The New American Dream
by Chris Muir
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Posts Tagged ‘FCC’
Hidden Agenda: The FCC’s Diversity Officer
by Brian JenningsSince writing Censorship: The Threat to Silence Talk Radio published in May by Simon & Schuster, I’ve been watching developments at the FCC closely. The book suggested the left had a hidden agenda to silence conservative talk radio and that they never were serious about re-instating the Fairness Doctrine because there was a better way to silence conservatives. I quoted Craig Aaron of Free Press, a liberal media watchdog group with inside connections to the FCC ,who said: “I don’t support re-instating the Fairness Doctrine not because I don’t support the goals, but because I think it’s the wrong way to go about it.” In other words, there is a RIGHT way to go about it – to muzzle conservative talk radio.
The right way appears to be Mark Lloyd, the FCC’s Chief Diversity Officer, a man who literally hates conservative talk. Apparently, diversity does not include conservative talk radio. As documented by the Media Research Center and others, Mark Lloyd thinks that if conservative broadcasters don’t present liberal points of view, they should be fined and the money given to public broadcasters. (more…)
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The Cold War At Home
by John T. SimpsonThe news is really unbelievable these days. All that I once thought were core American values and traditions are now being washed away in a sea of propaganda and political attacks from the radical Left, which now rules supreme and knows it. The Left in power is now waging an ideological war not only against conservatives, but any dissenting Americans who get in their way. Worst of all, they are using the full machinery of the government and their Lefty media lapdogs to do it all, and in the same fashion as Ahmadinejad’s government is demonizing the Green protesters in Iran.
It is chilling to witness, in the United States of America of all places. Civil political discourse is a thing of the past. You cannot oppose ObamaCare without being a swastika-waving corporate Nazi stooge. Never mind the fact that no one will tell us exactly where all the hospitals, doctors, and nurses to treat 50 million new patients will magically materialize from, or how it will all be paid for.
(more…)
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Who Really Owns the Airwaves?
by Brian JenningsFor decades, Americans have been brainwashed into thinking the broadcast airwaves are public. Are they? Or have we become so accustomed to thinking the airwaves are public that they have become so by default? By designating the airwaves as public domain, the government has become the referee of what we hear and see. And, when government has regulatory control of the media, potential danger lurks. Enforcement of the Fairness Doctrine until 1987 was one of the regulations that controlled the media, for example.
Listen to Ayn Rand
A little history behind the Federal Communications Commission and the notion that the airwaves belong to the public is in order. It all began in 1924 with Herbert Hoover when he served as Secretary of Commerce. It was Hoover who fought for government control of radio and made repeated attempts to extend government power beyond the limits set by legislation of the time including attempts to attached detailed conditions to radio licenses. (more…)
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Where Offensive Speech is Prohibited, Tyranny Will Follow
by Brian JenningsFirst it was the National Hispanic Media Coalition calling on the FCC to probe what it feels is hate speech by conservative talk radio hosts. The group claims it isolated 334 incidents of hate speech by John & Ken of KFI, Los Angeles, Michael Savage, and Lou Dobbs in eighty minutes of tape.
Then it was minority groups petitioning the FCC to investigate the new radio ratings system called the Portable People Meter because they feel it under represents the ratings on urban radio stations and is unfair. The meter can’t lie and registers in real time what radio stations those who wear the device are hearing. Make sure all groups are fairly represented and all should be fine. (more…)
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Incoming FCC Chairman: No Censorship
by Brian JenningsThere was good news coming out of the Senate Commerce Committee Tuesday. 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. It is the most definitive and concise statement heard from the Chairman-to-be and from the Obama administration. We welcome it. Let’s hope the far-left backs off its call for a return of Fairness Doctrine-like regulations aimed at conservative talk radio. I doubt they will, but at least Genachowski is on record as opposed to the Fairness Doctrine and controversial localism mandates that would censor free speech determined by the marketplace.
Genachowski made the statement in response to a question from Kay Bailey Hutchison of Texas.
