THE MEDIACRACY
THE MEDIACRACY
THINGS TO DO FOR THE SAME PRICE AS ANNOYING THE FCC
http://www.rollingstone.com/news/story/_/id/7047694/bobdylan?pageid=rs.NewsArchive&pageregion=mainRegion&rnd=1109583119548&has-player=unknown
DAVID SWANSON, ROLLING STONE - A review of fines levied by other federal agencies suggests that the government may be taking swear words a bit too seriously. If [the FCC censorship] bill passes the Senate, Bono saying "fucking brilliant" on the air would carry the exact same penalty as illegally testing pesticides on human subjects. And for the price of Janet Jackson's "wardrobe malfunction" during the Super Bowl, you could cause the wrongful death of an elderly patient in a nursing home and still have enough money left to create dangerous mishaps at two nuclear reactors. (Actually, you might be able to afford four "nuke malfunctions": The biggest fine levied by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission last year was only $60,000.)
If Bush has his way, Howard Stern may soon have a tough choice to make: Tell a sex joke on the air, or dump toxic waste in New York's drinking water while willfully placing an employee at risk of injury or death? No wonder the foul-mouthed host is moving to satellite radio, which falls outside the authority of the FCC.
GONZALES DECLARES WAR ON FIRST AMENDMENT
http://www.americanprogressaction.org/site/pp.asp?c=klLWJcP7H&b=124597
In laying out his agenda for the Justice Department, Attorney General Alberto Gonzales declared the aggressive prosecution of obscenity cases as one of his top priorities and stated "obscene materials are not protected by the First Amendment." Similar to his predecessor John Ashcroft - under his purview, the DOJ spent thousands of dollars to cover up Justice - Gonzales is determined to impose a moral cleansing that has left people questioning the government rather than the so-called violators. In response to the Bush administration-backed House measure approving a significant increase in the maximum FCC fine to $500,000, Rep. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) said that the real victims of such legislation were "free expression and First Amendment rights," declaring that passage of the bill would "make America a less free society."
TIMES ARE A CHANGIN'
http://www.detnews.com/2005/screens/0502/28/D01-100774.htm
SUSAN WHITALL, DETROIT NEWS - Royal Oak native Nancy Skinner helms the morning show on progressive talk radio WDTW, arguing with her conservative brother Bob, talking up the environment and questioning authority. Nancy Skinner, an unabashed, unreconstructed liberal is ranting into a WDTW-AM (1310) microphone about "Bush and his make-believe world." And Clear Channel, the huge, politically conservative radio company, is paying her to do it.
Progressive radio was in trouble only a year ago as the newly launched liberal network Air America struggled with financial issues and a lack of distribution. Enter Clear Channel. The largest radio company in the United States flipped several of its underperforming AM stations over to progressive talk last year. Ratings picked up enough, especially with younger listeners, that it flipped 22 more stations to the new format earlier this year, including Detroit's WDTW. There are hints that it's going to flip 20 more soon.
A quick listen to the AM airwaves in any big city makes it clear why. There are many conservative voices; an army of shouters including Rush Limbaugh and Sean Hannity. Clear Channel spotted an opening in the market for liberal talk, and for big radio, the color of money isn't red or blue, but green.
CHURCHES GRABBING UP LOW WATT RADIO CHANNELS
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/c/a/2005/02/28/MNGDJBI0H61.DTL
JOE GAROFOLI, SAN FRANCISCO CHRONICLE - Community activists cheered when the federal government began offering licenses for low-power radio stations five years ago. But now, some are wondering what happened to what they envisioned as an end-around to big media domination of the airwaves.
After years of fighting legal battles for left-leaning "pirate" broadcasters, advocates pictured a sea of under-100-watt stations where low- income folks and communities of color -- "new voices," in government parlance -- could grab a tiny slice of a radio dial now dominated by conglomerates.
Their idea was that these micro stations would be a programming rainbow, where Hawaiian music would lead into debates over the fate of the local landfill -- a type of community-focused format rarely heard on big-city stations.
But something unexpected happened on the way to the dial diversity the left thought it was getting: Low-power frequencies have been gobbled up by Christian organizations. Church groups make up roughly half the 344 applicants licensed by the Federal Communications Commission for stations with a broadcasting range of about five miles. . .
"The churches have been much more organized in applying for and getting these stations," said Kai Aiyetoro, chief financial officer with the National Federation of Community Broadcasters in Oakland. "There's no system of state organizations out there encouraging nonprofits and community groups to get their licenses. But the churches, if they hear about a frequency opening up, they spread the word to each other.
