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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsFCC to Public: Boycott Rush and Leave Us Alone
The FCC responded with the following: broadcast stations enjoy freedom of speech under the First Amendment, and the FCC is prohibited by statute from censoring or dictating program content. The result is that stations are free to air pretty much whatever they want (short of obscenity or indecency) even if the material is false, misleading, or slanted. Boy oh boy, what a gutsy statement. For the first time, the agency acknowledges that what comes out of talk radio could well be pure lies. Still, it claims there is nothing it can do about it.
The FCC conveniently forgets the Supreme Court ruling that broadcasters may not engage in Private Censorship. In Red Lion Broadcasting v. FCC, 1969, the Supreme Court decided, the First Amendment does not protect private censorship by broadcasters who are licensed by the Government to use a scarce resource which is denied to others. Or that the First Amendment is relevant to broadcasting, but it is the right of the viewer and listener, not the broadcaster, which is paramount.
Theres plenty the FCC do. It could follow court rulings and require that women and minorities, which own less than 8% of all radio stations be brought up to parity. The Third Circuit Court of Appeals has so ordered; but that would be difficult, and the FCC always takes the easy way, the pro-corporate way out. One simple step would be to require broadcasters to clearly delineate which of their shows are news, and which are opinion, and therefore colored with misinformation. That would be really easy, but not easy enough for the FCC.
Instead, the FCC is hopping on the boycott bandwagon, writing, If enough people complain about a stations programming and particularly if they are part of an organized boycott of station advertisers the station could very well change its programming policy.
http://my.firedoglake.com/suewilson/2012/03/19/fcc-to-public-boycott-rush-and-leave-us-alone/
What the f*ck good is the FCC if its only job - in its own opinion (which it obviously is) is to protect broadcasters/media? Why are our tax dollars paying for essentially nothing, except being force-fed goddamned state-sponsored (evidently) wingnut lies and propaganda - and YES, crap which is OBSCENE and INDECENT like Limbaugh calling women "sluts" and "prostitutes"? Hello.
tularetom
(23,664 posts)Generic Brad
(14,275 posts)I saw it!
SomethingFishy
(4,876 posts)But in favor of the FCC... they were really upset about it.
NeedleCast
(8,827 posts)Frankly I'd rather see the public policing the airwves through boycotts or other means than to have the FCC telling me what's good for me.
ProfessionalLeftist
(4,982 posts)And on those of all local stations that carry him.
Politicalboi
(15,189 posts)Didn't show any nudity, or use swear words. The FCC should be cut. What good are they anyway? We need an independent kind of FCC. One that doesn't go ape shit over a clothing malfunction. Or one that allows adult language after hours. Meaning 9;00 pm. Kids learn bad language from their parents and siblings, friends and school mates.
OriginalGeek
(12,132 posts)Keep track of who is using which frequency and make sure their dues are paid up. That is it. And they can get a pretty cheap computer program to do the heavy lifting there.
What else are they good for?
I don't need them to protect me from nipples or fuck words.
wendylaroux
(2,925 posts)when I called them after tv switch to digital. We live in an area where even with converter box does not work for local stations.
I asked them what people who couldn't afford satellite,who live in a black out area, were supposed to do, and the lady said,
"well it's not our fault,maybe someone could help pay for your satellite." lol, yeah great huh? they are AWESOME.
JoePhilly
(27,787 posts)Ewwwww ... never mind ... I just threw up in my mouth a little bit.
Javaman
(62,530 posts)yet limpballs is off limits. funny how that works.
EFerrari
(163,986 posts)and they know it and they know WE know it.
nadinbrzezinski
(154,021 posts)Tank media deregulation for that starting under Ronnie and ending with Clinton.
Aerows
(39,961 posts)The problem is the people who LISTEN to lies over the radio, and know they are lies.
That's all I can tell you. You can't help people that voluntarily choose to listen to bullshit.
The problem that they are confronting, is that people who aren't in lockstep with them are sick of the bullshit and are pressuring advertisers with good reason. Rush was out of line, and a vast majority of people reflected that sentiment by cutting of the cash flow.
I'm a liberal, but I'd probably listen to Huckabee's show because he has some decorum. Rush has been trash since the second he got on the air. He's shown himself to be the very worst stereotype of Republicans, and while that helped in the past, it won't help in the future with young men and women.
shcrane71
(1,721 posts)The FCC is a victim of regulatory capture. For less than $1K, most people could create a Low Power FM radio signal that would cover a large chunk of a populated area.
The FCC won't open up the process of obtaining these LPFM licenses. People should just start those, and LPAM stations themselves. If the FCC tries to come after these stations, the FCC should be sued. The FCC isn't regulating the airwaves to ensure all parts of a community are being served by the public airwaves. I suppose if the FCC tries to buckle down on pirate radio stations, the public could sue them, and prove regulatory capture in the courts. Meanwhile, maybe some non-right-wing voices and viewpoints could get aired.
felix_numinous
(5,198 posts)Last edited Mon Mar 19, 2012, 08:58 PM - Edit history (1)
Obscene Broadcasts Are Prohibited at All Times
Obscene material is not protected by the First Amendment to the Constitution and cannot be broadcast at any time. The Supreme Court has established that, to be obscene, material must meet a three-pronged test:
An average person, applying contemporary community standards, must find that the material, as a whole, appeals to the prurient interest;
The material must depict or describe, in a patently offensive way, sexual conduct specifically defined by applicable law; and
The material, taken as a whole, must lack serious literary, artistic, political or scientific value.
I must be missing something here. Why is Rush still on the air?
http://www.fcc.gov/guides/obscenity-indecency-and-profanity
ProfessionalLeftist
(4,982 posts)madokie
(51,076 posts)onenote
(42,703 posts)indecent or obscene under the law.
Which is a good thing, because if rush is obscene or indecent, so is a whole lot of contemporary music from the 60s on forward.
Rush is a jackass and his comments about Sandra Fluke were offensive as hell. But they weren't legally actionable and its astonishing to me that so many self-proclaimed progressives suddenly get the vapors when they hear his rantings.
felix_numinous
(5,198 posts)not 'getting the vapors'--just for the record.
onenote
(42,703 posts)and "obscenity" to cover offensive speech.
felix_numinous
(5,198 posts)but I sure wish there was a better way to do something about hate radio and propaganda without endangering these rights. I am no lawyer!