The media in this country has been a place where it tries to think for the individual. It sort of reminds me of the fat, lazy humans in Wall-E. We only pay attention to soundbytes, and even then, they have to be the most tempting. People get lazy; hell if it hadn’t been so blatant, do you think Congressman Austria would have gotten away with trying to BLAME the stock market crash of 1929 and ensuing recession on DEMOCRATIC President Roosevelt? Scratch that – that message did get out. A loved one tried to argue that to me today, even though she lived through the depression.
We need to have the message get out, and radio is part of that. Thing is, we no longer have the Fairness Doctrine, where a person who owned a license to broadcast had to represent all viewpoints. Well, that’s okay. I’m not sure legislating viewpoints is a win-win situation. How did Washington State look after the whole Christmas/non-Believers thing got blown up by Bill O’Reilly?
But Reagan’s thought that “the market will regulate itself” isn’t the answer either. It regulated Minot, ND right into a spot where, when a train derailed and released toxic fumes, the only player in town was Clear Channel. Yeah, all programming piped in from around the country, so nobody is there to warn the residents of danger. Is that how you want it?
I think we need to do another Sherman Anti-Trust act and this time, instead of Standard Oil, break up the media ownership. Then let’s see them REALLY compete for marketshare, and further progressive voice while we can.