Keep your hands off our talk radio

[DesertFox]

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 Former President Reagan and a Democratic Congress repealed the Fairness Doctrine in 1987.

She wants to bring it back because she thinks “one-sided programming” pushes the American people into “extreme views” — such as their current opposition to the Bush/Kennedy/McCain immigration bill. She wants “an opportunity to present the other side” by forcing radio stations to offer more liberal fare.

Of course, nobody thinks a revived Fairness Doctrine would only be applied to radio. It wouldn’t be long before we would hear liberals demanding that broadcast TV and the Internet be made “fair,” too.

What Feinstein really wants is for federal bureaucrats to decide what political opinion programming we should hear. She presumes to know better than listeners what is “fair.”


More (http://www.examiner.com/a-801194~Get_your_hands_off_our_talk_radio.html?cid= all-hp-featured_editorial)

[Maggie_T]

The left has had ample opportunities to present "the other side." Still doing it. Just read the NYT, the Boston Globe, and other rags. And listen to ABC, CNN, and the rest of the alphabet soup channels.

The problem is that they are tanking because nobody pays any attention to them. The majority of Americans don't like leftism.

This Feinstein bitch just wants to silence the opposition, that's all. If you can't debate/compete with the opposition, eliminate it.

How typically leftist. :flame:

[HomeschoolrsRUs]

From the article cited:
" She wants to bring it back because she thinks “one-sided programming” pushes the American people into “extreme views” "



Explain to me just WHO is pushing the American people to turn on their radios and listen without changing the channels? Are they being held down and forced?

http://tbn0.google.com/images?q=tbn:igMI_FDD0IQBuM:http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/cultureshock/flashpoints/theater/images/clockwork_big.jpg (http://images.google.com/url?q=http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/cultureshock/flashpoints/theater/images/clockwork_big.jpg&usg=AFQjCNGWGYCjh73PGDiQ_7oZn6k2wJSt6A)

[PrezLeefun]

The left is all about censorship. Thats all they do. Thats all we usually see. Radio is the only place conservatism thrives because the TV media is all left and the newspapers usually lean left if they are not blatant liberal horn blowers.

They want to have it all. Communists want to control everything and left loves communisim. Isn't that interesting?

[noncom]

Explain to me just WHO is pushing the American people to turn on their radios and listen without changing the channels? Are they being held down and forced?
You don't get it. The liberals are mad because that ISN'T happening -- nobody's listening to them.

That's what they're trying to fix.

[HomeschoolrsRUs]

You don't get it. The liberals are mad because that ISN'T happening -- nobody's listening to them.

That's what they're trying to fix.

No, I get it. They want conservative talk radio eliminated so that the American people will be pushed into THEIR "extreme views," and THEIR "extreme views" only.

[PrezLeefun]

ummm did a joke go sour?

[EdmundDantes]

You know what?

Maybe someone should point out to Ms. Feinstein that if this were reinstated and applied across the media spectrum, they would lose NPR, CNN, ABC, CBS, NBC, PBS, Time, Newsweek, NYT, Boston Globe, Wash. Post, etc.

She would flip

[noncom]

I know it's been a long time, but does anybody remember how this idiotic Mongolian cluster was supposed to work in the first place?

What government agency was assigned to ration political speech back in the Seventies when they tried this insanity before?

And how did ABC, NBC, CBS, the New York Times, etc., etc., etc. get away with spewing all the one-sided liberal propaganda they wanted?

As far as I can tell, it was perfectly OK to slant the news as far as you wanted as long as you called yourself a "reporter" and constantly lied by claiming that you had no political opinions whatsoever.

I don't think it's much of a coincidence that the study about how 9/10 of the media employees in America contribute to liberal candidates came out at the same time all this censorship legislation is being re-aired.

And it's a lot LESS of a coincidence that the networks are now re-tightening the screws to make sure that all their reporters better conceal their political leanings.

[DoctorDoom]

FYI:

The policy of the United States Federal Communications Commission that became known as the "Fairness Doctrine" is an attempt to ensure that all coverage of controversial issues by a broadcast station be balanced and fair. The FCC took the view, in 1949, that station licensees were "public trustees," and as such had an obligation to afford reasonable opportunity for discussion of contrasting points of view on controversial issues of public importance. The Commission later held that stations were also obligated to actively seek out issues of importance to their community and air programming that addressed those issues. With the deregulation sweep of the Reagan Administration during the 1980s, the Commission dissolved the fairness doctrine.

This doctrine grew out of concern that because of the large number of applications for radio station being submitted and the limited number of frequencies available, broadcasters should make sure they did not use their stations simply as advocates with a singular perspective. Rather, they must allow all points of view. That requirement was to be enforced by FCC mandate.FAIRNESS DOCTRINE (http://www.museum.tv/archives/etv/F/htmlF/fairnessdoct/fairnessdoct.htm)

• Conservative talk radio is found only on commercial radio stations.
• Commercial radio exists to make a profit for the owners.
• The profits are the result of selling advertizing time.
• The rates that can be charged for ads depends on the size of the listener base, based on Arbitron ratings.
• Higher rates can be charged during programs that attract a large audience.
• Conservative talk radio is a guaranteed source of listeners.
• Liberal programming cannot compete because it cannot draw a substantial audience.
• Liberals therefore are obsessed with silencing conservative programming.
• Liberals demand that stations be forced to carry opposing viewpoints that no one will listen to.
• In being forced to carry liberal bullshit, the stations will lose advertizing dollars for those periods.
• Good business practice mandates that when a thing loses money, it should be stopped.
• Therefore they will say, "F**k that!" and cancel the conservative programming.
• The libeRAT bastards don't give a shit about fairness. They want censorship.

BTW, the FD does not apply to news, editorials, et al. It specifically targets talk radio.

The fedgov is becoming a tyranny. The last time the US was ruled by a tyrant ...