Catastrophe - Dick Morris [59]
“Localism,” as Brian C. Anderson noted in a Los Angeles Times op-ed piece, would “impose greater ‘local accountability’ on broadcasters—that is, it would force stations to carry more local programming.”203
Since the most popular conservative talk-show hosts—like Rush Limbaugh, Sean Hannity, Mark Levin, and Neal Boortz—are nationally syndicated, requiring stations to book local programming would mean cutting into these radio giants’ airtime.
Anderson warns that “localism…also could require stations to set up permanent community advisory boards (including ‘underserved community segments’) that would have to be regularly consulted on ‘community needs and issues.’”204
The FCC proposal, first made in January 2009, required that the “permanent advisory boards” be
comprised of local officials and other community leaders to periodically advise them [radio station owners and managers] of local needs and issues and seek comment on the matter…. To ensure that these discussions include representatives of all community elements, these boards would be made up of leaders of various segments of the community, including underserved groups.205
Anderson calls localism “wildly impractical” and asks, “Would liberals sit on the board of a conservative station broadcasting in an urban area? Or would, say, an Islamic community leader sit on the board of a Christian station that broadcast in an area with a large Muslim population?”206
These community advisory boards would likely have enormous power. Stations would be obliged to listen to their input, since their very broadcast licenses could be imperiled if they don’t. Indeed, Obama has urged that radio stations be required to renew their licenses every two years as opposed to every eight under current law, giving them an even shorter leash. Because radio stations operate on the public airwaves, they cannot broadcast without an FCC license to do so.
Of course, if people in a given community wanted more local programming, they could vote with their fingers and turn their radio dials to stations that offer it. The very popularity of the nationally syndicated shows indicates that they don’t.
The Public Interest requirement would give the new community advisory boards the role of judging how well a station met the criterion, further reinforcing their power during the all-important licensing process.
To muzzle conservative talk radio, Obama has appointed Julius Genachowski as the new chairman of the FCC. Media reform groups, the ones that are trying to destroy conservative talk radio, are reportedly “joyous” over his appointment.207
Genachowski crafted Obama’s blueprint for destroying talk radio—his Technology and Innovation Plan—during the campaign. As the plan noted, “Barack Obama believes that the nation’s rules ensuring diversity of media ownership are critical to the public interest. Unfortunately, over the past several years, the Federal Communications Commission has promoted the concept of consolidation over diversity.”208
Josh Silver, the director of the media reform group Free Press, said that under Genachowski’s “leadership, the FCC’s compass would point toward the ‘public interest.’”209 As Genachowski defines it, that is.
Congressional Democrats are lining up behind these changes. Not only did Durbin’s amendment pass the Senate, but House speaker Nancy Pelosi spoke all the code words recently when she said that we need to “take actions to encourage and promote diversity in communication media ownership and to ensure that broadcast station licenses are used in the public interest.”210
So, while conservatives have been directing their fire at the possibility of a restoration of the Fairness Doctrine (which required equal time for opposing points of view), the Obama administration has been aiming at even more fundamental changes in station policy, management—and even ownership.
The new effort to gut conservative talk radio stems from a report by the Center for American