much less focus on the "localism rule" — even though it would have a similar chilling effect on First Amendment rights.

Talk jocks cry foul over Fairness. An FCC commissioner visiting the Hub this week didn't rule out the possibility of a return of the Fairness Doctrine — a scourge on conservative talk jocks — under the Obama administration. "There has been a lot of talk on Capitol Hill about bringing it back, maybe with a different name, but bringing the idea back," Robert McDowell of the Federal Communications Commision told the Herald. "I would say stay tuned and see how the next year or two pan out."

The Emerging Threat to Conservative Talk Radio. Despite President-elect Obama's claim that he will not seek a new "Fairness Doctrine" to silence conservative voices in the media, commentators are bracing for a battle over their free speech rights under the First Amendment. Indeed, the battle is already underway and the enemies of free speech have made it clear that their censorship campaign will initially be based on claims that conservatives do not reflect "local" and "diverse" viewpoints. The so-called Fairness Doctrine may come later.

The Obama Fairness Doctrine: Just three days after the election, a Brookings Institution leader issued a memo to President-elect Barack Obama asking him to restore the Fairness Doctrine. The Vice-president of Governance Studies at Brookings, Darrell West argues that the Fairness Doctrine would help restore journalistic ethics and fulfill the media's mission to educate the populace.

Obama Declares War on Conservative Talk Radio. The late community organizer Saul Alinsky taught his followers to strike hard from an unexpected direction, an approach known as Alinsky jujitsu. Obama himself not only worked as an organizer for an Alinsky offshoot organization, Chicago's Developing Communities Project, but would go on to teach classes in Alinsky's beliefs and methods. "Alinsky jujitsu" as applied to conservative talk radio means using vague rules already on the books to threaten any station which dares to air conservative programs with the loss of its valuable broadcast license.

When 'fairness' means 'censorship': George Orwell prophetically warned of a time when, due to the need of government for total control of the lives of citizens, the very meaning of words would change. "Peace" might mean "war." "Freedom" might mean "slavery." The supreme dictator was known as "Big Brother." That was Newspeak in the classic novel "1984." But, in 2009, Americans will witness firsthand a nonfiction form of Newspeak. That's when, for the first time, Congress will approve and the president will sign a piece of legislation called "the Fairness Doctrine." In a right-thinking free society, this law would more accurately be called "the Censorship Doctrine."

Beware of the 'Fairness Doctrine'. Incredible as it may sound in retrospect, there actually was a so-called "Fairness Doctrine" in force in the United States from 1949 to 1987. Its ostensible purpose was to compel radio and TV stations to broadcast statements of opinion that "balanced" those being expressed voluntarily. Since a substantial majority of the statements being broadcast voluntarily were more or less conservative, the effect was to force broadcasters to air comparable programs expressing liberal sentiments. If that strikes you as a violation of the First Amendment, go to the head of the class.

Liberals, too, should reject the Fairness Doctrine. Liberals aren't clamoring for a voice on radio — they're staking out territory on the Internet, which they've effectively used not only to air grievances and ideas but to organize political action. More important, though, the Fairness Doctrine did more to help develop conservative talk radio while in effect than it has in the 20 years since its revocation.

Free Speech Alliance Fights Return of the Censorship Doctrine. Liberals — now controlling both the White House and Congress — are ready to revive the so-called "Fairness" Doctrine to destroy conservative talk radio. The Media Research Center has formed a new "Free Speech Alliance" to defend conservatives' most effective political weapon against the return of what should be called the "Censorship Doctrine." The GOP is nearly leaderless, self-shredded by its steady diet of "Me Too" bipartisan liberalism.

Will Talk Radio Get Wake-Up Call? The multibillion-dollar talk radio industry faces existential challenges and dramatic opportunities in the upcoming Age of Obama. Depending on responses from leading conservative talkers, this rude, raucous indispensable medium will either rise to new heights of mainstream influence, profit and credibility, or else collapse as a declining vehicle for an increasingly angry and alienated fringe.

