Fairness, Shmairness
20 November 2008 6:06 pm by Taylor Marsh
BY TAYLOR MARSH
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It’s interesting that all the people opining about the Fairness Doctrine are
not or never have been, as far as I know, talk radio hosts. Not that you have
to be to opine or write about it. Marin Cogan does a decent job of making the
case why
the right-wing is paranoid about it. But do any of these progressives have any
professional experience trying to get or keep a show on the air?
Two good reasons all liberals should be tweaking the wingnuts on this issue:
Rush Limbaugh. He bloviates for 3 hours every day without one guest or opposing
view.
No four. Sean Hannity, who goes on for 3 hours, though since right-wing hosts started this kerfuffle he’s actually started having on more Democrats.
Come to think of it, six. Mark Levin, who rumors have it Hannity helped get a block a time
after him through threats that stations take Levin or not get Hannity. Now, that isn’t to say that Mark Levin isn’t a good
broadcaster, that is if sponsors are the judge, but…
Most bloggers don’t understand what has happened to the radio airwaves across the board and down to the community level, which is the pressing issue. It also takes me out of this equation, because I don’t do local radio. Media
consolidation is the issue, in my mind. But the people opining and their knee jerk negative defensiveness over the Fairness Doctrine are not only mostly uninformed on the subject, but play right into the wingnuts’ hands.
I’m not an expert on the Fairness Doctrine, but I’ve been dealing in the radio world since back into the early 1990s. I’ve had my own show, which we had to buy time to get because no station would even offer the time if I could get sponsorship and I worked for free. It’s opened up some with Air America, but also the terrific talent of Schultz, Miller and others who have been monetarily successful. But even Schultz has had trouble in the past breaking through in some markets. Why is that?
I have no problem with people being against the Fairness Doctrine, as long
as they want to address the issue plaguing liberal talk radio hosts across the
country, including those being taken off the air or kept away from a chance to prove they’ve got what it takes to stay on the air. But some of these people opining think radio
is like blogging. It’s not. The airwaves belong to the public, including the local community, so conglomerates supporting mostly wingnut radio hosts, not giving locals a chance to break through, is against the spirit of this reality. Doing research on the Fairness Doctrine doesn’t
tell the tale either. Asking Democrats on Capitol Hill if they support the Fairness Doctrine? Democrats have never understood the importance of local terrestrial radio at the community level, with progressives today just as dense. It’s about a lot more
than fairness. That’s where Republicans begin their outreach.
But one thing the wingnuts have done is get liberals opining that the Fairness Doctrine is wrong and nobody is for it without admitting that airwaves are monopolized by the right. Guess what, folks. Democrats have been played, because either way it gives Republicans the win. Shuts everyone up about the Fairness Doctrine, while no one takes it a step further discussing that media consolidation is a real issue.
The way liberals are talking about the Fairness Doctrine, they seem to be implying it’s something to be ashamed of supporting, with liberals opining about it never once using the Fairness argument to bring up media consolidation and that the monopoly on the airwaves is an issue worth fighting against. In a political fight you don’t yield ground. You find a way to push the fight forward on your terms.
The right may be paranoid about the Fairness Doctrine, but the left is playing into their plan through their reactions that there’s nothing on the radio dial worth fighting for. Wingnuts win either way.
