Free Republic

The war on conservative speech has moved from the White House to your neighborhood pews. Left-wing church leaders want the Federal Communications Commission to crack down on "hate speech" over cable TV and right-leaning talk-radio airwaves. President Obama's speech-stifling bureaucrats seem all too happy to oblige. Over the last week, an outfit called "So We Might See" has conducted a nationwide fast to protest "media violence" -- specifically, "anti-immigrant hate speech, which employs flawed arguments to appeal to fears rather than facts." Their ire is currently aimed at Fox News and conservative talk-show giants. But how long before they target...

First Amendment: Diversity czar Mark Lloyd's FCC votes Thursday on the issue of net neutrality. Advertised as providing access to all, it will do to the information superhighway what Lloyd proposed for talk radio. Not much was said when $7.2 billion was included in the stimulus bill "to accelerate broadband deployment in unserved and underserved areas and to strategic institutions that are likely to create jobs or provide significant public benefits." The administration has big plans for the Internet — like controlling it. Susan Crawford, the so-called Internet czar, told the Wall Street Journal in April that the broadband billions...

House Energy and Commerce Communications Subcommittee member Marsha Blackburn, R-Tenn., on Tuesday took a swipe at an ongoing push by the Obama administration and high-tech companies to beef up so-called network neutrality rules at the FCC, describing effort as "the fairness doctrine for the Internet." The Commission rescinded that doctrine, which required TV and radio broadcasters to air opposing political viewpoints, in 1987. FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski said in September that he does not intend to revive the fairness doctrine amid concerns raised by Republicans and conservative talk radio hosts. He is, however, championing a controversial plan to consider new...

Hugo Chavez has a history of criticizing the Venezuelan media that didn't overtly praise the dictator: As politicians in the U.S. discuss bringing back the so-called Fairness Doctrine, which would compel radio and TV stations to present both sides of any controversial issue, the question in Venezuela is far more serious: whether there can be more than one side -- Hugo Chavez's side -- that gets aired about anything. Addressing the nation on his weekly television show on Sunday, the Venezuelan president laid out plans for his next crusade, ordering his governors and mayors to draw up a "map of...

During the 3:00PM ET hour of live coverage on MSNBC Friday, co-host David Shuster admitted that racially charged quotes he and other hosts attributed to Rush Limbaugh had not been verified: “MSNBC attributed that quote to a football player who was opposed to Limbaugh’s NFL bid. However, we have been unable to verify that quote independently. So, just to clarify.” Shuster did not formally retract the quote or apologize.

CHRIS MATTHEWS: You guys see Live and Let Die, the great Bond film with Yaphet Kotto as the bad guy, Mr. Big? In the end they jam a big CO2 pellet in his face and he blew up. I have to tell you, Rush Limbaugh is looking more and more like Mr. Big, and at some point somebodys going to jam a CO2 pellet into his head and hes going to explode like a giant blimp. That day may come. Not yet. But well be there to watch. I think hes Mr. Big, I think Yaphet Kotto. Are you...

Politics: In yet another vote against transparency, the Senate killed an amendment imposing legislative oversight on unconfirmed White House officials. Shouldn't we know who they are and what they're doing? Green czar Van Jones is gone, forced to leave the administration after Fox News and the conservative blogosphere revealed his past as a self-avowed communist. Jones had issues that some argue should have been discussed in confirmation hearings that never occurred before he assumed his position. Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, would have liked to have learned of Jones' communist links and more before this man, who believes that white America...

President Obama's newly confirmed regulatory czar, Cass Sunstein, drew up a "First Amendment New Deal," a new "fairness doctrine" that would include the establishment of a panel of "nonpartisan experts" to ensure "diversity of view" on the airwaves, WND has learned. Sunstein compared the need for the government to regulate broadcasting to the moral obligation of the U.S. to impose new rules that outlawed segregation. Until now, Sunstein's radical proposal, set forth in his 1993 book "The Partial Constitution," received no news media attention and scant scrutiny. In the book – obtained and reviewed by WND – Sunstein outwardly favors...