That's Not A Bug... Well, it's now out in the open: Representative Anna Eshoo (D-CA — is that any surprise?) is officially calling for a return of the "fairness doctrine." And not just the old one, that covered radio and television: she wants it to apply to cable and satellite programming, as well. This could be a bit problematic. According to the original Fairness Doctrine, radio and TV broadcasters' use of public airwaves made them guardians of a public trust. As such, they were obligated to the government to promote what was deemed the common good. Cable and satellite companies are, by definition, not broadcasters, and therefore don't fall under the same presumed obligations.

Incoming Attorney General Hostile to Civil Liberties. Eric Holder, Obama's nominee for attorney general, is hostile to civil liberties. He has previously expressed veiled support for using the misnamed "Fairness Doctrine" to squelch "conservative critiques" and "conservative media," such as Fox News (which Holder believes is anything but "Fair and Balanced," contrary to its slogan). The "Fairness Doctrine" is designed to shut down conservative Talk Radio.

Targeting Rush: Saul Alinsky Would Be Proud. Obama is trying to parlay his extraordinarily high approval rating to lay a foundation for his shock troops in the press and the party apparatus to discredit and eventually compromise or silence Rush [Limbaugh]. As if in conspiratorial lockstep, the media are dutifully responding with round-the-clock distortions and deceitful context manipulation of Rush's clearly articulated statement that he hopes Obama's socialist blueprint for America fails, and the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee is circulating a petition denouncing him. These are part of their larger goal to emasculate Rush and other conservative radio hosts through the Unfairness Doctrine.

Sen. Stabenow wants hearings on radio 'accountability'; talks fairness doctrine. "I think it's absolutely time to pass a standard. Now, whether it's called the Fairness Standard, whether it's called something else — I absolutely think it's time to be bringing accountability to the airwaves. I mean, our new president has talked rightly about accountability and transparency. You know, that we all have to step up and be responsible. And, I think in this case, there needs to be some accountability and standards put in place."

The Editor says...
The First Amendment exists to make the government accountable to the press — not the other way around. Senator Stabenow is apparently hoping you don't know that. The radio business is very competitive and every radio station depends on advertising, unless the station is owned by some entity with very deep pockets. The advertisers won't waste their money if nobody is listening. It has been shown repeatedly that liberal viewpoints on the radio are wildly unpopular, and can't be supported by advertising. As a result, they are generally broadcast only on "listener supported" stations.

Obama Executive Order: Destroy Rush Limbaugh. The first move of President Barrack Obama was to order the White House website to be turned into a Gay Hotline (see previous post). The 2nd major move was to order the complete destruction of his major opposition in the form of Rush Limbaugh the radio personality. Earlier during his campaign President Obama had singled out Sean Hannity. Limbaugh represents the one single largest economic conservative opposition to socialist control or new socialist programs.

Alinsky-ites at the Gates of Talk Radio. Fellow citizens, if you like what ACORN did to the home mortgage industry, then you're going to just plum love what the Democrats have in mind for talk radio. For the past few years, hardly a week goes without some Democratic Party Senator or Representative throwing out the term, "Fairness Doctrine." Hardly a month passes without a Democrat spurning the so-called "dangers" of conservative talk radio, often invoking Rush Limbaugh by name.

Rush 1, Obama 0. The numbers are in — Rush Limbaugh has won a dramatic victory over the Democrats. The White House's unprecedented assault on the talk-radio host has driven his ratings to number one in many of America's biggest, most liberal radio markets. The anti-Limbaugh offensive was a calculated move promoted by Democratic strategists Stanley Greenberg and James Carville to make Rush a new conservative bogeyman, in the same way they stigmatized Newt Gingrich in the 1990s.

The 'Shut Up' Doctrine. With the mega-pork, er, stimulus bill done, Democrats will now turn to regulating political speech they don't like. That is, they're revving up to resurrect the so-called Fairness Doctrine. Created in 1949, the doctrine required broadcast radio and TV outlets (then relatively few in number) to present balanced viewpoints on issues. The FCC repealed it in 1987, noting the dramatically expanded media landscape of the intervening four decades allowed sufficient competition of ideas.