Generally, the Senate hearing was a lovefest and accolades were also handed out to Robert McDowell, a Republican who has been re-nominated for another term on the commission. McDowell has stated unequivocally that he does not favor regulations such as mandated programming advisory boards considered under localism regulations that the FCC issued for proposed rule-making in January 2008. Let’s hope that report finds itself shredded and trashed forever. (more…)
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A Darwin Moment: Television Goes Digital June 12th
by Tim SlagleToday is a big day in broadcasting history. There is a monumental change coming down the pike several years in the making. Unless you’ve been incarcerated at Guantanamo, you probably already know: Television is going digital.
The reason for the changeover is that the FCC already has tenants waiting to move into the bandwidth that will be created by the changeover. Cellphone companies have already bought leases on those frequencies, and the FCC raised 19 billion dollars auctioning off that bandwidth (and probably spent every single dime of it on TV ads and converter-box coupons.)
Strange that Americans have been able to pick up on HDTV without coupons or awareness campaigns. Millions of people have educated themselves on HDMI cable, anamorphic output and Blue Ray discs with little or no money from the government. Those who couldn’t figure it out created a market for professional tech support companies like the Geek Squad.
Is it really possible that there is anybody left in America that doesn’t know about it? Congress sure thought so. On February 4th of this year they passed an emergency extension, and a $650 million dollar funding supplement to allow the program to continue. (more…)
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FCC: America’s New Speech Police
by Brian JenningsI find it incredible in America that a regulatory agency thinks it has jurisdiction to probe an independent business. Oh, but I forget about Chrysler, GM, and our banking system. Foolish me. What the Federal Communications Commission is doing is outlandish and smacks of tyranny in the making. We should brace ourselves because the implications for free speech in America are grave. Your right to hear what you want to hear when you want to hear it is something our government doesn’t give a damn about. The free marketplace of ideas is something that is evil to them.
The FCC has announced it will probe Arbitron’s new audience measurement system for radio stations – it’s called the Portable People Meter. Arbitron is an independent company and the FCC has no jurisdiction over it. But, acting FCC Commissioner Michael Copps and his fellow Democrat Jonathan Adelstein disagree. Adelstein has been quoted as stating the commission has “clear authority” over broadcast signals, and “legitimate questions” to ask about Arbitron’s system, which relies on these signals, and operates as a currency for the industry. (more…)
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Obama’s Latest Assault on Conservative Talk
by Brian JenningsThere is no question the Obama administration and most Democrats thinks conservative talk radio is something that should be eliminated from the “new” American culture. We documented that in the book Censorship: The Threat to Silence Talk Radio. Now, the administration is stepping up its subtle attack on conservative talk radio stations.
In 2008, Arbitron, which measures radio audiences nationwide, began rolling out its latest measurement technology called the “Portable People Meter,” or PPM. It’s a pager-device that automatically registers what someone is listening to at any moment. It’s the measurement of real time listening as opposed to the “old” system that required a listener to recall and write down once a week the stations they could remember they heard. Most radio executives feel this system is the future for radio audience measurement. When the New York ratings came out last fall, it showed conservative talk radio was even stronger than previously noted under the old audience measurement system and that minority radio stations were not as popular. Well, you know the rest of the story. (more…)
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Court Upholds FCC Authority Over Broadcast Indecency
by S.T. Karnick
The U.S. Supreme Court has upheld the FCC’s authority to impose fines on broadcasters for allowing obscene language on the air.
By a 5-4 majority the Court ruled that the Federal Communications Commission did not violate the federal Administrative Procedure Act in its 2006 decision that the Fox TV network had violated decency rules in 2002 and 2003 when singer Cher and actress/TV personality Nicole Ritchie blurted out expletives on live television in separate incidents. The FCC did not actually impose any fines in the case at issue.
The Court will likely be asked to rule on the constitutionality of the FCC policy as broadcasters challenge the ruling on constitutional grounds. (more…)
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Meet the New Boss: McCain-Feingold
by David BossieIt is unnecessary for me to tell any of you reading this that the left has a stranglehold over both Hollywood and the mainstream media. It is axiomatic in today’s news world dominated by the likes of Keith Olbermann and The New York Times that the “news” is delivered to your doorstep with a leftward slant.
What are less well understood, however, are the lengths to which the government has gone to protect the left’s monopoly during the last decade and the complicity of the news media in that endeavor. The recent confrontation between General Electric CEO Jeffery Immelt and an O’Reilly Factor producer at GE’s shareholder meeting highlighted the nexus between government and the left-leaning media for all to see.
