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. 

At the heart of the controversy is conservative talk radio.  Arbitron’s new PPM measurement system is showing that conservative talk is even more popular in the nation’s largest markets than previous measurements have shown while minority targeted stations are less popular.  But, the PPM doesn’t lie.  This is a pager-like device that the listener wears.  It registers whatever radio station is being heard in real time and encodes that information into a data base.  It is the most accurate means of measuring true listening habits ever devised. 

But minority stations are crying foul and we have a government that grabs its ankles in our politically-correct American culture.  Like many polling companies, Arbitron chooses its respondents based on landline access and minorities are claiming many in their ranks only use cellphones and are thereby disadvantaged and not fully represented in sampling statistics.  The PPM Coalition made up of Black and Hispanic broadcasters issued an “emergency request” that the FCC investigate.  Arbitron counters stating the Coalition’s petition is “replete with misstatements of acts, unsupported speculation and overheated rhetoric.”  And, Arbitron says a number of stations that target minority audiences have in fact increased their market rankings since introduction of the PPM. 

We’ll see how this plays out, but there is no argument that government now sees itself as the arbiter of what we choose to hear.  Government has truly become Big Brother in America.  The FCC is out of bounds on this probe and we can only hope the court system will prevail in what will surely wind up as a key fight for free speech rights in America.  Tommy Smothers once said, “The only valid censorship is the right of the people not to listen.”  It would seem the Federal Censorship Commission disagrees.

Brian Jennings is a longtime national radio programmer and author of Censorship:  The Threat to Silence Talk Radio.

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. 

What does this mean for conservatives?  The diversity move to break up large ownership of radio has been the goal of all the leftist public interest organizations such as Free Press, the Center for American Progress, and others – most of them funded by George Soros, the Democratic Party godfather.  It is their goal that by forcing more diversity ownership they will move conservative voices aside.

The FCC has tremendous power over terrestrial broadcasters.  The agency can regulate without Congressional approval and when Genachowski is seated, it will have a 3-2 Democrat majority.  Mr. Copps is one of those Democrats and with this move, he has declared regulatory war on conservative talk radio.  The FCC will look for ways to force many radio operators to give up those licenses.  They can levy heavy fines, taxes, and other regulatory means that can force current broadcast holders to throw in the towel – then reassign those licenses to minorities or women.

Don’t count on these groups to keep conservative voices on their talk stations.  Free speech?  Only on their terms.  Keep your eye on these hearings.  Big brother is at work.  The free marketplace be damned.  Redistribute the wealth…..that’s good according to Obama.  Redistributing the media is part of that plan.  But, it is more forced socialism in America.  Why are we not surprised?  Free speech be damned.

Brian Jennings is author of Censorship:  The Threat to Silence Talk Radio. It will be in bookstores nationwide on May 5th.  www.censorshipbook.com.