Acting FCC Chair Sees Government Role in Pushing 'Media Diversity'. Acting Federal Communications Commission Chairman Michael Copps says he doesn't support bringing back the controversial Fairness Doctrine, but he does think government has a role in enforcing media "diversity." That role includes re-examining licensing and other regulations for radio stations — including AM stations dominated by talk radio — to make them "more reflective" of public interests.

47% Oppose Fairness Doctrine, But 51% Think Congress Likely To Bring It Back. Just 38% of U.S. voters think that the government should require all radio stations to offer equal amounts of conservative and liberal political commentary. Forty-seven percent (47%) oppose government-imposed political balance on radio stations, according to a new Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey. Fifteen percent (15%) are not sure which course is better.

Rep. Waxman Wants to Apply Censorship Doctrine to Internet. If Rep. Henry Waxman (D-Calif.) is not trying to investigate conservatives, he is trying to squelch their voices. Waxman has jumped into the so-called Fairness Doctrine discussion as of late. Waxman, however, has added another dimension to the issue... the internet.

Obama's Enemies List. On Election Day, Senator Chuck Schumer likened conservative talk radio to pornography and argued it should be regulated. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi endorsed speech restrictions more than once during the election season. Senators Harry Reid, Dick Durbin and John Kerry have also advocated various limits to political speech. Senator Debbie Stabenow assured a liberal radio talk show host that regulating conservative speech is imminent. House Commerce Committee Chairman Henry Waxman is reportedly working on speech restrictions with acting FCC Chairman Michael Copps. ... The public may be very surprised at the lengths the Obama Administration may pursue to silence critics.

ACORN Pushes Return of Fairness Doctrine. ACORN — a favorite of our Community Organizer in Chief — has a new agenda. Which is really part of the old agenda: getting Democrats elected. What Democrats fear most, and what many conservatives value most highly, is talk radio. Its political punch is conservatives' biggest weapon in the war of ideas. And, naturally, ACORN wants to kill it by restoring the old "fairness doctrine."

Clinton joins government censors on pitching the Fairness Doctrine. Bill Clinton, easily among the most immature, do-nothing presidents the United States has ever had, really ought to quit buzzing around the nation on behalf of speech-suppression and self-aggrandizement. He's against the First Amendment, you know. Wants to bag the thing. Toss it overboard. Sure, he and other Democrats who speak glibly of restoring the Fairness Doctrine say it's balance they want on radio programs, and no doubt it's the kind of balance that would put Rush Limbaugh out of business.

Senate bars FCC from revisiting Fairness Doctrine. The Senate has barred federal regulators from reviving a policy, abandoned two decades ago, that required balanced coverage of issues on public airwaves.

Senate tunes out Fairness Doctrine, 87-11. The Senate voted Thursday in favor of an amendment to the District of Columbia voting-rights bill that would prohibit the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) from reinstating the so-called Fairness Doctrine, which critics say would decimate conservative talk radio. The Senate passed the measure 87-11.

This Is Way Bigger Than Rush. The Democrats, along with those on the right who seem more worried about incurring the disdain of the wrongheaded left than of their fellow patriots, are feverishly promoting their Saul Alinsky-inspired scheme to demonize and divide their most effective political opponents. What would be amusing, were matters not so gravely serious today, is the utter juvenile transparency in the liberals' efforts to vilify Rush Limbaugh.

Rush to judgment: A media hopelessly divided. It was a rare and much-anticipated public appearance of the man so powerful that President Obama singled him out for destruction in his administration's first days. ... It was an address that could have altered the election had it been delivered early last fall by any Republican presidential candidate.

The unfairness of a Fairness Doctrine. [Scroll down] A new Fairness Doctrine, which could be imposed either by legislation or through FCC rule changes, wouldn't achieve more balance. Rather, it would obliterate political talk radio. If a station ran a popular conservative show — say, Hugh Hewitt's — it would face pressure to run a liberal alternative, even though almost all left-leaning efforts to date have failed to capture either listeners or advertising revenue.

Is This the New 'Fairness' Man? Obama administration strategy for diluting the power of conservative talk radio is becoming clearer: talk down the "fairness doctrine," a lightning-rod term sure to mobilize the Right, and talk up the prospect of more minority ownership of radio stations. The latter will achieve the Left's ultimate goal of shifting licenses away from networks who air conservative talk and toward minority owners who will broadcast liberal programing.

