WTF How is this not commie?

How does having conservative whargarbl 24/7 on the radio serve the public interest exactly?

/gets popcorn

bartink: How does having conservative whargarbrap,country,top 40, l 24/7 on the radio serve the public interest exactly?

Sounds good to me.

can we censor her first?

It doesn't have to serve the public interest, especially since they are privately owned radio stations. People should be able to listen to whatever they want. I don't agree with anything they say on those sort of stations, so I don't listen to them. What is so difficult about changing the station?

Her husband, Tom Athans, is the executive Vice President of Air America...

Yeah, no conflict of interest there!

I will buy this argument for NPR but for any other station fark that,and stay away from satellite radio.

Who didn't see this coming? I remember whenever people brought this up last year, Total Fark Sheep and followers of the messiah would respond with such witty retorts as "whargarbrap" and "freeper!"

bartink: How does having conservative whargarbl 24/7 on the radio serve the public interest exactly?

yeah because having people listen to news and commentary on it, is really bad for the public interst. God forbid someone stayed that informed. We should just watch the Daily show and ignore the rest.

SigmaAlgebra: It doesn't have to serve the public interest, especially since they are privately owned radio stations. People should be able to listen to whatever they want. I don't agree with anything they say on those sort of stations, so I don't listen to them. What is so difficult about changing the station?

You're right. It doesn't have to serve the public interest, except in the part of the contract that they signed with the government that says it does.

I think we have seen the damage that can be caused by one point of view dominating the air waves. 8 years of Bush is a strong argument for the fairness doctrine. Corporate media pushing an almost exclusively far-right agenda is actually WAY more "commie" - make that fascist than having equal time.

The only reason the far right wing extremists are afraid of the fairness doctrine is because they know it will expose the utter failure of their political "philosophy."

Raskolnikov's Angst: Her husband, Tom Athans, is the executive Vice President of Air America...

Yeah, no conflict of interest there!

And he was arrested (new window) for picking up a prostitute. Because the Democrat Party is the party of corruption, he didn't go to jail or have to testify, but the prostitute did!

bartink: How does having conservative whargarbl 24/7 on the radio serve the public interest exactly?

/gets popcorn

Too easy

I thought it was the, "We're going to MAKE the public listen to us, whether they like it or not" Act.

eh, let me know when legislation is passed and somehow deemed constitutional.

i guess it makes sense for publicly funded media to prevent it from just being propaganda but let the rest sort itself out. besides, mouth breathers need entertainment too.

Raskolnikov's Angst: Her husband, Tom Athans, is the executive Vice President of Air America...

Yeah, no conflict of interest there!

OMFG the sad part is, this will get pushed through. and then any talk radio radio station will fall apart.


/The most terrifying words in the English language are: I'm from the government and I'm here to help.

inebriated brain: yeah because having people listen to news and commentary on it, is really bad for the public interst.

When its basically propaganda for one political party in a two party system, its pretty damn bad for the public interest. Intelligent conservatives and pretty much everyone else knows this.

So now they want to silence their political opposition? Scary.

This is like something that would happen in another country. "Chavez takes over media, happy citizens watch Olbmerman and Matthews hump his legs 24/7. Power to the people!"

I can't imagine even the most leftist farker on here would be in favor of this.

inebriated brain: yeah because having people listen to news and commentary on it, is really bad for the public interst.

Talk radio listeners are among the worst-informed media consumers. Which is why they heavily vote Republican.

whconner4: I think we have seen the damage that can be caused by one point of view dominating the air waves. 8 years of Bush is a strong argument for the fairness doctrine. Corporate media pushing an almost exclusively far-right agenda is actually WAY more "commie" - make that fascist than having equal time.

The poor left has no outlets, except CNN, MSNBC, Air America, New York Times, Media Matters, NBC, Washington Post, Daily Show (It isn't a news program, but don't tell that to its viewers), and an obscenely large amount of magazines, tv shows, news papers and radio programs.

/You guys are just too insecure to let opposing opinions be heard.
//That or you are all oppressive mini-Stalins.
///Either way, eat shiat.

inebriated brain:
yeah because having people listen to news and commentary on it, is really bad for the public interst. God forbid someone stayed that informed. We should just watch the Daily show and ignore the rest.

Commentary? Are you serious? You call that commentary? I suppose propaganda is a form of commentary.

Doc Lee: The only reason the far right wing extremists are afraid of the fairness doctrine is because they know it will expose the utter failure of their political "philosophy."

It's such a failure that it has an audience of tens of millions while the only way Air America would be able to get listeners would be thru conscription or bribery.

So does this "fairness doctrine" mean that the government has to support a right-wing version of the Daily Show and the Colbert Report? Or does "fairness" only apply when Republicans are kicking Democrats' asses in ratings?

Doc Lee: The only reason the far right wing extremists are afraid of the fairness doctrine is because they know it will expose the utter failure of their political "philosophy."

