There are more strong signals coming from the Obama Administration
reflecting an intent to put Talk Radio out of business -- or at least
reshape it to censor critical voices and points of view.

When I launched UnFairAir (www.unfairair.org) some weeks ago, we knew
that several U.S. Senators had publicly called for a re-instatement of
the "Fairness Doctrine"; we knew that draft FCC regulations mandating
"localism" and "diversity of ownership" had been circulating since
early 2008; we also knew that the Obama transition team had vetted pro-
Fairness Doctrine appointees to the FCC.

What we now also know is that the Obama Administration is circulating
a proposal for a new "spectrum use" tax and another proposal for
"diversity" of station ownership -- mandating racial and gender quotas
as to who should be "allowed" to own radio stations.

What's at stake here ? Simply put--Free Speech on the Radio.

Here's the history in a nutshell that you need to know.

There are 4,789 AM broadcast radio stations licensed in the U.S. Over
2,000 of these program some kind of "talk show" on every conceivable
topic in every imaginable language. The "Fairness Doctrine", conceived
in the 1920's when a few dozen stations dominated the airwaves is
silly in light of today's reality of thousands of listening choices.

Nonetheless, Senator Dick Durbin (D--Ill) in March submitted an
amendment to the D.C. Voting Bill which would require the FCC to
affirmatively "encourage and promote diversity in...media ownership"
and reaffirming FCC authority to mandate the presentation "of opposing
points of view on issues of public importance".

Senator Durbin's language faithfully echoed the language written by
Senator Barack Obama on 9/20/07 in a letter to the FCC using the
"localism" argument on behalf of Jesse Jackson in a dispute with a
Chicago radio station.

http://www.fcc.gov/ownership/hearing-chicago092007.html

In June, 2007, the Center for American Progress (
http://www.discoverthenetworks.org/g...asp?grpid=6709
led by Clinton aide John Podesta http://www.discoverthenetworks.org/i...asp?indid=1626
)
published "The Structural Imbalance of Political Talk Radio" which
made the argument that Big Corporate ownership favored right wing talk
radio and excluded left wing talk radio. The answer to the problem?
Government mandated diversity of station ownership. If left wing talk
radio can't compete in the marketplace (a fact that is beyond
dispute), then Big Government must mandate it. [HEIL HITLER!]

In November 2008, John Podesta was co-chair of the Obama Transition.
Podesta appointed pro-Fairness Doctrine former FCC Commissioner Henry
Rivera to the FCC Transition Team. Rivera's law firm includes former
FCC Chairman Kevin Martin who authored the draft regulations dated
1/24/08 which, if enacted by the full FCC, would require "localism".

Specifically, the Martin draft regs. would require "permanent advisory
boards comprised of local officials and other community leaders to
advise (station managers) of local needs and issues", in effect, a
permanent complaint department. Advertisers were specifically excluded
from serving on these "advisory boards".

Community activist groups are already organizing to enforce these
regulations. For example, the National Asian-Pacific Legal Consortium
has a "fill-in the blanks" FCC complaint form on their website today.

The model here is the 1978 Community Redevelopment Act (CRA
http://www.city-journal.org/html/10_...on_dollar.html ) which
set up a similar complaint process in mortgage lending which allowed
ACORN ( http://www.discoverthenetworks.org/g...asp?grpid=6968
) to intimidate lenders to give mortgages to the "undeserved".
Funding for "community groups" was included in the Stimulus Bill,
presumably including groups such as NAPLC in order to subsidize
members to serve on the radio station "permanent advisory boards".

These draft FCC regs, in some version, will be back before the (Obama
majority) FCC as early as this summer for enactment and enforcement.

While the wider aim is to assert tighter government control over all
radio programming, the immediate target here is conservative talk
radio. The "progressive" tilt at publicly funded NPR, or the Big
Business ownership of liberal leaning network news does not bother
Obama. He knows that the executives at GE and NBC Universal will self
censor to avoid criticism. In a recent meeting, GE CEO Jeff Immelt
and NBC Universal President Jeff Zucker met to discuss how to limit
criticism of Obama on MSNBC.

But free speech advocates not affiliated with conservative talk radio
are beginning to speak up. The Society for Professional Journalism
opposes the "Fairness Doctrine" and any government mandate on
"fairness" as just another form of censorship by the government.

The time for YOU to act is now--the need is urgent."

A coalition is forming to fight for freedom of the airwaves and real
diversity of opinion. Find out how to get involved at www.unfairair.org.
Do it now.

http://www.humanevents.com/article.php?id=31575

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Roger Hedgecock is the longtime top-rated radio talk host in San
Diego, Calif., on KOGO and, more recently, a nationally syndicated
daily radio host heard already in 100 markets and on XM Satellite.
Listeners may tune in to his show at Radio America. He is the author
of "The 2008 Conservative Voters Field Guide," a series of books on
2008 issues. Guide No. 1-Immigration and No. 2-The War. Learn more
about Roger at www.rogerhedgecock.com.

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I have already noticed self-censorship by WGN's Dr. Milt Rosenberg
(Sociologist). A clear sign of a Liberal Fascism.