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Fairness Doctrine Raises Its Ugly Head Under New FCC “Diversity Czar”

posted at 1:48 pm on August 13, 2009 by Rovin
[ Fairness Doctrine ]    printer-friendly

What’s a poor liberal progressive to do when the radio airwaves are dominated by conservative talk and they can’t seem to “get a word in”? Why not diversify it? After Dan Rather got hammered recently for suggesting the news media needs a public handout, now on the horizon is an FCC Diversity Czar calling for private broadcasting companies to fund public broadcasting companies their total operating cost. Matt Cover at CNSNEWS.COM files this report:

(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. LINK

Lloyd not only wants the money to come from private companies, he is planning on regulating the content:

“Local public broadcasters and regional and national communications operations should be required to encourage and broadcast diverse views and programs,” wrote Lloyd. “These programs should include coverage of all local, state and federal government meetings, as well as daily news and public issues programming.  (see link above for complete story)

Pravda anyone?

Lloyd wrote a book back in 2006 that must have caught someone in the Obama administration’s eye titled Prologue to a Farce: Communications and Democracy in America, published by the University of Illinois Press. Matt Cover explains that “Lloyd wrote Prologue to a Farce while a senior fellow at the liberal Center for American Progress. In that capacity, he co-authored the 2007 report The Structural Imbalance of Political Talk Radio”

The report argued that large corporate broadcasting networks had driven liberals off the radio, and that diversity of ownership would increase diversity of broadcasting voices

Did you catch that?  These unfortunate liberals have been “driven” off the radio.  Why wait for the liberals to produce a fairness doctrine when you’ve got a Diversity Czar under the White House’s thumb?

Blowback

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Comments

And THAT will be the next thing that gets the American people out into the town halls and the streets.

Ragspierre on August 13, 2009 at 1:57 PM

This post should be promoted from the Green Room, Allah & Ed.

Disturb the Universe on August 13, 2009 at 2:06 PM

CZARs we are watching you.

easyone on August 13, 2009 at 2:07 PM

By the way, Glenn Beck said that CNN had banned talk radio hosts from appearing as guests.

Disturb the Universe on August 13, 2009 at 2:08 PM

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.

Whoa.

Disturb the Universe on August 13, 2009 at 2:12 PM

Has it ever entered the tiny brain of lloyd that people DO NOT want to listen to libs on the radio? I don’t think one lib has ever been a success. Keep it up bho, team, and czars, Americans are becomming upset.
L

letget on August 13, 2009 at 2:18 PM

Just one more profitable industry this administration wants to destroy.

HoustonRight on August 13, 2009 at 2:20 PM

This post should be promoted from the Green Room, Allah & Ed.

I second that emotion.

Ragspierre on August 13, 2009 at 2:22 PM

Every new day brings some new outrage.

MTF on August 13, 2009 at 2:28 PM

Hannity and Beck have been predicting such a sneaky move.

Disturb the Universe on August 13, 2009 at 2:32 PM

“In addition, educational programs for children and adults, and diverse, independent personal and cultural expression should be encouraged,” he wrote.

Snore.

Don’t we have NPR for this rot?

Disturb the Universe on August 13, 2009 at 2:53 PM

We need an impeachment Czar answerable to the public but not to Congress.

Daggett on August 13, 2009 at 2:59 PM

We need an impeachment Czar answerable to the public but not to Congress.

Daggett on August 13, 2009 at 2:59 PM

HEAR HEAR!!!!

search4truth on August 13, 2009 at 3:11 PM

What irony…..I googled up FCC Diversity Czar to look for a “companion story” and the BOSS APPEARS!

Rovin on August 13, 2009 at 3:21 PM

Just keep in mind – equal time means no time for conservatives.

Radio stations (like T.V. stations) aren’t interested in being sued, so they’ll just pull down *all* political speech – so all that will be left is the skewed-left “PBS” dreck, and the skewed-left “entertainment” stuff.

Mew

acat on August 13, 2009 at 3:45 PM

The whole deal is designed to threaten to shift VAST amounts of revenue from productive stations to parasite stations.

Here’s the kicker; you could have a hundred AirHead Americas out there, and you’d still not have an audience.

Therefore, I would predict that money will actually be spent on both the supply and the demand ends of the equation. They will…literally…buy an audience.

Ragspierre on August 13, 2009 at 3:50 PM

Bring it on! Let Gibbsy try to explain this. This will be a blatant attempt to silence people which is against the Constitution. We all know it. They haven’t been entirely dumped on yet with Hell Care. We have just begun to fight. It ain’t over.

BetseyRoss on August 13, 2009 at 3:54 PM

How about a Diversity Czar to ensure that universities and colleges provide equal representation to conservative voices in faculty hirings and speaking engagements?

Disturb the Universe on August 13, 2009 at 5:59 PM

Ha! As I remember it, Air America and other liberal shows failed because no one wanted to listen to them. They can get the same liberal lies from the Network News. So why listen? “Driven off the radio” — how appropriate — another liberal lie.

Christian Conservative on August 13, 2009 at 6:55 PM

Please promote this post Ed et al. THis is a direct attack on free speech and the free press.

cannonball on August 13, 2009 at 7:15 PM

I suggest a WTF Czar.

cannonball on August 13, 2009 at 7:40 PM

This post has been promoted to HotAir.com.

Comments have been closed on this post but the discussion continues here.

Ed Morrissey on August 14, 2009 at 6:40 AM

I can’t find the TAR……..

Did you bring the feathers?????????????

1luckydogg on August 14, 2009 at 4:32 PM


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