In yesterday's More czars on conservative hit list, the Politico's Lisa Lerer states "conservatives have accused (Mark) Lloyd, appointed by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) as the agency’s Chief Diversity officer in late July, of secretly wanting to reinstate the controversial Fairness Doctrine." This is not at all accurate. We at the Media Research Center broke the news of Lloyd’s FCC gig (created just for him just the way the “green jobs czar” slot was for the recently dispatched conspiracy-addled Truther-Communist Van Jones). And we specifically stated that he had "no need for the mis-named 'Fairness' Doctrine." From that essay:

PDF so I can't cut/paste. Grassley letter to Chairman of FCC about problems with Mark Lloyd. Now's the time to take out another czar. http://grassley.senate.gov/upload/Letter-to-FCC-Chairman.pdf

Chavez minister vows more Venezuela radio closings * Radio stations to be pulled after 34 closed in August * Critics say hits free speech, government says democratic * Anti-Chavez TV network in the spotlight over coup rumor CARACAS, Sept 5 (Reuters) - Venezuela will pull the plug on 29 more radio stations, a top official in President Hugo Chavez's government said on Saturday, just weeks after dozens of other outlets were closed in a media clampdown. Infrastructure Minister Diosdado Cabello closed 34 radio stations in July, saying the government was "democratizing" media ownership.....

Here is video of Glenn Beck yesterday tracing the history of the so-called, "Fairness Doctrine," and the work of the Franklin Roosevelt created Federal Communications Commission (FCC). The FCC was formed in 1934, and Roosevelt used radio to push his New Deal programs. Roosevelt would deny certain programs to go on the air, and the FCC required stations to put New Deal spokesman on the air two and three times a week. In 1949, the FCC instated a policy that came to be known as the "Fairness Doctrine." Stations were required to give equal time to opposing opinions of controversial...

http://www.wnd.com/index.php?fa=PAGE.view&pageId=108700

1st Amendment: Mark Lloyd, a disciple of Saul Alinsky and fan of Hugo Chavez, wants to destroy talk radio and says free speech is a distraction. The new FCC diversity "czar" says Venezuela is an example we should follow.When Mark Lloyd was appointed July 29 as the chief diversity officer at the Federal Communications Commission, a nation focused on ObamaCare and a deteriorating economy took little notice. But as angry constituents flood town hall meetings and call in to talk radio, a man dedicated to silencing them sits at the right hand of the president. They share a common hero...

The president’s approval ratings are going down. The economy is stagnant, and the president’s efforts at jump-starting it have met with little success. After rushing through a series of bailouts and company takeovers, the president's Marxist advisors recommended a slew of vast, draconian “reform” policies. But the public has grown increasingly skeptical. Consumer confidence is at an all-time low. The president’s detractors on the airwaves have become more numerous and more vocal than ever before. And it’s no longer just the conservatives. The mainstream media have also begun to criticize the president's policies. Something must be done, and quickly. The...

A revision to the Cybersecurity Act of 2009, the proposed Rockefeller-Snowe legislation in Congress, has drawn criticism because of concerns that it would give the president power to shut down the internet. The proposed law, introduced in April by Sen. John (Jay) Rockefeller IV, D-W.Va., and Sen. Olympia Snowe, R-Maine, originally contained a controversial clause that said: “The president may declare a cybersecurity emergency and order the limitation or shutdown of internet traffic to and from any compromised federal government or critical infrastructure information system or network.” The bill recently was revised, and the new language now reads: “The president...

The threat to free speech on radio will not come through the "fairness doctrine." The threat comes from Mark Lloyd, newly appointed Chief Diversity Officer of the FCC.Lloyd, a disciple of Saul Alinsky and fan of Hugo Chavez, wants to destroy talk radio and says free speech is a distraction. The new FCC diversity "czar" says Venezuela is an example we should follow. Loyd has called for making private broadcasting companies pay licensing fees up to an amount equal to their total operating costs to fund Public Broadcasting. Lloyd wants to upgrade and revamp the Corporation for Public Broadcasting through...