The failure of right-wing political philosophy has been apparent since the Dems retook congress in 2006, right through Obama winning the presidency. I say let the babies keep their bottle. The more right-wing claptrap comes out of the radio, the more people will move to support the opposition.

TofuTheAlmighty: Talk radio listeners are among the worst-informed media consumers

Compared to what exactly? Because you don't agree with their beliefs, doesn't make them uninformed. You can be well informed on one thing and ignorant of another. Just what are talk radio listeners uninformed about anyway?

Nemo's Brother: whconner4: I think we have seen the damage that can be caused by one point of view dominating the air waves. 8 years of Bush is a strong argument for the fairness doctrine. Corporate media pushing an almost exclusively far-right agenda is actually WAY more "commie" - make that fascist than having equal time.

The poor left has no outlets, except CNN, MSNBC, Air America, New York Times, Media Matters, NBC, Washington Post, Daily Show (It isn't a news program, but don't tell that to its viewers), and an obscenely large amount of magazines, tv shows, news papers and radio programs.

/You guys are just too insecure to let opposing opinions be heard.
//That or you are all oppressive mini-Stalins.
///Either way, eat shiat.

THIS

Does anyone actually believe that if there was an opportunity to make a serious profit with a left wing show, somebody would not be doing it?

Right wing radio rules the airwaves because that's what sells. It is free speech at it's best and we should be proud we have idiots like Rush and Hannity spouting their crap. God Farking Bless America.

Now, if you believe everything these propagandists say, you are functionally retarded. Go to a government website and see what benefits you are eligible for.

Right wing radio is so "popular" because Republicans spend more time in their cars than Democrats. Simple as that. Our 2 party system has become the rural party and the urban party. We need to keep this cesspool of Wharrrgarbl so they only get dumber.

Nemo's Brother: Who didn't see this coming? I remember whenever people brought this up last year, Total Fark Sheep and followers of the messiah would respond with such witty retorts as "whargarbrap" and "freeper!"

WHARGLBARGL FREEPER!

/honestly I think it is the best piece of legislation yet. Limbaugh, O'Reilly, Hannity and their ilk are dangerous. They inspire people to murder. they are essential shouting fire into a croweded theatre for 2-4 hours a day each. Best piece of legislation ever.

LouDobbsAwaaaay: So does this "fairness doctrine" mean that the government has to support a right-wing version of the Daily Show and the Colbert Report? Or does "fairness" only apply when Republicans are kicking Democrats' asses in ratings?

Three guesses bro..

Doc Lee: The only reason the far right wing extremists are afraid of the fairness doctrine is because they know it will expose the utter failure of their political "philosophy."

So if you disagree with a view point, it should be censored? Do you decide what is worthy of censorship, or do your Democrat puppet-masters?

We allow the KKK and the Black Panthers to march. I don't subscribe to either of their views (I don't like racists), but I definitely support their rights to march. Hell, if a view is as ignorant as you are desperately trying to portray any that isn't yours, the best way to kill it is give it public air.

The truth is that at heart, you are no different than Kim Jong Il, Stalin, Che, Mao, Saddam or an endless list of tyrants who took away freedom of speech and thought. The only difference is that you are not as powerful as they and are probably too dumb to ever be elected into office.

LouDobbsAwaaaay: So does this "fairness doctrine" mean that the government has to support a right-wing version of the Daily Show and the Colbert Report? Or does "fairness" only apply when Republicans are kicking Democrats' asses in ratings?

When Daily Show and Colbert over the publicly-owned, limited bandwidth airwaves, you'll have an argument.

Please, learn a bit about the issue before you unleash your gargantuan ignorance again.

jjorsett: Doc Lee: The only reason the far right wing extremists are afraid of the fairness doctrine is because they know it will expose the utter failure of their political "philosophy."

It's such a failure that it has an audience of tens of millions while the only way Air America would be able to get listeners would be thru conscription or bribery.

It has an audience of tens of millions of people who need to be told what to think by their far-right wing overlords. I wouldn't consider this to be a success. The fact of the matter still stands that the far-right wing political "philosophy" is a failure.

So which one of you is going to represent the opposing view an AM Coast to Coast? This will be fun to hear someone go against those crazies

Doc Lee: Commentary? Are you serious?

yes I call it commentary. That commentary comes from a conservative perspective. Deal with it.

Forcing it off the air waves makes you that would shut it down look very scared. They won already, now to be ruthless too? 15% of radio listeners listen to talk radio. Geessh.

bartink: SigmaAlgebra: It doesn't have to serve the public interest, especially since they are privately owned radio stations. People should be able to listen to whatever they want. I don't agree with anything they say on those sort of stations, so I don't listen to them. What is so difficult about changing the station?

You're right. It doesn't have to serve the public interest, except in the part of the contract that they signed with the government that says it does.

