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Originally Posted by mostpost
Without discussing, for now, the merits of the "kill switch" bill, I must comment on your statement that bringing back the Fairness Doctrine would curtail and censor political free speech. That statement is the opposite of reality. The Fairness Doctrine requires anyone who owns or operates a radio station (Which uses the public airways) to provide time for opposing points of view. Without the fairness doctrine, owners have been able to limit political discussion to points of view which they endorse and shut out other opinions. That's why there are so many fools in this country. They listen to Rush Limbaugh, they don't bother to proof what he says, and they live and vote in ignorance.
And, before you ask, no they don't have the right to put whatever they want on their stations because they own them. Their stations use the public airways and they are subject to the public. If they don't like it they can go into the frisbie business.
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But the public has a right to listen to whatever they want because the public owns the airwaves -- not the government! And ratings have proven time and again that the public overwhelming desires to listen to conservative talk shows. In the free market system, all the radio stations are doing is observing the Law of Supply and Demand! There is very little demand for liberal drivel. And since radio stations are corporations looking to make money and profit, they will air shows that will guarantee large audiences so that in turn will attract ADVERTISERS -- you know other companies who pay the bills of the radio stations and ultimately incomes of their hosts.
Therefore, advertisers want large audiences.
So, you see, Mosty, water seeks its own level in a free market system. It's not as you would have us believe. The radio stations are not all a bunch of conservative ideologues. Their primary motive is to MAKE MONEY and in order to do that they MUST obey the Law of Supply and Demand. Trust me: If they weren't making good money with their conservative talk shows, they would replace them in a heart beat with shows that would. There's no vast right-wing conspiracy going on here. There's simply no real money to be made with liberal garbage because the public largely rejects that kind of trash.
In closing, the Fairness Doctrine would effectively censor conservative talk because the conservative talk show hosts' time on the air would be curtailed drastically -- probably by half. That would indeed be a form of censorship because it would limit their speech!
Boxcar
