Via Media Trackers; Apparently unable to win the argument, the left turns to the coercive power of the federal government to shut down conservative talk radio. Their agenda is not subtle: they do not believe that talk radio is protected by the constitutional right of free speech and hey want the government to pull the licenses of stations like ours... because they don't like the things that are being said on the air.
On Wednesday evening in Mequon, before a crowd of perhaps 30 at the Unitarian Church North, documentary filmmaker and media activist Sue Wilson of the Media Action Center presented her movie Broadcast Blues and held a discussion afterwards about how local communities can reclaim the “public airwaves.”
Wilson laments the loss of the Fairness Doctrine, calling conservative talk radio the “cancer eating this country alive.” She went further stating “the country is getting a bit weary of all this hard-right, fascist, hate talk.”
Wilson outlined a set of “tools” for activists who wish to pressure local radio stations. They include filing FCC complaints, boycotting sponsors, and lodging petitions to deny licenses. In fact, she told the audience that she would be making a trip to a Milwaukee radio station on Friday to inspect their public files.
Wilson celebrated the actions of WEA Trust, who just this week threatened legal action against Milwaukee talk show host Mark Belling for “defamation.”When told that Vicki McKenna was “inciting violence against protesters,” Wilson said “get me that audio,” alluding she would love to file an FCC complaint against the Madison radio host.
Wilson also encouraged the creation of local “media action teams” to monitor TV and radio, to ask for meetings with broadcast station’s managers, and to even stage protests. Wilson said she would help local teams with FCC complaints and legal action, boasting “I will even provide you with lawyers.”
Wilson’s entire argument against conservative talk radio rests on the idea that the airwaves are “public” because they are finite. This notion stems from the 1930′s when the FCC began regulating radio, broadly defining that it must “serve the public interest.” Of course for Wilson, the “public interest” seems to be a matter of opinion. By using inflammatory language and calling talk radio “fascist,” her argument for the “public interest” becomes one of another liberal whining about the success of conservative talk radio.
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