You're right. It was dumb of me to assume that privately owned and operated radio stations would have the right to broadcast whatever they want in the US of all places. Anyway, I am always suspicious of regulations that stipulate something as nebulous as in the public interest. Just who gets to decide what that is? It seems like to you the only political messages that are in the public interest are the ones that you agree with.

Farkomatic: Does anyone actually believe that if there was an opportunity to make a serious profit with a left wing show, somebody would not be doing it?

What do you define as "serious profit"? Would you say Savage is "serious profit"?

Once again, her husband was arrested for soliciting a prostitute and is the executive vice president of Air America.

/I remember when the left would get mad at someone using their elected power solely for the benefit of a corporation. Those days have passed. Change we can believe in!

SigmaAlgebra: It doesn't have to serve the public interest, especially since they are privately owned radio stations.

Private interest using a publicly owned property. Trustees of the public's airwaves and all that.

TofuTheAlmighty: LouDobbsAwaaaay: So does this "fairness doctrine" mean that the government has to support a right-wing version of the Daily Show and the Colbert Report? Or does "fairness" only apply when Republicans are kicking Democrats' asses in ratings?

When Daily Show and Colbert over the publicly-owned, limited bandwidth airwaves, you'll have an argument.

Please, learn a bit about the issue before you unleash your gargantuan ignorance again.

If you think this will stop on the airwaves, you are the ignorant one.

Jakevol2: They inspire people to murder. they are essential shouting fire into a croweded theatre for 2-4 hours a day each. Best piece of legislation ever.

You sir should be brought up on libel charges with shiat like that.

The difference is that liberals don't like being told what to think, whereas the conservatives seem to like it very much.

Which is why liberal talk radio never does very well. They get their information from the news. not from talking heads.

Nemo's Brother: Raskolnikov's Angst: Her husband, Tom Athans, is the executive Vice President of Air America...

Yeah, no conflict of interest there!

And he was arrested (new window) for picking up a prostitute. Because the Democrat Party is the party of corruption, he didn't go to jail or have to testify, but the prostitute did!

The husband is 11 years younger, perhaps they came to an "arrangement".

Doc Lee: The only reason the far right wing extremists are afraid of the fairness doctrine is because they know it will expose the utter failure of their political "philosophy."

Spoken like a true farktard.

OK, I'll bite:


First, the radio spectrum belong to the PEOPLE of the U.S. It is the government's job to make sure that public resources are used for the public good. Just about any rational, objective person would agree that nonstop 24/7 right wing disinformation and hate is NOT supportive of the public good-- just the opposite in fact.

Second, this is nothing new. we've had the Fair Use Doctrine in this country for a long time-- up until the 1980's. America seemed to survive it's existence back then without becoming enslaved to the commies. That pretty clearly rebuts the Right wing's dire warnings of disaster should it ever be RE-implemented.

IOW, You wanna spew that shiat? Then write a book, print a newsletter, or start a web page or podcast. You shouldn't be allowed free reign to use MY airwaves to constantly blast out hate and blatant misinformation with the sole intent to divide the country.

=================================================================

Now then, with all that said, I too am uncomfortable with the thought of government representatives going through every show on a radio station and deciding which content is partisan and and therefore deserves "equal time" and which content is nonpartisan information sharing.

Rush and his imitators have done terrible damage to this country, yet I think it's best to keep a policy of minimal government involvement in broadcast content.

Alacritous: The difference is that liberals don't like being told what to think, whereas the conservatives seem to like it very much.

Which is why liberal talk radio never does very well. They get their information from the news. not from talking heads.

Really? Because you all sound the same to me on Fark. I heard there are sales on Che shirts at the Gap

more interesting is why liberal talk radio cant stand on its own.

Would this mean that exsisting radio stations with conservitive talk shows would have to have the equal amount of time airing liberal talk shows or would whole radio stations be dedicated to liberal talk shows?

If stations are forced to air what the public doesn't want to listen to then ad revenue goes down and the stations get into trouble financially. Isn't this what happened to Air America?

If liberal talk show stations cant stand on their own then the government would pay for them? Does that mean they'd have to pay equal amounts to conservative stations? Where would this shiat end?

If I owned a radio station I'd air whatever made me the most $$$. Be it liberal or conservative talk shows or music or whale songs or my uncle farting. Its like making McDonalds offer a garden burger so that vegetarians could enjoy the McDonalds experience.

I just dont understand any of this sort of thinking.

/sigh

Jakevol2: Nemo's Brother: Who didn't see this coming? I remember whenever people brought this up last year, Total Fark Sheep and followers of the messiah would respond with such witty retorts as "whargarbrap" and "freeper!"

WHARGLBARGL FREEPER!

/honestly I think it is the best piece of legislation yet. Limbaugh, O'Reilly, Hannity and their ilk are dangerous. They inspire people to murder. they are essential shouting fire into a croweded theatre for 2-4 hours a day each. Best piece of legislation ever.

I seem to recall Randi Rhodes on air america calling for G W 's death but thats cool because it is the other side right