Democrats continually tell America the Fairness Doctrine is dead. But if the threat of the return of government broadcast censorship was truly dead, there would be no need to keep reminding us. The latest reminder that the threat of the Fairness Doctrine survives, or more accurately its intended result – the destruction of conservative and Christian talk radio—is the appointment of Mark Lloyd as the FCC's new Associate General Counsel and Chief Diversity Officer. Prior to his appointment, Lloyd was a Senior Fellow with the Center for American Progress (CAP), a liberal think tank funded by far-left billionaire George Soros...

They warned back in 2008 what might happen if Barack Obama was elected president, and according to conservative talk show host Rush Limbaugh and Fox News Channel host Glenn Beck, a lot of bad stuff is unfolding right before our eyes. Limbaugh appeared on Beck's Aug. 26 program to discuss the threat of the federal government attempting to regulate the media. He explained the president's policy maneuvers were evidence that this can happen - with very limited opposition in the media. ...more (w/video)...

Former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin issued an invitation that should please Fox News's Glenn Beck as well as his fans. Of course, it won't make Obama lovers and Palin haters in the media very happy. That's probably just an ancillary benefit to her Wednesday morning posting on Facebook (h/t NBer philipjames): FOX News' Glenn Beck is doing an extraordinary job this week walking America behind the scenes of 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue and outlining who is actually running the White House. Monday night he asked us to invite one friend to watch; tonight I invite all my friends to watch. -Sarah...

Inspired by Saul Alinsky, FCC 'Diversity' Chief Calls for ‘Confrontational Movement’ to Give Public Broadcasting Dominant Role in Communications Wednesday, August 26, 2009 By Matt Cover (CNSNews.com) – Mark Lloyd, chief diversity officer of the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), called for a “confrontational movement” to combat what he claimed was control of the media by international corporations and to re-establish the regulatory power of government through robust public broadcasting and a more powerful FCC. Lloyd expressed his regulatory call to arms in his 2006 book, “Prologue to a Farce: Communications and Democracy in America” (University of Illinois Press). In the...

Rest of title: to Give Public Broadcasting Dominant Role in Communications Mark Lloyd, chief diversity officer of the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), called for a “confrontational movement” to combat what he claimed was control of the media by international corporations and to re-establish the regulatory power of government through robust public broadcasting and a more powerful FCC. Lloyd expressed his regulatory call to arms in his 2006 book, “Prologue to a Farce: Communications and Democracy in America” (University of Illinois Press). In the book, Lloyd also said that public broadcasting should be funded through new license fees charged to the...

As each day passes and President Barack Obama's health care proposal faces more and more opposition, some of the talking heads that appear on the cable news networks are looking for a "boogeyman" to blame for allegedly ginning up backlash. And that "boogeyman" has been conservative talk radio. However, if recent history is any indication, there could be an effort to take silence conservative talk radio. Some of the circumstances surrounding the current debate on "reforming" health care are eerily familiar to the 2007 bipartisan effort to "reform" immigration. In fact, the last big policy issue that was defeated when...

Grassley: FCC Diversity Chief May Stifle Talk Radio Tuesday, August 18, 2009 5:26 PM By: Rick Pedraza Sen. Charles Grassley is worried that Obama administration’s new federal communications "diversity" director may try to regulate talk radio with a "backdoor" method akin to the Fairness Doctrine. The Iowa Republican expressed his concerns because of a paper in which Mark Lloyd, the diversity director, alleged a “structural imbalance” in political talk radio and suggested increasing government involvement to regulate it. Lloyd co-authored the paper for the liberal Center for American Progress. Grassley sent a letter Friday to FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski voicing...

An emperor of a prosperous city who cares more about clothes than military pursuits or entertainment hires two swindlers who promise him the finest suit of clothes from the most beautiful cloth. This cloth, they tell him, is invisible to anyone who was either stupid or unfit for his position. The Emperor cannot see the (non-existent) cloth, but pretends that he can for fear of appearing stupid; his ministers do the same. When the swindlers report that the suit is finished, they dress him in mime. The Emperor then goes on a procession through the capital showing off his new...

