The Fight for Free Speech is On!

There have been several new developments regarding the battle to regulate free speech on your radio. First, Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas provided a definitive statement about how the court might view restoration of the Fairness Doctrine. Accordng to WorldNetDaily, Justice Thomas called the policy “problematic” and a “deep intrusion into the First Amendment rights of broadcasters.” He is right. That’s why Democrats are going through the FCC backdoor to regulate broadcasters in a stealth manner with measures that would accomplish their goals of snuffing out conservative talk and thus conservative values in America. They are smart enough to know the “old” Fairness Doctrine wouldn’t stand up in court. So, the first step in the process begins May 7th when the FCC will start conducting hearings to “redistribute media ownership” in America. The theme of redistributing wealth continues.

The other major development is news about new FCC appointments coming soon. According to Radio & Records, the new appointments are imminent. It appears Obama will nominate Mignon Clyburn from South Carolina as one of his Democrat appointments along with Julius Genachowski as Chairman. Ms. Clyburn has a newspaper background, so hopefully she will have some sympathies for conservative talk radio, but I doubt it. She also has a strong public service background and has been vetted by Obama. Newspapers have always held a low opinion of conservative talk radio. Watch for the hammer to come down.

Part of the Democratic plan is to establish “programming advisory boards” for stations. These nazi-like boards would serve one purpose – promote fear among broadcast license holders and threaten them if they don’t adhere to their programming wishes. Tyranny. Here’s what my friend and colleague Roger Hedgecock had to say when he talked to WND: “Talk about a chilling effect on free speech, this will be an Arctic blast of restraint on opinion based on the threat to take the license away.”

Hedgecock also told WND: “I think the FCC is on the cusp of enacting regulations that would fundamentally alter the traditional American assumption that we have the right to share and debate political opinions,” he said. “I believe the strategy is to make the current state of compliant journalism that prevails in the mainstream media the norm as well on the Internet and in talk radio,” he said.

There is no journalism in America. Wednesday night’s compliant news gathering at the White House was a joke. Obama controls the media and it’s a massive dupe of the American public. As Rush Limbaugh said this morning, “I never thought I would say I long for the days of Sam Donaldson.”

Hedgecock who holds forth at KOGO in San Diego and in national syndication, also says, “I think in the next 90 days we will see the imposition of the local advisory boards. They will immediately become complaint departments staffed by the left on all local and nationally syndicated talk programs,” Hedgecock warned.

If you value conservative talk in America, it’s time to speak up. A number of my conservative talk colleagues have come together to form UnFairAir.org. This site is a rallying cry for the protection of free speech on the radio. Please check it out. If you value conservative talk, now is the time to pay attention.

Brian Jenning’s book Censorship: The Threat to Silence Talk Radio will be in bookstores next Tuesday, May 5th. This book is the collective voice of talk radio hosts and managers speaking out against speech regulation on the nation’s airwaves as well as the many attempts to muzzle conservative talk in America.