What you should know:
-Hugh Hewitt, wrote at TownHall.com: The Left Loathes Talk Radio - "It is no secret that the left in America loathe talk radio--it is the medium where the conservative counter-revolution in media was launched and where huge audiences gather daily to hear Rush, Sean, Bill Bennett, Dennis Prager, Laura Ingraham and Michael Medved...who have succeeded in building large audiences...Hosts from the left side of the spectrum have not been able to achieve these results...Not surprisingly, noises have been heard coming from the democratic-controlled Congress about legislating censorship for the radio via the Orwellian-named 'fairness doctrine.'...The censorship being discussed on Capitol Hill has one aim--to shut down the free flow of information and wide open debate."
Here's what the Left says about it: http://www.votelouise.com/page/petition/fairness
-The American Spectator reports that Speaker Nancy Pelosi and House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer are behind the charge. Over the years, other politicians, mostly Democrats, have pushed for changes, but there's been no legislative traction. Most of those stipulations were dumped during the Reagan administration. Media outlets had mushroomed by then, coupled with a stronger push toward First Amendment rights that allowed journalists more leeway in broadcasting content.
-WorldNetDaily reported Friday that Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Hillary Clinton, D-NY, and Senate colleague Barbara Boxer, D-CA, want to "fix" talk radio because of its conservative influence on America, according to Sen. James Inhofe.
-A recent analysis from the Center for American Progress and Free Press indicates that liberal voices are getting drowned out in the rapid-fire passion of conservatives. The scorecard says that of the 257 news/talk stations owned by the top five commercial station owners, "91 percent of the total weekday talk radio programming was conservative, and only nine percent was progressive."
-On FOX NEWS Sunday, Senator [Dianne] Feinstein was asked by Wallace: "Oklahoma Senator Inhofe says that he overheard Barbara Boxer and Hillary Clinton three years ago complaining about talk radio and saying there should be a legislative fix. Both of them deny it ever happened. But let me ask you about yourself. Do you have a problem with talk radio, and would you consider reviving the Fairness Doctrine, which would require broadcasters to put on opposing points of view?"
Feinstein replied: "Well, in my view, talk radio tends to be one-sided. It also tends to be dwelling in hyperbole. It's explosive. It pushes people to, I think, extreme views without a lot of information."
-Smaller conservative, and Christian radio stations will suffer under the 'fairness doctrine' being forced to host and address all issues from both sides. Who will suffer the most? The American people.
-Bottom Line? As Harry Truman said, "We need not fear the expression of ideas—we do need to fear their suppression."
Please make your voice heard to your Senators and Congressmen.
Sharon Hughes
is Founder and President of The Center for Changing Worldviews
and a radio talk show host on KDIA AM1640 in San
Francisco, RIGHTALK.com, and
online at Oneplace.com. Her column appears in many
recognized news sites and publications, most recently FRONTPAGEMAG.
She also writes for
NewsBusters.org.,
a division of The Media Research Center. For
further information visit her Websites www.changingworldviews.com,
WOMANTalk.us,
and Blog http://changingworldviews.blogspot.com.
Radio Talk Show Changing Worldviews, KDIA AM1640 San
Francisco Bay Area and Around the world Online at Oneplace.com
http://www.ediblog.com