Carsons Corner

The Talk Radio format could be in jeopardy if House Speaker Pelosi has her way.

Under Ronald Reagan the Fairness Doctrine went away opening the door to the talk radio format of today. In removing the Fairness Doctrine radio stations were no longer bound by FCC regulation to give equal time to both sides of a political discussion. This meant that a radio station could offer programming to which its audience would actually listen. As a result, sponsors would pay more money to the station knowing that there would be reciprocity by having customers come through the door. The first person to take advantage of the elimination of the Fairness Doctrine was talk show host Rush Limbaugh – now considered to be the most listened to talk show host on the radio. Other hosts like Sean Hannity, Bill O’Reilly, Neal Boortz, Michael Reagan and Mark Levin owe their current careers to the elimination of the doctrine and Limbaugh’s efforts.

But liberals don’t like it.

First, liberals though that if they were to offer their own brand of talk radio, they could counter conservative talk radio. So a bunch of them got together and thus was born the radio network Air America. Last year, however, due to extremely low ratings and poor sponsorship Air America was forced to declare bankruptcy and such liberal big mouths like Jeanine Garofalo and Al Franken lost their venue for spewing hate and vitriol against President Bush and America. The free market put the kibosh on Air America because people didn’t want to listen to it so they tuned it out.

Enter modern liberal Democrats like Dick Durbin who are doing everything they can to get the Fairness Doctrine reinstated. The first question is simply, “Why?”

The failure of Air(head) America might be the first inclination that most Americans are sick and tired of the ultra-liberal, socialist rhetoric. Secondly, the continued success of conservative talk radio is an acknowledgement that people already know where they can find their daily dose of liberal rhetoric: such venues as CNN, NBC, CBS, ABC and MSNBC – why do you think Microsoft pulled out of the MSNBC joint-venture? Liberals have shown time and time again that they hate losing. They would rather be revealed as bold-faced liars than to lose. They do not seem to care if they lie to the people about something, so long as they win.

Yesterday, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) announced her intention to bury H. R. 2095 to ensure that “it would not see the light of day in Congress in 2008.” This is a gross manipulation of the legislative process to force America into the liberal camp. Speaker Pelosi knows that if H.R. 2095 were to leave committee and be debated on the House floor, it would pass and it would forever ban the “Un”fairness Doctrine. The “Un”fairness Doctrine is a textbook infringement on Free Speech - expressly forbidden by the Constitution.

Democratic strategist Bob Beckel appeared on Fox News’ Hannity and Colmes tonight as the sole liberal in favor of the “Un”Fairness Doctrine. Even liberal co-host Alan Colmes said, “The free market should determine who survives in talk radio.” Beckel responded with some gibberish about how the airwaves belong to everyone and that the corporations that own the radio stations have to operate in the public interest. The problem with that line of thinking is that while you may be operating in “public interest” you have to make money to pay your bills and if people are not listening to your radio station then sponsors are not going to buy air time. Why would they want to advertise where no one is going to hear it? That’s stupid. Alan Colmes went on to say, “If you don’t get an audience then you can’t survive in radio.” There is no greater truth spoken than that. Radio and television rely on advertisers to make money and if no one is listening or watching, the money won’t be there. Why do you think a lot of new shows don’t make it passed the first few episodes? If the show is garbage people won’t watch, advertisers won’t pay and the station has to pull the program. If they don’t, they’re fools. Same goes for talk radio. When people don’t listen, advertisers won’t pay.

Let’s face it. The “Un”Fairness Doctrine is a thinly-veiled attempt to demonize and silence conservative talk radio. On the same Hannity & Colmes, Sean Hannity said, “They want to silence Rush Limbaugh because they can’t compete.” The Fairness Doctrine is only fair to liberals because they want to go back to the days when they had the monopoly on news distribution through CNN, NBC, CBS and ABC. Reinstating this regulation will only serve to force radio stations to change their format because they will not be able to compete by having to carry weak-minded, lame, liberal talk radio programs. Listeners will tune to other stations and stop listening all together. So it is a double attack – on one front it is an attack on conservative radio and it is an attack on corporate radio companies to lower their income as well.

There is no need for a Fairness Doctrine on radio when you already have two cable TV channels with hosts and anchors that get absolutely as giddy as a schoolgirl any time Barack Obama opens his mouth. Free Enterprise means that people are free to use whatever enterprise suits their needs. When the enterprise no longer suits them, they will take their money elsewhere.