In a letter sent last week to the chairman of the Federal Communications Commission, Sen. Charles Grassley (R.-Iowa) said he is concerned that the FCC new "diversity" director, Mark Lloyd, may seek to regulate talk radio through the "back door." Grassley, who expressed his concerns in a letter to FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski on Friday, said he was concerned that the new diversity chief would implement a back-door return of the much-maligned “Fairness Doctrine,” which had mandated that broadcasters devote equal airtime to both sides of controversial issues, a move which would spell the end of opinionated talk radio. “Taken...

Iowa Republican Senator Chuck Grassley has publicly released a letter he penned to Federal Communications Commission (FCC) Chairman Julius Genachowski regarding the July 29th announced appointment of new FCC Associate General Counsel and Chief Diversity Officer Mark Lloyd. In the press release accompanying the missive, the Senator said he was "concerned with the appointment due to Lloyd’s writings on political talk radio and the Fairness Doctrine."

Thus, the question becomes, how will conservatives, particularly talk radio hosts such as Limbaugh, Beck, and Hannity, fight back? The answer is contingency plans, my friends. Prudent patriots always have contingency plans just in case the long arm of tyrannical government begins to interfere with the commonly-accepted liberties we have enjoyed in this country for over 200 years. Many citizens, and not just those who identify themselves as conservative, do not like what they are seeing since Barack Obama took the White House in January of this year. They have witnessed a shocking assault on our freedoms, and they are...

FCC’s Chief Diversity Officer Wants Private Broadcasters to Pay a Sum Equal to Their Total Operating Costs to Fund Public Broadcasting(CNSNews.com) - Mark Lloyd, newly appointed Chief Diversity Officer of the Federal Communications Commission, has called for making private broadcasting companies pay licensing fees equal to their total operating costs to allow public broadcasting outlets to spend the same on their operations as the private companies do. Lloyd presented the idea in his 2006 book, Prologue to a Farce: Communications and Democracy in America, published by the University of Illinois Press. Lloyd’s hope is to dramatically upgrade and revamp the...

We knew this was coming. We told you it would happen as far back as last year during the campaign. It is now official. Barack Obama has launched a full, frontal attack on conservative talk radio, and he is doing it without re-implementing 'the Fairness Doctrine.' But first, a bit of background.

Seton Motley on Glenn Beck about Mark Lloyd: ASSAULT ON CONSERVATIVE AND CHRISTIAN TALK RADIO Originally aired on Friday August 14, 2009 Comment from poster, Yosemitest: I recommend you open the video link to the right from youtube.com in a separate window and reduce its size to view just the 9:00 minutes of video. Then you can read along on the transcript below. BEGIN TRANSCRIPT MODERATOR: For years, the world has seen reality distorted, facts manipulated, and truth hidden. But there’s even more to the story than anyone has ever suspected. Because no one has been able to see...

It's not enough that much of the mainstream media cheered on Barack Obama to the presidency in 2008 or browbeat former President George W. Bush on Iraq and Afghanistan to force Republicans from control of Congress. No, it's time for a "progressive television network" and for left-wingers to support radio hosts that are sympathetic to liberal causes according to Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt. You may have thought there already was a "progressive" cable network in MSNBC and left-wingers sort of had an opportunity to support Air America, but that didn't quite pan out as anticipated - though it's still hanging...

Seton Motley, Director of Communications for the Media Research Center, tells us precisely where this is headed: “They don’t want equality of opportunity, they want equality of outcomes – giving equal time for people who get listeners and people who don’t.”

Matt Cover at the Media Research Center's News Division, CNSNews.com, has a piece out today entitled "FCC’s Chief Diversity Officer Wants Private Broadcasters to Pay a Sum Equal to Their Total Operating Costs to Fund Public Broadcasting." This is insane. The "Chief Diversity Officer" in question, Mark Lloyd, is calling for the gross operating budget for every private radio station each year to be the fee (tax) they pay for their broadcast license for the year, with the monies going to the always liberal public stations. With whom they then must compete for listeners.

Mark Lloyd, newly appointed Chief Diversity Officer of the Federal Communications Commission, has called for making private broadcasting companies pay licensing fees equal to their total operating costs to allow public broadcasting outlets to spend the same on their operations as the private companies do. Lloyd presented the idea in his 2006 book, Prologue to a Farce: Communications and Democracy in America, published by the University of Illinois Press. Lloyd’s hope is to dramatically upgrade and revamp the Corporation for Public Broadcasting through new funding drawn from private broadcasters. The CPB is a non-profit entity that was created by Congress...

