On Wednesday, the National Hispanic Media Coalition and UCLA Chicano Studies Research Center released a study showing that guests and topics discussed during "The Rush Limbaugh Show," "The Sean Hannity Show," "The Glenn Beck Program," The Savage Nation" and "The John and Ken Show" overwhelmingly marginalized minority groups.
The findings reveal that the hosts promoted an insular discourse that focused on, for example, anti-immigration, anti-Islam, and pro-Tea Party positions and that this discourse found repetition and amplification through social media.
These viewpoints have far reaching consequences. NHMC President and CEO Alex Nogales told Fox News Latino that the social network surrounding conservative talk radio and Fox News has spread to social media websites resulting in "an echo-chamber of voices, both online and off, that promotes hatred against ethnic, racial and religious groups and the LGBT community on social media web sites."
Using hateful rhetoric, these hosts have cast immigrants as disease ridden, equated pro-immigrant organizations with neo-Nazis, called Islam an "evil religion," claimed the Obama administration is promoting "race riots" and made fun of the ethnicity of Asian-American politicians.
From 1949 until 1987, the Fairness Doctrine required broadcasters to operate in the public interest and provide equal time to opposing points of view.
The 2007 report The Structural Imbalance of Political Talk Radiofound that 91% of talk radio was conservative and only 9% liberal. According to the report, every weekday there are 2,570 and 15 minutes of conservative talk radio broadcast and only 254 hours of progressive talk radio. That is hardly fair and balanced.
Sue Wilson, a former broadcaster herself, is taking on the issue head on. In 2009 she produced and stars in the movie, Broadcast Blues. Recently Wilson set out on a media tour for the film hoping to inform the public about what they can do to take back the public airwaves from the conservative talkers.
Why is this topic important to the country? According to Wilson, there is a direct correlation between the predominance of right-wing talk radio and voting patterns. “Only about five percent of the country gets to hear any progressive thought on the radio. We are seeing there’s been a shift in the voting patterns. Why do you think Scott Walker and the Tea Party and all these people are thriving, because there’s a drumbeat of propaganda? People are no longer able to differentiate between fact and fiction,” Wilson said.
What Can Be Done To Fight Back?
WJR in the Detroit market is a 50,000 watt station that carries talk several conservative talk radio hosts, Rush Limbaugh, Sean Hannity, Frank Beckmann and Mark Levin. Wilson has a just set up a web site,http://www.mediaactioncenter.net/ which contains information about what the public can do to complain about broadcasters. Wilson said, “The most important to understand is that the public airwaves belong to the public. These broadcasters own a bunch of equipment and they own a license to operate over our public frequencies, our public airwaves. There’s a catch, though. If they do not serve our public interest, they’re not supposed to get to broadcast any more. So, the first thing is to clearly own those airwaves, to clearly understand that we the people own the airwaves. These corporations do not wish for us to remember that. But indeed we do own these airwaves and we have power. It’s going to take understanding that and then defining what we want from our local broadcasters. But I think it’s time now to start addressing the broadcasters personally. Knock on the broadcasters’ doors and say, ‘Hello, broadcaster, these are our airwaves and this is the list of things that we as a community want and need from you.”
The Public Needs To Make Their Demands Known
According to Wilson, any group of citizens can go to a broadcaster that they do not feel is meeting the needs of the community and make their needs known. “It’s kind of like being a landlord. These corporations are essentially renting the airwaves from us. But we have been absentee landlords for way too long. It is time for us to start going back and taking ownership of this property that we own, these public airwaves and saying, this is what we want,” Wilson urged.
The Zapple Doctrine Allows Political Candidates To Lie, But Corporations Must Tell The Truth
According to Wilson, TV and radio broadcasters who air commercials for third parties can decide whether to air a particular advertisement or not. “If they choose to take that ad, if that ad, if that ad is lying, the broadcaster, the TV station is liable and we can sue them for those lies,” Wilson said.
Motor City Liberal Comment:It's about ownership and no right winger can spin this.. The point of view Rush, Sean Hannity and their clones advocate for is only shared by 25 to 30% of the country yet there you'll find multiple right wing stations in areas of the country the Republicans don't even waste their time campaigning in.
Conservatives have strenuously denied that there is any anti-Semitism on display by anti-health reform protesters at town hall meetings nationwide — despite all the evidence to the contrary. Last week, Las Vegas radio station KDWN AM720 sponsored a “contentious” town hall, emceed by conservative morning show host Heidi Harris. At the event, local news stations were interviewing an Israeli man who was praising the “fantastic” “national health care” in Israel. During his remarks, a woman yelled out, “Heil Hitler!” The man stopped, became visibly upset, and exclaimed, “Did you hear this? She say to a Jew, ‘Heil Hitler’! Hear? I’m a Jew! You’re telling me, ‘Heil Hitler’? Shame of you!” After he angrily confronts her, the woman mocks him by making a crying sound to imply he is a whining baby. Watch it:
