Free Republic

Last year South Carolina Rep. James E. Clyburn was expected to stay neutral in the long, bitter Democratic presidential primary struggle between Sens. Hillary Rodham Clinton and Barack Obama. An influential endorsement from Clyburn, a civil rights hero and top member of the House Democratic leadership, would have been welcomed by former President Clinton, who worked closely with him in the 1990s and thought they were close friends.

At the heart of the controversy is conservative talk radio. Arbitron’s new PPM measurement system is showing that conservative talk is even more popular in the nation’s largest markets than previous measurements have shown while minority targeted stations are less popular. But, the PPM doesn’t lie. This is a pager-like device that the listener wears. It registers whatever radio station is being heard in real time and encodes that information into a data base. It is the most accurate means of measuring true listening habits ever devised. But minority stations are crying foul and we have a government that grabs...

The acting chairman of the Federal Communications Commission has told members of a "diversity" committee who almost exclusively represent left-leaning organizations to tackle the status quo in America's broadcast industry and suggest "aggressive" solutions to what they see as problems. According to The O'Leary Report, published by author Brad O'Leary, author of "Shut Up, America!: The End of Free Speech," the FCC's "Diversity Committee," headed by "Fairness Doctrine," supporter Henry Rivera, has begun its work. The report said the committee made it clear at a meeting yesterday its members will force President Obama's supporters into positions of power within the...

The acting chairman of the Federal Communications Commission has told members of a "diversity" committee who almost exclusively represent left-leaning organizations to tackle the status quo in America's broadcast industry and suggest "aggressive" solutions to what they see as problems. According to The O'Leary Report, published by author Brad O'Leary, author of "Shut Up, America!: The End of Free Speech," the FCC's "Diversity Committee," headed by "Fairness Doctrine," supporter Henry Rivera, has begun its work. The report said the committee made it clear at a meeting yesterday its members will force President Obama's supporters into positions of power within the...

The Federal Communications Commission has announced the roster of a new advisory committee on "diversity" in communications, a move many critics have warned would mark the beginning of government regulation of talk radio and a reinstallation of the "Fairness Doctrine" by another name.

Behold one of the new "Fairness" Doctrines - "media diversity" - coming soon to a radio station near you. President Barack Obama's Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has released the names of the thirty-one members of their Advisory Committee On Diversity For Communications In The Digital Age. This May 7 gathering is made up of a laundry list of left-wing grievance groups, with a smattering of radio and television companies included to break up the monotony. Not a single conservative organization is taking part in this Commission - more than a dozen Leftist groups are. A little ironic for a "diversity"...

The leader of a newly formed public awareness campaign to alert U.S. citizens about an effort to stifle free speech says he expects local "boards" will be assembled within 90 days to begin censoring talk radio, a move that will come as an "Arctic blast" against the expression of opinion in the United States. WND reported just days ago on a meeting at which more than two dozen principals of the nation's top talk radio shows held a private strategy meeting to discuss government plans to squelch critical political speech on radio. Organized by Brad O'Leary, author of the new...

WASHINGTON, April 17 (UPI) -- Reports filed with the Federal Election Commission indicate Democrats in the U.S. Senate are raking in contributions at a rapid clip for the 2010 election. First-quarter filings reveal that even incumbents considered to be vulnerable are pulling in more than their potential GOP challengers, The Washington Times reported Friday.

Is right-wing talk radio losing its clout? That's the talk among observers of Wisconsin politics after looking closely at the results of last week's spring elections. Milwaukee radio hosts Charlie Sykes and Mark Belling beat up on Chief Justice Shirley Abrahamson and superintendent of schools candidate Tony Evers, but except in heavily Republican suburban Milwaukee, they easily dispatched their conservative opponents, Randy Koschnick and Rose Fernandez. Here in Dane County, WIBA's Vicki McKenna used hours of her afternoon drive-time show to regularly savage County Executive Kathleen Falk on the 911 Center, while usually moderate morning host Mitch Henck attacked her...

WASHINGTON (Dow Jones)--Federal Communications Commission Acting Chairman Michael Copps said Wednesday he intends to act boldly to help improve the diversity of broadcasters in the U.S. "Today we commit to getting independent and credible information to gird what I intend to be meaningful action to right the injustice" of the lack minority- and women-owned broadcasters in the U.S., Copps said at an FCC meeting. The FCC approved a proposal to improve data collection about broadcasting entities owned by women and minorities. The FCC voted to expand the number of broadcast entities that must file data to the commission about the...

President-elect Barack Obama intends to nominate his technology adviser, Julius Genachowski, to head the Federal Communications Commission, a Democratic source close to the Obama transition team said.

