Will the FCC Finally Act to Enforce the Rule of Law and Protect Our Public Airwaves?

[Commentary] There is a little-known ritual that occurs in the election years when Democrats prevail: Big "Conservative" Media starts to pull progressive talk radio off the air. I documented this in my 2009 documentary film Broadcast Blues: After Democratic candidates made big gains in 2006, Clear Channel and other public airwaves radio licensees pulled several well-performing progressive talk radio stations off the air and replaced them with sports and other programming. It would be easier to understand if the new programs got big ratings bumps, but that didn't happen. The new shows' ratings are typically only half those of progressive talkers.

True to form, Clear Channel Communications, which owns about 850 radio stations nationwide, took the progressive voices off the public airwaves in Portland (OR) just days after Democrats won big nationwide. So if it isn't about ratings, what other motive could the Bain Capital-owned Clear Channel have for denying access to progressive voices over the public airwaves, which we all own? The answer is found in Milwaukee, Wis., where five -- repeat: five -- local right-wing talkers on two stations directly supported Republican candidates from Scott Walker to Paul Ryan over our publicly owned airwaves 15 hours a day, five days a week. Republicans there boast that they win elections primarily due to the extraordinary promotion of these right-wing talk radio hosts, and pro-GOP business leaders are combing the state in search of yet more frequencies that they can find to air righty talk, because they know that that is what is winning elections.