FCC to Public: Boycott Rush and Leave Us Alone!

The FCC is wading into the Conservative Talk Radio debate, dipping its toe in the water just enough to make it seem it is doing its job in protecting the public interest in broadcasting, but not making enough of a ripple to rock the corporate lobbyists’ boat.

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Surprisingly, given the general lack of response by the FCC to the general public, the federal agency instantly responded to a March 10th letter from Roger Smith, of the broadcast watchdog Sacramento Media Group.  Smith complained about the gross imbalance of political viewpoints on the public airwaves in Sacramento, citing a study that Clear Channel stations in Sacramento devote 190 hours per week to Right Wing talk, while devoting not a single minute to any other viewpoint (a model perpetuated throughout 90% of the country.)
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The FCC responded with the following: 

Rush Limbaugh: Not the Only One with First Amendment Rights

UPDATE March 3, 2012.  Limbaugh is apologizing to Sandra Fluke for his choice of words."

Limbaugh has hurled insults before, but he hasn't apologized. But this time, sponsors are walking away.  No sponsors, no money. No money, no way to pay his $400 million contract. Presto, Clear Channel, which is already on the financial ropes goes bankrupt.

March 2, 2012

Rush Limbaugh does it again...  and of course it comes as no surprise.

Impact

December 23, 2011

Crossposted from MediaActionCenter.net

December 12, 2011, Occupy Sacramento joined the Media Action Center and Sacramento Media Group in an action we called "Occupy Clear Channel." Activists in eight cities joined in the action. 
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We held a press conference in front of KFBK, the Clear Channel station which launched Rush Limbaugh, protesting its secret middle of the night decision to put Right Wing talk radio on a third giant frequency in Sacramento, while offering zero opportunity for alternate political speech.   We asked that Clear Channel hold a public forum for the public to air its grievances.

Why We Occupy Clear Channel

December 15, 2011

Why did the Media Action Center and the Sacramento Media Group and Occupy Sacramento occupy Clear Channel radio stations in Sacramento Monday? (note: Groups throughout the entire country supported this action.)  The corporate giant recently took music off its 92.5 FM frequency and chose to simulcast KFBK programming (Rush Limbaugh, Sean Hannity et al) on that 50,000 watt station.  That means Clear Channel is now broadcasting "conservative" right wing political opinion on three huge frequencies (KFBK, KGBY, and KSTE) on more than 120,000 watts of power.  (Note below, the lonely Air America station we once had in Sacramento broadcast over just 1,000 watts of power;  it was the only available frequency AA could get in this community.)  

The following article appeared in the Sacramento Bee Sunday, May 11, 2008, just after that progressive station went off the air.  Then we had 264 hours of right wing talk radio on our airwaves in Sacramento every week.  Now, with the Clear Channel flip, it's more like 350 hours of right wing talk, and not a minute of any alternative political opinions.

Sue Wilson: Federal Rules Give Corporation Backed Conservative Radio ALL the Local Voices

There's a mournful hush in Sacramento these days, the empty sound of an entire political viewpoint quieted.  32,000 weekly listeners who once tuned to KSAC 1240 AM  to hear partisan Democrats beat up on George W. Bush, now hear only Christian hiphop. 

There's nothing wrong with Christian HipHop; it's a great outlet for artists breaking out of the gansta rap mold.   But there are six other commercial radio stations licensed in the Sacramento area programming the Christian message.  In the political realm, three local radio stations program 264 hours of partisan Republican radio talkers beating up on Democrats every week.   Now, zero stations program any Democratic view whatsoever.   264-0.

This follows the national trend revealed in the 2007 Free Press and Center for American Progress study, "The Structural Imbalance of Political Talk Radio."  Nationally, 90% of commercial talk radio is conservative, only 10% is liberal.   (This study does not include Public Radio, which by statute is required to provide differing points of view; one is as likely to hear a Republican's views as a Democrat's.  And NPR hosts don't beat up on anybody.)   

KSAC shared another characteristic with other liberal radio stations: it had a tiny, 1,000 watt transmitter.  Tough for a little station which barely reached Sacramento's suburbs to compete with 50,000 watt giant KFBK, whose signal stretches from Chico to Modesto, from Reno to that little town of San Francisco.  Despite  KFBK reaching millions more potential listeners, KSAC mustered an audience nearly 20% that of KFBK's.   (Its ratings were double local conservative station KTKZ, which has a 5,000 watt transmitter.)  And Arbitron showed the progressive station's audience was steadily growing.  KSAC was the little station that could.  Until it couldn't. 