It was an important and impressive vote in the Senate.  By a vote of 87-11, the Senate approved an amendment by Senator Jim DeMint which prohibits the FCC from reinstating the Fairness Doctrine and requiring broadcasters - including Christian broadcasters - always air both sides of a controversial issue.While this is an important victory, it is Round One.  Also in the Senate yesterday, an amendment by Senator Dick Durbin was approved by a much closer vote, 57-41 - an amendment that attempts to promote 'diversity' in media ownership.That amendment is still of concern to those who support broadcast freedom -...

Good news. Kind of. The Senate voted Thursday in favor of an amendment to the District of Columbia voting-rights bill that would prohibit the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) from reinstating the so-called Fairness Doctrine, which critics say would decimate conservative talk radio…Republicans have introduced the Broadcaster Freedom Act in the House as well, but Democrats are not expected to allow a vote on the bill…The amendment, sponsored by Senate Republican Steering Committee Chairman Jim DeMint (S.C.) and Senate Republican Conference Vice Chairman John Thune (S.D.), would block the FCC from reviving equal-time requirements by enacting the Broadcaster Freedom Act....

The Senate today moved to ban the Federal Communications Commission from reintroducing the Fairness Doctrine, stuffing the measure into legislation that would give the District of Columbia its own congressman.The Fairness Doctrine required broadcasters to offer equal time to differing viewpoints. It was abolished by the FCC in 1987 but conservative radio talk shows have regularly stirred up concern it would be revived by the FCC under a Democratic administration. Democrats haven’t made such a move and say they have no plans to do so.The amendment to block the FCC from acting was one of several amendments added to the...

Remember the “Fairness Doctrine”? It was the FCC mandate that required equal representation of viewpoints on the airwaves in the 1970s and 80s. If a given radio channel aired three hours of conservative talk radio, it had to balance those out with three hours of liberal talk radio. President Ronald Reagan struck this down in 1987 and the popularity that conservative talk radio has garnered since has some members of the House and Senate calling for the doctrine’s reintroduction. I have only one question: “Would the legislators who are pushing for the reinstitution of the ‘Fairness Doctrine’ be willing to...

OPINION FEBRUARY 20, 2009 Mr. President, Keep the Airwaves Free As a former law professor, surely you understand the Bill of Rights. By RUSH LIMBAUGH Dear President Obama: I have a straightforward question, which I hope you will answer in a straightforward way: Is it your intention to censor talk radio through a variety of contrivances, such as "local content," "diversity of ownership," and "public interest" rules -- all of which are designed to appeal to populist sentiments but, as you know, are the death knell of talk radio and the AM band? You have singled me out directly, admonishing...

All this talk about the "Fairness Doctrine" is obscuring the real danger to America's freedom of the press. The real issue is the Obama administration's desire to steal television broadcasting licenses from the current station owners and give them to his radical friends such as ACORN and the labor unions. This is not some "black helicopter" conspiracy. It's very real, and like Obama's other most-dangerous plans, can be implemented by the simple stroke of the pen. First, a little background on the real value of television stations. In the words of Fred Friendly, television stations really exist only for one...

Obama: FCC Policies Must Encourage Media Ownership Diversity Monday, October 22, 2007 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE CONTACT: Amy Brundage, 202 228 5511 FCC Rule Changes Must First Assess and Address Minority Media Ownership WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senator Barack Obama (D-IL) today sent the following letter to Federal Communications Commission (FCC) Chairman Kevin J. Martin, calling on him to launch an independent review panel to develop proposals to further promote media ownership diversity. According to press accounts, following an insufficient 30-day review, the FCC intends to modify existing ownership rules by allowing greater media market consolidation. This would allow large media...

The House Democrats' $825 billion legislation released on Thursday was supposedly intended to "stimulate" the economy. Backers claimed that speedy approval was vital because the nation is in "a crisis not seen since the Great Depression" and "the economy is shutting down." That's the rhetoric. But in reality, Democrats are using the 258-page legislation to sneak Net neutrality rules in through the back door. The so-called stimulus package hands out billions of dollars in grants for broadband and wireless development, primarily in what are called "unserved" and "underserved" areas. The U.S. Department of Commerce is charged with writing checks-with-many-zeros-on-them to...

President Obama signed a bipartisan bill on February 11 decreeing that analog television will remain until June. If you were unaware of the national conversion to digital TV, you’re not alone. “Backers of the delay feared that 20 million mostly poor, elderly, or rural households” were unprepared for the conversion, reports Reuters. Nevertheless, by next week 681 stations will have abandoned analog, according to the Federal Communications Commission. The FCC might even forbid stations from meeting the very deadline originally set by the government. In 2005, Bush signed the Digital Transition and Public Safety Act, setting the deadline for this...