Citing 'Diversity,' Obama Admin Sides with Leftist Grievance Group. Arbitron came up with a pager-esque device called the Portable People Meter (PPM). This gadget automatically tracks to where the radio dial is tuned, thereby virtually eliminating human error and the ability to cheat. Obviously, this is far more accurate way to establish who is listening to whom, right? If you do find this to be a self-evident truth, you are not a master of the obvious, you are — according to the National Association of Black Owned Broadcasters (NABOB) — a racist bigot.

Obama's War on Talk Radio. What is really at work here is an effort by the FCC to stack the deck to help left-wing and minority stations earn higher advertising revenues than those to which their real market share would entitle them. Solicitous of the financial viability of its liberal allies on radio and anxious to undermine the balance sheets of conservative stations, the FCC is lending itself to the president's political agenda.

Democrats seek financial rescue of minority-owned broadcasters. High-ranking House Democrats are urging the Treasury Department to prop up minority-owned broadcasters suffering from a lack of capital and lost advertising revenue amid the economic slump. House Majority Whip James Clyburn (D-S.C.) is leading an effort to convince Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner to take "decisive action" by extending credit to this sector of the broadcasting industry.

The Unfairness of Reviving the Fairness Doctrine. At issue is not simply the imposition of "equal time" for diverse viewpoints, but the more fundamental question of state control of "so-called local content, diversity-of-ownership, and public-interest rules" churned out by Federal Communications Commission (FCC) mandarins.

Megaphone Envy and the Fairness Doctrine. The way the leftists and liberals go on about conservative talk radio, what they call our "megaphones," one would suspect that they had a bad case of megaphone envy. They make it sound that somehow conservatives and their capitalist lackeys have created a monopoly over the radio spectrum, cutting off and drowning out the left's political points of view that otherwise would surely prevail in the court of public opinion, if only the "People" had the chance to hear them. However, the facts presented [in this article] suggest otherwise. There is an active progressive radio network broadcasting today, even if a commercial version, Air America, failed to survive financially. The premier owner of progressive radio stations in the US is the Pacifica Foundation. Founded in 1949 in Berkeley, California with the explicit intent of spreading a pacifist message through radio broadcasting...

Silencing the Opposition. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, at a June breakfast for reporters sponsored by the Christian Science Monitor, took a bold position on whether government should resume regulating political speech on the radio. "Do you personally support revival of the Fairness Doctrine," asked John Gizzi, political editor for Human Events. "Yes," said Pelosi. While this declaration was little noted in the mainstream media, it sent shock waves through the conservative blogosphere.

Free Speech Fades in America. There is growing alarm among talk radio personalities and executives nationwide as the Obama administration embeds socialistic values into the American mainstream. Thanks to President Reagan, broadcasters have been free from the Orwellian Fairness Doctrine for over twenty years. The number of talk stations has grown from 125 to now over 2000 thanks to his great wisdom of repealing this doctrine which muzzled free speech.

'Fairness' at NPR: There's a huge hole in all of the public discussion about the reimposition of a "Fairness Doctrine" or a return to "localism" on the talk-radio format: What about National Public Radio (NPR)? ... Why no Fairness Doctrine attention to NPR? It is because those preaching "fairness" on the radio are hypocrites.

Speaker Pelosi's Latest Move to Regulate the News. While clearly there are serious issues engulfing the newspaper industry, in San Francisco and elsewhere, the problem isn't one of anti-trust violations. Pelosi has made her feelings known. She would like a return to the Fairness Doctrine. This is a nose under the tent. Yes, the industry is changing. It has been for years. But other than perhaps some limits on one company owning too many TV, radio and newspapers in a single market, the government really should have no role in the business of news.

Behold a New 'Fairness' Doctrine. President Barack Obama's Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has released the names of the thirty-one members of their Advisory Committee On Diversity For Communications In The Digital Age. This May 7 gathering is made up of a laundry list of left-wing grievance groups, with a smattering of radio and television companies included to break up the monotony.