Occupy Clear Channel - the day after

December 13, 2011

Yesterday, about 25 people came together in Sacramento to ask the community's largest radio owner, Clear Channel, to provide an outlet for Alternative talk radio.  As the big company only puts "Conservative" talk radio over the air in more than 90% of the country, they are effectively denying Freedom of Speech to the rest of us in the public square of radio.

We entered the building to inspect the stations' public files (since we the people own the airwaves, the stations are required to report to us.)  And allies in Washington DC, San Francisco, Milwaukee, Madison, Sarasota, Jacksonville and West Palm Beach (Rush Limbaugh's newly adopted hometown) joined our effort.  We'll have report as soon as we can compile it!

Time to Occupy the FCC?

December 2, 2011

What is it going to take to make the federal agency tasked with protecting the public interest in broadcasting actually listen to the public?   An uprising of three million people?   A directive from President Obama?   An order from the second highest court in the land?   We've seen all of that, and still nothing has worked.   It may be time to Occupy the FCC.   But I digress.

Just before the big Thanksgiving holiday, the Federal Communications Commission leaked information that they are once again reviewing the broadcast media ownership rules, and that -- get this -- they intend to leave local TV and Radio ownership rules in place, and plan to move ahead with the same newspaper-broadcast cross-ownership rules that Republican chair Kevin Martin put into place. 

But wait, don't they remember the 3 million people who wrote them in 2005, saying they want more owners of fewer radio and TV stations, not the other way around?  Or what about President Obama's January 2009 directive, originally reported in BradBlog, that we need to diversify media ownership?   Or the recent Third Circuit Court of Appeals ruling specifically surrounding the newspaper cross ownership issue, which said the FCC had not properly listened to the public, and that they must do so before making such a rule?   

What is it Charlie Brown says every time Lucy pulls the football out from underneath him?     

AAAAAUUUUUUGH!!!!! 

It gets worse.   True to form, the FCC quietly announced that there would be an FCC hearing about media ownership rules held in Atlanta, Georgia December 1.   They announced the forum in their Daily Digest the day after Thanksgiving, just 6 days before the public event.   The hearing would be the last public event held before the final notice of proposed rulemaking for 2010 Quadrennial Ownership Review is released, the last opportunity for the public to make comments about OUR public airwaves for the next four years!

It is clear the FCC does not want to hear from the very public it serves.

So I am not kidding about Occupying the FCC.   

More.   Soon.

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 Occupy Sacramento screened "Broadcast Blues" Thursday evening, and the Occupy protesters are now looking closely at corporate misinformation and fear created by media, especially radio.  What will come of it?  Stay tuned. 

Why Occupy Wall Street Needs to Occupy Radio!

In its September 29, 2011 Declaration of the Occupation of New York City, Occupy Wall Street wrote, "They purposefully keep people misinformed and fearful through their control of the media."  

 

And which media 1)reaches the most people, 2)promotes the most fear and disinformation, and 3) is legally subject to the will of the people?  

It's Radio! 

Compare these maps representing numbers and sizes of  "Conservative", 
"Right Wing" radio stations and "Liberal" radio stations across the USA:

Then look at a map of the 2010 Midterm Election Results:

About 50 million Americans listen to Right Wing Talk Radio.

Now here's the SCARY part:
Glenn Beck and Sean Hannity have far more reach on Radio than Fox News.
You won't believe it until you
See These Charts!  

Radio is still the country's number one source of news and information,
but fewer than 10% of the country is able to hear any progressive talk radio.
Those who do tend to vote for more Democrats than those who do not.

How did this happen?

See the story from Broadcast Blues:

   More on how the media became broken and how to fix it from SueWilsonReports: 

Find a real plan of action to take our media back at the Media Action Center .

How Talk Radio and FOX News created the Tea Party

Folks seem to think that the Koch Brothers are the driving force behind the Tea Party.  Well, they are quite literally funding the busses that drive supporters from town to town to make it look like they have big crowds.  But even billionaires don't have the clout to create a national movement out of a grassroots gathering.  Only major media can do that.