Mark Lloyd has recently been appointed “Chief Diversity Officer” at the Federal Communications Commission. Conservative groups believe his installation is merely another way to impose the dangerous principles contained in the Fairness Doctrine. Lloyd is a longtime Democrat activist who has strategized about ways to censor conservative media under the guise of “local accountability.” In 2007, he co-wrote a report that called for, among other things, the restoration of local and national caps on the ownership of commercial radio stations and fines for commercial radio station owners if their stations didn’t air enough “progressive” content. Those fines would go directly...

Democrats still can't stomach conservative talk radio's clout. It really came to a head when Air America, the liberal talk radio network, had to file for bankruptcy, and its marquis performer, comedian Al Franken, decided to quit and take a job as Minnesota's Democratic Senator, since the pay and benefits are better. Let's have a round of applause for the sound judgment of Minnesota's Democrats. It was quite a journey from "Saturday Night Live" to the Senate for Franken, but logical, since a skill set as a comedian is patently transferable to Washington politics. On Aug. 30, 2007, Hernando Today...

The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has announced a new "Chief Diversity Officer," communications attorney Mark Lloyd. But Doctor of Jurisprudence Lloyd is far more than merely a communications attorney. He was at one time a Senior Fellow at the uber-liberal Center for American Progress (CAP), for whom he co-wrote a June 2007 report entitled "The Structural Imbalance of Political Talk Radio." Which rails against the fact that the American people overwhelmingly prefer to listen to conservative (and Christian) talk radio rather than the liberal alternative, and suggests ways the federal government can remedy this free-market created "problem." * Restore local...

August 5, 1987--The Federal Communications Commission voted unanimously today to abolish its fairness doctrine on the ground that it unconstitutionally restricts the free-speech rights of broadcast journalists. ''We seek to extend to the electronic press the same First Amendment guarantees that the print media have enjoyed since our country's inception,'' said the new chairman of the F.C.C., Dennis R. Patrick. He and the three other commissioners said the 38-year-old fairness doctrine was stifling the democratic debate it was supposed to promote. [ Excerpts from the decision, page C26. ] Contrasting Views Required The doctrine, which evolved through court rulings and...

George Galloway’s discussion of the subject of Gaza on Press TV has landed him in trouble with Ofcom. Apparently he wasn’t entirely even-handed. Ofcom said the “overwhelming majority” of the programmes’ content was pro-Palestinian and highly critical of Israeli policy, and Mr Galloway spoke “from an entirely pro-Palestinian point of view”. I didn’t realise he worked for the BBC. But, seriously, so what if he was biased? Press TV is the mouthpiece of the Tehran government and no one switches it on expecting to hear anything but anti-Israeli propaganda. Let them. So what if a few thousand people watch or...

Clear Channel Radio has agreed to donate stations and equipment to the Minority Media and Telecommunications Council as part of a move to increase diversity in media ownership. Clear Channel Radio will donate a number of AM station to the council through the MMTC-Clear Channel Ownership Diversity Initiative. Initially, Clear Channel Radio plans to donate AM radio stations KYHN in Fort Smith, Ark.; WTFX in Winchester, Va.; KMFX in Rochester, Minn.; and WHJA in Laurel, Miss. The council will work with the National Association of Broadcasters (NAB) Education Foundation’s Broadcast Leadership Training Program to use these radio stations for training...

Prudent information consumers quiescently acknowledge that the daily platter of world events often served us even by the best of media sources, consists of, at best, an incomplete diet. Unfortunately this diet has steadily become unhealthier and less adequate, given the curious mutation of today's Main Stream Media from what once (very long ago) was counted upon as a reliable source of information, into strictly a venue through which ideologies wage battle. This present scourge of shameless bias in the MSM tends to rear its ugly head whenever there is a frenzied immersion into a particular story -- and a...

