orb@whuts.UUCP (SEVENER) (01/05/86)
> > The Philadelphia Council of Churches got after, not Mr. Cotten (who > operated out of California), but Rev. McIntyre. After several years > of protracted proceedings (which were documented at the time in > BROADCASTING Magazine), Rev. McIntyre's "Leadership Radio for the > Delaware Valley" LOST ITS BROADCAST LICENSE. Is this right? Doesn't > the First Amendment to the Constitution guarantee free speech, even > for unpopular causes? And isn't the Constitution the "Supreme Law of > the Land"? > > -- Matt Rosenblatt Reverend McIntire's broadcast of anti-Semitic lies was merely the capstone of his whole "Kill a Commie for Christ" philosophy. The FCC revoked his broadcast license because of gross and repeated violations of the Fairness Doctrine. The Fairness Doctrine requires radio and TV stations to provide access to different viewpoints. It also requires a certain amount of community service broadcasting. Despite many cases of bias and refusal to allow alternative viewpoints on the air, radio and TV stations are practically never prosecuted on the basis of the Fairness Doctrine. For example the refusal of CBS to carry an ad by the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists on birth control is considered perfectly acceptable under the Fairness Doctrine. Therefore it takes extreme bias to lose a broadcast license. I remember reading about McIntyre's case in the Progressive and I believe that his station refused time to respond to editorials and outright lies carried on the station. I think that the Fairness Doctrine is a good idea since it is the only check we have on the broadcast media. TV and radio stations have still repeatedly refused to carry even paid political ads they disliked but the Fairness Doctrine requires stations to give some consideration to other viewpoints and balance. Given the power of the broadcast media it would be horrible if one could not have the opportunity to respond to editorials or news stories. Needless to say Reagan's administration has proposed eliminating the Fairness Doctrine. The Reagan appointees to the FCC also expanded the number of radio and TV stations in conjunction with print media which can be owned by the same corporation. The Reagan appointees to the FCC have talked about eliminating limits on monopolies of broadcast media altogether. Yet another way in which Reagan is doing his best to bring the "1984" "freedom" of "slavery" to Amerika! "1984: More than a dream. Brought to you by the Reagan Team" tim sevener whuxn!orb
tw8023@pyuxii.UUCP (T Wheeler) (01/06/86)
To begin, the so-called fairness doctrine was put to rest by the FCC several years ago in an effort to get the government off the private sector's back. The only real control the FCC maintains is the regulation of frequency allocation in order to keep down the overriding of stations. In your argument against the Rev Mac., you fail to mention the other side of the coin in that radio station WBAI in New York kept its license although they were under the gun for exactly the same infractions of the rules, but from the other side. That action leaves me to wonder why everything the current administration does is labeled facist by Sevener, yet the self same administration cut the legs from under Rev Mac., yet only gave WBAI, a supposed commie front, was given the green light? T. C. Wheeler
orb@whuts.UUCP (SEVENER) (01/07/86)
> To begin, the so-called fairness doctrine was put to rest by the > FCC several years ago in an effort to get the government off the > private sector's back. The only real control the FCC maintains > is the regulation of frequency allocation in order to keep down > the overriding of stations. In your argument against the Rev > Mac., you fail to mention the other side of the coin in that > radio station WBAI in New York kept its license although they > were under the gun for exactly the same infractions of the rules, > but from the other side. That action leaves me to wonder why > everything the current administration does is labeled facist > by Sevener, yet the self same administration cut the legs from > under Rev Mac., yet only gave WBAI, a supposed commie front, > was given the green light? > T. C. Wheeler Living in the New York area I have had the opportunity to listen to WBAI. While they definitely have a leftist slant they are not exclusively leftist. Their news reports are often very good - I have seen them confirmed frequently in other media. Moreover they are in general open to the public, which is in line with their community-based approach. They have many call-in shows which allow all viewpoints the opportunity to express themselves. And I have heard some real right-wing nuts call in to WBAI about "nuking the Reds", nuking Libya and so forth. As usual with the diverse and generally democratic left there are frequent divergences of opinion between announcers at WBAI. Something which I doubt occurred with Rev. McIntyre and his total control of programming. Most "leftist" organizations I have been in have if anything suffered from too much democracy. Committees have generally been elected and policies are voted on by the full membership. It is interesting to contrast this with Jerry Falwell's chortling remark that there was no way the newfound "Liberty Federation" would ever take a position contrary to the "Moral Majority" since he was the president of both. One could never make such a remark of any of the "leftist" organizations I have been in since such organizations have frequently had policy debates and differences which had to be brought to a vote by the membership. tim sevener whuxn!orb
matt@brl-tgr.ARPA (Matthew Rosenblatt ) (01/09/86)
> To begin, the so-called fairness doctrine was put to rest by the > FCC several years ago in an effort to get the government off the > private sector's back. The only real control the FCC maintains > is the regulation of frequency allocation in order to keep down > the overriding of stations. [TOM WHEELER] Huh??? That's news to me! The fairness doctrine has the backing of the U.S. Supreme Court (the Red Lion case), and the FCC can't abolish it even if it wants to. The day the FCC goes back to its proper function of regulating frequencies and interference will a day long prayed for by broadcasters -- but it hasn't happened yet. > In your argument against the Rev > Mac., you fail to mention the other side of the coin in that > radio station WBAI in New York kept its license although they > were under the gun for exactly the same infractions of the rules, > but from the other side. [T. WHEELER] There's no question that WBAI is "60's Marxist radio in the NY Metropolitan Area." But BAI's foray into anti-Semitism, to my knowledge, was a one-time affair on the Julius Lester show, where the poem with the lines "Hey there, Jew boy, with the yarmulke on your head, You pale-faced Jew boy, I wish you were dead" was read with approval over the air. If WBAI (which counts Jews and WHRB alumni among its staff) were to be so foolish as to allow repeated anti- Semitism over its airwaves, all its support from trendy uptown liberals, funky Village types, Guardian readers, and the Gay Community would not save its license -- or at least, I hope not. WBAI (and its sister Pacifica stations KPFA, KPFB, KPFK) are living examples of freedom of speech in the U.S. capitalist system. Can you imagine a Marxist state allowing independently-owned radio stations to preach capitalism? > That action leaves me to wonder why > everything the current administration does is labeled facist > by Sevener, yet the self same administration cut the legs from > under Rev Mac., yet only gave WBAI, a supposed commie front, > was given the green light? [T. WHEELER] Again, Huh??? When Rev. McIntyre lost his station, Ronald Reagan was Governor of California, or something like that. It was YEARS AGO. Yeah, BAI is a "commie front," but the whole point of a free society is that even a commie front can present its views, as long as it doesn't openly incite to robbery, rape, riot, rebellion or revolution. Broadcasting communist propaganda is a secular threat against which the rest of us (by simply not believing the propaganda) can protect ourselves. Broadcasting virulent anti-Semitism brings with it the risk of Divine destruction of our society -- the only way we can hope to protect ourselves against such destruction is to suppress the broadcaster. And it's a shame, because when it comes to being a man of integrity with regard for real peace, freedom, and the dignity of man, I'd stack the Rev. McIntyre up any time against the 60's leftists who run BAI. -- Matt Rosenblatt (matt@amsaa.ARPA)