Here is the video of the very first Tea Party rally Michael Stavros and I put together on April 15, 2009 in Sacramento. Rallies were promoted simultaneously throughout the country by, you guessed it, Talk Radio and Fox News.  THAT'S how the Tea Party movement was really born. 

Does Occupy Wall Street enjoy the same coverage?  No, because Talk Radio and FOX News only promote the pro-corporate side of the story. That's the only way "Conservatives" the "Right Wing" can remain in power.  They demonize this very real grassroots uprising to promote fear about it. 

Folks in Occupy LA asked me, "Who cares what Rush Limbaugh says?"  Answer: 20 million VOTERS who listen to him.

Tony Trupiano Interviews Sue on the radio!

Thanks, Tony, for putting me on OUR PUBLIC AIRWAVES!  For those who missed it, here's the Podcast:

Video Interview of Sue Wilson's Media Action Plan!

Many thanks to Bruce Fealk for writing this story and doing a videotaped interview inside the Frank Lloyd Wright designed UU Landmark Auditorium. 

Click to watch:

Sue's Response to Charlie Sykes

Charlie Sykes is a popular "Conservative"   Right wing radio talk show host who dominates Milwaukee's airwaves, as well as much of the state of Wisconsin.  In true form, he today wrote about me in his blog, totally mis-characterizing my message.  But d'ya think he would dare actually debate me on our public airwaves?  Nah.  He can only win the argument if he goes unchallenged.

So here's his blog, go through the comments to find my answer:

http://www.620wtmj.com/blogs/charliesykes/130560298.html

Sue's Response to Rush Limbaugh

Sue's Response to

Rush Limbaugh:

SacBee Laments Right-Wing Talk Radio as a "Threat to Democracy"

May 12, 2008

BEGIN TRANSCRIPT

RUSH: As you know, ladies and gentlemen, my adopted hometown is Sacramento, California.  I worked out there at KFBK, 50,000 watt blowtorch, 'til this day carries the program, been on the air there since 1984, so 24 years at KFBK Sacramento, number one.  And while there, one of my nemeses was the Sacramento Bee, the local newspaper owned by the McClatchy clan.  It is still owned by the McClatchy clan, and it has still refused to accept what has happened to me, as evidenced by a story that is special to the Bee published yesterday.  Headline:  "Federal Rules Give Corporation-Backed Conservative Radio all the Local Voices."  This is a story, this is a hand-wringing, tear-jerker story of how liberal talk radio couldn't make it out there, and damn it, it's not fair, it's not right, and it's because federal rules give corporation-backed conservative radio all the local voices.  Listen to how this thing starts, by Sue Wilson, who I don't know.  She was probably still in diapers when I was in Sacramento. 

     Hmmnn… I worked under the Fairness Doctrine, which went out in 1987, so my age must be at least …. well, you do the math.

"There's a mournful hush in Sacramento these days, the empty sound of an entire political viewpoint quieted. More than 32,000 weekly listeners who once tuned [to the local lib outlet] to hear partisan Democrats beat up on President George W. Bush, now hear only Christian hip-hop."  Now, if that's not the funniest opening of a news story that I have ever read, I don't know what is.  Thirty-two thousand weekly listeners is nothing!  People don't understand radio ratings.  Thirty-two thousand weekly listeners would add up to about 1,500 every 15 minutes, the average quarter hour would be about 1,500 to 2,000 listeners.  I mean, for crying out loud, it's a 0.1 or 0.2, but it barely shows up as an asterisk in the rating books.

      That 1,000 watt station was getting 20% of KFBK's ratings, the market leader.  So by Rush's math, if KFBK had a 1,000 watt station instead of a 50,000 watt station, KFBK would get a whopping 0.5 or 1.0?   Maybe he has a problem with mathematics.   Math is precise, kind of like facts. 

 Now, Sue Wilson says, "There's nothing wrong with Christian hip-hop; it's a great outlet for artists breaking out of the gansta rap mold. But there are six other commercial radio stations licensed in the Sacramento area programming the Christian message. In the political realm, three local radio stations program 264 hours of partisan Republican radio talkers beating up on Democrats every week. Now, zero stations program any Democratic view whatsoever: 264-0."  So it's 264 hours of partisan Republican bashing to zero hours of partisan liberal bashing. 

     That he got right.