THINGS TO DO FOR THE SAME PRICE AS ANNOYING THE FCC
http://www.rollingstone.com/news/story/_/id/7047694/bobdylan?pageid=rs.NewsArchive&pageregion=mainRegion&rnd=1109583119548&has-player=unknown
DAVID SWANSON, ROLLING STONE - A review of fines levied by other federal agencies suggests that the government may be taking swear words a bit too seriously. If [the FCC censorship] bill passes the Senate, Bono saying "fucking brilliant" on the air would carry the exact same penalty as illegally testing pesticides on human subjects. And for the price of Janet Jackson's "wardrobe malfunction" during the Super Bowl, you could cause the wrongful death of an elderly patient in a nursing home and still have enough money left to create dangerous mishaps at two nuclear reactors. (Actually, you might be able to afford four "nuke malfunctions": The biggest fine levied by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission last year was only $60,000.)
If Bush has his way, Howard Stern may soon have a tough choice to make: Tell a sex joke on the air, or dump toxic waste in New York's drinking water while willfully placing an employee at risk of injury or death? No wonder the foul-mouthed host is moving to satellite radio, which falls outside the authority of the FCC.
GONZALES DECLARES WAR ON FIRST AMENDMENT
http://www.americanprogressaction.org/site/pp.asp?c=klLWJcP7H&b=124597
In laying out his agenda for the Justice Department, Attorney General Alberto Gonzales declared the aggressive prosecution of obscenity cases as one of his top priorities and stated "obscene materials are not protected by the First Amendment." Similar to his predecessor John Ashcroft - under his purview, the DOJ spent thousands of dollars to cover up Justice - Gonzales is determined to impose a moral cleansing that has left people questioning the government rather than the so-called violators. In response to the Bush administration-backed House measure approving a significant increase in the maximum FCC fine to $500,000, Rep. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) said that the real victims of such legislation were "free expression and First Amendment rights," declaring that passage of the bill would "make America a less free society."
TIMES ARE A CHANGIN'
http://www.detnews.com/2005/screens/0502/28/D01-100774.htm
SUSAN WHITALL, DETROIT NEWS - Royal Oak native Nancy Skinner helms the morning show on progressive talk radio WDTW, arguing with her conservative brother Bob, talking up the environment and questioning authority. Nancy Skinner, an unabashed, unreconstructed liberal is ranting into a WDTW-AM (1310) microphone about "Bush and his make-believe world." And Clear Channel, the huge, politically conservative radio company, is paying her to do it.
Progressive radio was in trouble only a year ago as the newly launched liberal network Air America struggled with financial issues and a lack of distribution. Enter Clear Channel. The largest radio company in the United States flipped several of its underperforming AM stations over to progressive talk last year. Ratings picked up enough, especially with younger listeners, that it flipped 22 more stations to the new format earlier this year, including Detroit's WDTW. There are hints that it's going to flip 20 more soon.
A quick listen to the AM airwaves in any big city makes it clear why. There are many conservative voices; an army of shouters including Rush Limbaugh and Sean Hannity. Clear Channel spotted an opening in the market for liberal talk, and for big radio, the color of money isn't red or blue, but green.
CHURCHES GRABBING UP LOW WATT RADIO CHANNELS
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/c/a/2005/02/28/MNGDJBI0H61.DTL
JOE GAROFOLI, SAN FRANCISCO CHRONICLE - Community activists cheered when the federal government began offering licenses for low-power radio stations five years ago. But now, some are wondering what happened to what they envisioned as an end-around to big media domination of the airwaves.
After years of fighting legal battles for left-leaning "pirate" broadcasters, advocates pictured a sea of under-100-watt stations where low- income folks and communities of color -- "new voices," in government parlance -- could grab a tiny slice of a radio dial now dominated by conglomerates.
Their idea was that these micro stations would be a programming rainbow, where Hawaiian music would lead into debates over the fate of the local landfill -- a type of community-focused format rarely heard on big-city stations.
But something unexpected happened on the way to the dial diversity the left thought it was getting: Low-power frequencies have been gobbled up by Christian organizations. Church groups make up roughly half the 344 applicants licensed by the Federal Communications Commission for stations with a broadcasting range of about five miles. . .
"The churches have been much more organized in applying for and getting these stations," said Kai Aiyetoro, chief financial officer with the National Federation of Community Broadcasters in Oakland. "There's no system of state organizations out there encouraging nonprofits and community groups to get their licenses. But the churches, if they hear about a frequency opening up, they spread the word to each other.
posted by T. Scott Brineman at 7:29 AM
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