WHY FREEDOM, WHEN YOU HAVE THE LAW ON YOUR SIDE?

Two organizations, the Center for American Progress and the Free Press, concluded that talk radio is too conservative and something has to be done about it. The former organization is run by former Clinton Chief of Staff, John Podesta. Forget free market forces, capitalism and democracy, it’s time to round up some broadcasters and legally knock some fairness into their collective heads.

In a report called “The Structural Imbalance of Political Talk Radio,” they’ve come to some scary conclusions (for them). According to their research, 92 percent of total weekday talk radio programming is conservative. In the top ten radio markets, 76 percent is conservative.

The two most frequently cited reasons are the repeal of the Fairness Doctrine in 1987 and simple Consumer demand.

Their “conclusion is that the gap between conservative and progressive talk radio is the result of multiple structural problems in the U.S. regulatory system.”

Yeah, that’s right, it’s not regulated enough. They want to control ownership. Think now…they want more ownership by minorities and women. So their answer is to force certain ownership and deny it to white guys? And they’ve got the chutzpa to call some Americans Nazis?! Of all the ignorant…

So they make more than a couple proposals in their report, including;
1. Restore local and national caps on the ownership of commercial radio stations.
2. Ensure greater local accountability over radio licensing.

In other words, “Require commercial owners who fail to abide by enforceable public interest obligations to pay a fee to support public broadcasting.”

They go on to say “The ‘repeal’ of the Fairness Doctrine in 1987 gave station owners and hosts free reign to fill their programming with ideologically conservative content.”

Another one of the terrible truths this group dug up was that “The demands of the marketplace favor
Conservative shows and audiences over progressive ones.”

Something’s got to be done about that! We can’t have Americans deciding for themselves who to listen to.

Free reign in America? God forbid! Evil station owners, who pay hard-earned money for the right to broadcast, have the temerity to put the content of their choosing in their programming! That content of choice, by the way, would be the content that earns them the most money. That content is apparently what the listening audience and sponsors want on the air, and are willing to pay to support. So if the Libs have their way, station owners will see their own version of political Kristallnacht. If the Democrats win the White House and continue to hold a majority in Congress, you can probably count on it.

They’re giddy to discover that the Fairness Doctrine was never formally repealed. The FCC did announce in 1987 that it would no longer enforce certain regulations under the umbrella of the Fairness Doctrine. So the easy thing to do would be to compel enforcement of the FD.

By the way, where is the analysis of the three major networks and 19 of the 20 major newspapers? All liberal. How about some analysis of our very own, taxpayer funded, Public Broadcasting Service?

Where are the free-speech liberals who are incensed that we can listen in on terrorists talking to their ilk abroad, in the interest of national security (legal wiretapping)? Yet we should silence American talk radio?

The most recent Gallup poll taken from June 11 to June 16 puts Americans’ approval of Congress at 14 percent, its lowest rating ever. With creeps like Reid and Pelosi running the show, ech! It’s no wonder.

And of course they’re blaming the Republicans. “Put a Democrat in the White House and maybe we can get something done.” Oy!

JD.