Fearing Our Government. Of the dozens of reasons to be concerned about the ever-growing and unchecked power of the federal government under President Barack Obama, the upcoming assault against conservative talk radio may surpass them all. It's not enough that liberals dominate the executive and legislative branches, liberals are poised to control the judiciary, and, at liberals' direction, government is absorbing ownership and control of large chunks of the private sector. They must also shut up the opposition.

Rethinking the Fairness Doctrine: A real Fairness Doctrine could actually help if it included all television and radio broadcasts, print media, Hollywood films, and Internet sites, and further provided that:
• Mainstream media were required to employ the same number of conservative and liberal reporters, editors, and production staff;
• To counter films like W., Hollywood should produce films that highlight the frailties of a Democrat president, such as the sexual perversion that drove President Clinton to commit perjury;
• For every skit in which Tina Fey ridicules Governor Sarah Palin, SNL should run a skit exposing the hypocrisy, lying and muddled thinking of Nancy Pelosi.

'Hush Rush' Fairness Doctrine Being Repackaged as 'Localism'. No need to worry about the Fairness Doctrine coming back. It will merely be repackaged in the much worse form of "localism" or "programming diversity" whose ultimate goal is to destroy diversity of opinion.

Incoming FCC Chairman: No Censorship. There was good news coming out of the Senate Commerce Committee Tuesday [6/16/2009]. Julius Genachowski, President Obama�s choice to head the Federal Communications Committee made a strong statement that he does not favor censorship of the broadcast airwaves.

Fairness Doctrine, Latin American Style. Hugo Chavez, darling of American leftists, is moving to silence all opposition to his socialist regime. His government has revoked the licenses of 34 radio stations that didn't toe the socialist line. [Pictured in this article], a handful of brave demonstrators protest the closure outside one of the stations that lost its broadcast license.

New FCC 'Chief Diversity Officer' Co-Wrote Liberal Group's Report on Talk Radio. Doctor of Jurisprudence [Mark] Lloyd is far more than merely a communications attorney. He was at one time a Senior Fellow at the uber-liberal Center for American Progress (CAP), for whom he co-wrote a June 2007 report entitled "The Structural Imbalance of Political Talk Radio." Which rails against the fact that the American people overwhelmingly prefer to listen to conservative (and Christian) talk radio rather than the liberal alternative, and suggests ways the federal government can remedy this free-market created "problem."

The Left's New Threats to Silence the Right: The Left still wants to reimpose the Censorship Doctrine — also mis-known as the "Fairness" Doctrine. But they now have even more weapons with which they can silence the Right. And now they are seeking to expand their censorship to the internet, and beyond! Obama's Federal Communications Commission (FCC) can use different regulations — like "localism" and "media diversity" — to achieve the exact same "Fairness" Doctrine-esque results — silencing the conservative and Christian talk radio hosts we love and count on every day.

FCC's Chief Diversity Officer Wants Private Broadcasters to Fund Public Broadcasting. Mark Lloyd, newly appointed Chief Diversity Officer of the Federal Communications Commission, has called for making private broadcasting companies pay licensing fees equal to their total operating costs to allow public broadcasting outlets to spend the same on their operations as the private companies do.

The Fairness Doctrine is Dead, But Here Comes the Chief Diversity Officer. Mark Lloyd has recently been appointed "Chief Diversity Officer" at the Federal Communications Commission. Conservative groups believe his installation is merely another way to impose the dangerous principles contained in the Fairness Doctrine. Lloyd is a longtime Democrat activist who has strategized about ways to censor conservative media under the guise of "local accountability."

FCC's Diversity Czar. Mark Lloyd is the Federal Communications Commission (FCC)'s Chief Diversity Officer, a.k.a. the Diversity Czar. And he has in a recently discovered bit of archive audio goodness detailed his rather disturbing perspective on race, power and the American system. ... We have said repeatedly that Lloyd is a man myopically focused on race. What is revealed here is more than just that.