For decades, the major broadcasting corporations and newspapers were the gatekeepers of the national political discourse in this country because the enormous infrastructure costs associated with setting up a news organization and a distribution network were prohibitive. If you were a candidate, incumbent, or someone with a cause, you had to go hat-in-hand to the editors of these organizations asking them to take an interest in you or your cause. If they accepted you, national attention followed, but if you were rejected by the media elites, you languished in anonymity. In the last five or ten years, however, the cost of entry declined precipitously due to the proliferation of the internet, and the old guard found its cherished position atop the hierarchy being threatened by smaller upstart organizations. (more…)
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The Fight for Free Speech is On!
by Brian JenningsThere have been several new developments regarding the battle to regulate free speech on your radio. First, Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas provided a definitive statement about how the court might view restoration of the Fairness Doctrine. Accordng to WorldNetDaily, Justice Thomas called the policy “problematic” and a “deep intrusion into the First Amendment rights of broadcasters.” He is right. That’s why Democrats are going through the FCC backdoor to regulate broadcasters in a stealth manner with measures that would accomplish their goals of snuffing out conservative talk and thus conservative values in America. They are smart enough to know the “old” Fairness Doctrine wouldn’t stand up in court. So, the first step in the process begins May 7th when the FCC will start conducting hearings to “redistribute media ownership” in America. The theme of redistributing wealth continues.
The other major development is news about new FCC appointments coming soon. According to Radio & Records, the new appointments are imminent. It appears Obama will nominate Mignon Clyburn from South Carolina as one of his Democrat appointments along with Julius Genachowski as Chairman. Ms. Clyburn has a newspaper background, so hopefully she will have some sympathies for conservative talk radio, but I doubt it. She also has a strong public service background and has been vetted by Obama. Newspapers have always held a low opinion of conservative talk radio. Watch for the hammer to come down. (more…)
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Redistributing the Media
by Brian JenningsDuring his campaign Mr. Obama stated numerous times his desire to increase diversity of ownership of media. Minions on the FCC such as Commissioners Copps and Adelstein have also stated their desire to redistribute the media. The first step toward that goal has been announced. And, it threatens conservative talk in America.
Acting FCC Chairman Michael Copps has set May 7th as the date for a meeting of the commission’s Advisory Committee on Diversity for Communications in the Digital Age. Copps has been stating loudly that he wants to increase diversity in media ownership and that it will be a priority of the FCC. National hearings on the topic were held in 2007 and the FCC commissioners turned up their criticism of large media companies like Clear Channel and others. This will get the ball rolling on diversity before new FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski is confirmed by the Senate and seated at the FCC. They are deadly serious. (more…)
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Eye on the Ball Conservatives: Free Speech
by Brian JenningsBecause I am a conservative, I am obviously a racist. Because I am a conservative, I am a homophobe. Because I am a conservative, I am Islamaphobic. Because I am a conservative, I am hateful. And, Homeland Security says I’m a right wing extremist. B.S. If conservatives were endangered by global warming, the left would abandon their hysteria about it. The last few weeks have been incredible in terms of the left exerting their new found power. They are punch drunk with sinister goals.
Hillary Clinton laughs during an interview about Somali pirates. Obama wants to consider prosecution of those who used torture tactics that Karl Rove says saved Los Angeles from a World Trade Center type attack. Nancy Pelosi says those of us who spoke and participated in the Tea Bag parties were astro-turfers. Harry Reid told KKOH radio in Reno that only 250 people showed up in Carson City for a rally when there were thousands. Janeane Garofalo says anyone who showed up to the Tea Parties was a racist. Miss California is a homophobe. She put her convictions above winning. David Letterman and Jon Stewart insult us on TV. Where does it stop? (more…)
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The Free Speech Attack Machine
by Brian Jennings
I appeared on Mike Pintek’s show on America’s first radio station, KDKA in Pittsburgh, the other night talking about speech regulations the FCC has proposed for radio and television. These regulations would erase more than twenty years of speech governed by the free marketplace rather than by government edict. It’s a sad story when we are talking about regulating speech in America. But, we are in 2009.
Shortly after the KDKA appearance one liberal blogger wrote the following: (more…)
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