PENCE “PROFOUNDLY DISAPPOINTED” AS DEMOCRATS REJECT VOTE BANNING FAIRNESS DOCTRINE PDF Print Rules Committee Rejects Broadcaster Freedom Amendment Along Partisan Lines WASHINGTON, DC - U.S. Congressman Mike Pence released the following statement in response to the news that the Democrat-majority Rules Committee had rejected the ‘Broadcaster Freedom Amendment' which would have prevented the Federal Communications Commission from reinstating the so-called ‘Fairness Doctrine' and enacting proposed broadcast localism regulations for the next fiscal year. All Democrats present voted against allowing the amendment to the Financial Services Appropriations Bill, which funds the FCC, on a final vote of 7-4.

WASHINGTON, DC-U.S. Congressman Mike Pence released the following statement in response to the news that the Democrat-majority Rules Committee had rejected the 'Broadcaster Freedom Amendment' which would have prevented the Federal Communications Commission from reinstating the so-called 'Fairness Doctrine' and enacting proposed broadcast localism regulations for the next fiscal year. All Democrats present voted against allowing the amendment to the Financial Services Appropriations Bill, which funds the FCC, on a final vote of 7-4.

Congressman Greg Walden and Congressman Mike Pence filed the Broadcaster Freedom Amendment last night to the Financial Services Appropriations Bill that would kill any funding for the so-called "Fairness Doctrine" as well as stealth Fairness Doctrine in the form of proposed broadcast localism regulations.Democrats from Speaker Nancy Pelosi to Senators Dick Durbin, and John Kerry have called for the return of this kind of regulation to the airwaves of America, but thanks to the support of millions of freedom-loving Americans, we were able to mostly close the front door to this government censorship.So now they are trying to sneak through...

During last night's "The Curtis Sliwa Show" (Wed., 7/1/09), Curtis announced that he had suspended his longtime producer Frank Morano because of the fact that Frank had a screensaver on his own work computer that had a copy of the ObamaCrimes.com page depicting the alleged "faux" birth certificate of President Obama from the State of Hawaii. Sliwa said that Frank will be suspended for the rest of the week, or until he removes the screensaver, and he stated that the Citadel lawyers are working with Frank to get him back on the air on the grounds of Free Speech. From...

First Amendment Farewell Tour by: Brittany Fortier, July 02, 2009 Americans are in for some “change” they won’t believe in as the Obama administration and Congressional Democrats prepare to reinstall the Fairness Doctrine, argues one author. If they are successful, the First Amendment as we know it in America will no longer exist. Brad O’Leary, the publisher of the O’Leary Report and author of Shut Up, America! The End of Free Speech spoke about this contentious issue at the Heritage Foundation on June 24, 2009. O’Leary argued that American newspapers are “totally and completely biased” in their coverage of President...

President Obama’s friend and his nominee for the vacant Chairmanship sailed through this afternoon’s Senate Commerce Committee confirmation hearing. Most of the attention was on issues like a national broadband policy and making the agency more consumer-friendly. He answered Texas Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison’s question about a possible return of the Fairness Doctrine by saying “I don’t support reinstatement…I believe strongly in the First Amendment. I don’t think the FCC should be involved in censorship of content based on political speech or opinion.” The Senate committee had frosty relations with previous Chairman Kevin Martin, a Bush appointee, and everyone at...

Some in the liberal media establishment have decried discussion of the Fairness Doctrine, claiming the Obama administration's publicly saying it wouldn't pursue it removed the threat. However, conservative radio talk show host Rush Limbaugh theorized that President Obama may have another method to restrict content over the airwaves in mind. In an interview on Sean Hannity's June 4 Fox News Channel program, Limbaugh explained how Obama could do this - by exercising the influence the government has over the banking sector. "I want to say one other thing, even if I go over time here," Limbaugh said. "People ask me...

Despite recent assurances that the Fairness Doctrine is a dead issue to the point of White House press secretary, Robert Gibbs, along with reporters laughing off a question about its possible return, it will probably be coming back repackaged in a more odious form as localism according to a Broadcasting & Cable article by John Eggerton: Acting FCC Chairman Michael Copps may have wished to drive a stake deep into the Fairness Doctrine issue. However, his recent comments on the subject have only helped keep it alive and kicking.In a speech two weeks ago, Copps said the doctrine was long...