Sen Grassley's Letter to FCC Chair: Iowa Republican Senator Chuck Grassley has publicly released a letter he penned to Federal Communications Commission (FCC) Chairman Julius Genachowski regarding the July 29th announced appointment of new FCC Associate General Counsel and Chief Diversity Officer Mark Lloyd. In the press release accompanying the missive, the Senator said he was "concerned with the appointment due to Lloyd's writings on political talk radio and the Fairness Doctrine."

FCC's 'Diversity' Chief May Use 'Back Door' to Regulate Talk Radio. In a letter sent last week to the chairman of the Federal Communications Commission, Sen. Charles Grassley (R.-Iowa) said he is concerned that the FCC's new "diversity" director, Mark Lloyd, may seek to regulate talk radio through the "back door."

If ObamaCare Flops, Will Calls for the Fairness Doctrine Return? As each day passes and President Barack Obama's health care proposal faces more and more opposition, some of the talking heads that appear on the cable news networks are looking for a "boogeyman" to blame for allegedly ginning up backlash. And that "boogeyman" has been conservative talk radio.

Inspired by Saul Alinsky...
FCC 'Diversity' Chief Calls for 'Confrontational Movement'. Mark Lloyd, chief diversity officer of the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), called for a "confrontational movement" to combat what he claimed was control of the media by international corporations and to re-establish the regulatory power of government through robust public broadcasting and a more powerful FCC.

Bozell to FTC: Keep Your Paws Out of the News Media. The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has announced plans for a two-day workshop in December to examine the state of the news industry — which could lead to recommendations for legislation to regulate print, television, and even online media on everything from changes in anti-trust land copyright law to media tax breaks. Some of the proposals being pushed by opinion leaders include direct government funding of media outlets...

FTC Plans to Study Journalism's Woes — and That's a Problem. The Federal Trade Commission is scheduling public workshops on the media — two full days to examine the problems of journalism. Please permit me to be subtle: What a DUMB idea!!! This is the Federal Trade Commission we're talking about.

FCC Diversity Chief Says Republican Communications Policies Hurt Civil Rights. Mark Lloyd, chief diversity officer at the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), claimed that communications policies enacted by Republicans negatively impacted the civil rights of minorities. Lloyd made the claim in a 1998 essay he wrote while working for the Leadership Conference on Civil Rights.

Obama's Diversity Czar: Obama's new Federal Communications Commission Diversity Czar Mark Lloyd is a big fan of Venezuelan dictator Hugo Chavez and his Soviet-style control over the media. ... Lloyd has his own Soviet-style plan to shut down talk radio. This new FCC plan would foster "competition" by implementing a tax equal to 100 percent of a talk radio station's operating budget to fund its left-wing competition. Yet another far-left radical appointed to a place of power by the President — this time targeting your freedom of speech.

Chavez comes to the FCC. If for a moment you thought the Obama administration was going to sit there placidly while some on talk radio were so bold as to criticize its actions, think again, because here comes Mark Lloyd, the new diversity officer of the Federal Communications Commission and a man with a mission. It's not a pretty mission, not if you value free speech, but it is a mission made clear by Mr. Lloyd's own words. There he was in 2008, participating in a conference on "media reform," telling us what a wonderful leader Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez was...

Obama picks a fight with talk radio — and loses. The strategy early on in the administration was to mock talkers like Rush Limbaugh and Glenn Beck. Remember the weeks of discussion over whether Limbaugh was the head of the GOP? That was back in the days when the White House was feeling invincible and thought it was a grand idea to make the idea of making Republicans affirm or reject every statement Limbaugh made in 15 hours of weekly pontification.

New Media, Same Fake 'Fairness' Tactics from Left. Having failed to achieve its ends with the Fairness Doctrine, the left is now moving into alternative means through so-called 'localism' in broadcast media and 'net neutrality' on the web. Both in traditional and new media, the left is attempting to tight its grip on the news, possibly asphyxiating the few bastions of center-right news and information that exist.

Czar wants parallel government broadcasting system. President Obama's diversity Czar at the Federal Communications Commission proposes adding a vast public broadcasting system to the growing list of Obama's parallel institutions. Mark Lloyd ... proposes what would become a huge federal broadcasting system and yet another Obama parallel institution. It would join the "civilian national security force that's just as powerful, just as strong, just as well-funded" as the U.S. military that candidate Obama proposed, and the cadre of Czar advisors that parallels the Cabinet Secretaries.

'Diversity czar' takes heat over remarks. President Obama's diversity czar at the Federal Communications Commission has spoken publicly of getting white media executives to "step down" in favor of minorities, prescribed policies to make liberal talk radio more successful, and described Hugo Chavez's rise to power in Venezuela "an incredible revolution." Mark Lloyd's provocative comments — most made during a tenure at the liberal Center for American Progress think tank — are giving fodder to critics who say Mr. Obama has appointed too many "czars" to government positions that don't require congressional approval.

When will Diversity Czar Lloyd Appear Before Congress? [Mark] Lloyd has a long and troubling track record of virulent opposition to the First Amendment, particularly as it pertains to the rights of conservative and Christian talk radio hosts and stations. It is time he discuss his views with someone besides fellow Leftist Fellows at liberal think tanks and on Socialist media "reform" panels.

FCC Won't Allow 'Diversity' Chief Mark Lloyd to be Interviewed about Public Policy Views. The Federal Communication Commission (FCC) won't allow its Chief Diversity Officer Mark Lloyd to be interviewed by the news media about his views and past statements on federal communications policy. Lloyd, who cites the radical author Saul Alinsky as an inspiration, has argued that public broadcasting outlets in the United States should be funded on a level equal to the funding of private broadcasting companies — with the money coming from licensing fees levied on private broadcasters by the government.

FCC 'Diversity' Chief Calls for 'Confrontational Movement'. Mark Lloyd, chief diversity officer of the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), called for a "confrontational movement" to combat what he claimed was control of the media by international corporations and to re-establish the regulatory power of government through robust public broadcasting and a more powerful FCC.

If You Like FCC Diversity Czar Mark Lloyd and Van Jones, You'll Love Robert McChesney. With current FCC Chief Diversity Officer ("Diversity Czar") Mark Lloyd and the Leftist, George Soros-funded Center for American Progress, Free Press co-authored the 2007 report The Structural Imbalance of Political Talk Radio. Which calls for the FCC to enforce exceedingly broad (we would say warped) new definitions of the media diversity and localism FCC broadcast license requirements. These new definitions and their enactment are intended to force conservative and Christian talk show hosts off the air, to be replaced by those of a Leftist bent.

Diversity Czar Lloyd and Marxist McChesney's Censorship Dream. With all that we have thus far seen, things look quite grim from a free speech, free market perspective. The groundwork for government information totalitarianism — favored by people like Hugo Chavez-loving FCC "Diversity Czar" Mark Lloyd and Marxist "media reform"-outfit Free Press founder Robert McChesney — is being laid in the Plan being crafted by FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski.

Obama's Doubletalk on Political Dissent. In China, O proclaimed himself "a big supporter of non-censorship." But his FCC "diversity" czar, Mark Lloyd, is bent on re-engineering public airwaves by redistributing free speech rights from conservative haves who earned their success to minority have-nots who demand talk radio entitlements in the name of "media justice."

Democrats trying to criminalize citizen journalism. An amendment to a bill currently being considered by the Senate would deny ordinary citizens doing vital investigations in the public interest the same legal protections as professional journalists. If it were to become law, the change could significantly stifle important citizen journalism efforts similar to the recent ACORN exposé.

Kucinich's 'Fairness Doctrine' Threat To O'Reilly. During George W.'s administration, liberals loved to wail over the supposed — but never demonstrated — suppression of free speech. But now we have the spectacle of a member of the Dem majority warning a leading representative of Fox News to stop celebrating his network's success — under threat of reinstitution of the so-called "Fairness Doctrine."

Heads Up Talk Radio: The President's Foot Soldiers Have Your Number. Newsmax first reported that Organizing for America, the community organizing outfit under the auspices of the Democratic National Committee, has launched a plan to inundate talk radio shows with callers. The action will occur when a particular radio show is discussing ObamaCare. This is an extension of OFA's and Health Care for America Now's campaign to flood last summer's town hall meetings with union members and left-wing activists supporting Obama's government takeover of health care.

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