Tonight's FCC Hearing: Brought To You By The Children's Miracle Network

[Jane Eyre]

I went to the FCC public hearing in Charlotte tonight. This was the first of six FCC hearings to be held around the country to examine "localism" in broadcasting.

All in all, it was a fascinating evening. Held at the Government Center's council chambers, all 230 seats were filled, with many people standing in the aisles. One man, a former agent for radio broadcasters, flew in from L.A. to speak about how thousands were laid off from broadcasting jobs in 1987 after the Fairness Act was discontinued. Several local musicians complained about the "pay to play" policies of today's radio stations, a policy which seemed to astound Commissioner Adelstein who could not believe that illegal activities such as payola could be happening. A news executive from Asheville, NC complained that one local station had been purchased by a company in Maryland which explains why the citizens in the mountains of North Carolina now had to listen to a regular newscaster complain about the liberal legislature in Maryland!

But there were two topics in particular that came up repeatedly. The first issue is Clear Channel's war against bicyclists. Seems that a couple of morning DJ's from a Raleigh Clear Channel affiliate decided it would be funny to have listeners share their favorite ways to harrass bicyclists. The bicyclists had done their homework, and it appears that at least four Clear Channel stations, including one in Houston and one in Ohio, have had drivetime DJ's encourage their listeners to run bicyclists off the road, throw things at them, etc. As one speaker put it, promoting the endangerment of another vehicle on the road is a felony and Clear Channel should be prosecuted.

The other topic that kept coming up ad nauseum was Clear Channel's saintly and selfless support of charities, in particular the Children's Miracle Network. Each speaker seemed to have a script straight from the Clear Channel ad agency, and each speaker looked like someone's Mom. The speeches were as bland as Clear Channel's radio formats, and their purpose was transparent.

So be forewarned when the FCC roadshow comes to a city near you. Clear Channel isn't just a radio station conglomerate, they are just good corporate citizens who make sick children well. They aren't the axis of evil, so stop saying that. And they probably even help the injured bicyclists who get in the way of Clear Channel station listeners in cars.

[alexwcovington]

1. Not that they'll come my way

Even though Clear Channel killed a man in Minot, ND.

http://www.commoncause.org/action/action.cfm?artid=14&topicid=11

Not the only site, just the first I found digging through...

[Jane Eyre]

2. How terrible!

The man from L.A. brought up the point that the Clear Channel stations are on unmanned autopilot most of the time, and all of the time on the weekends. He pointed out that this is a serious problem as far as Homeland Security is concerned, and will be traveling to Washington DC after this hearing to talk to Congress about it.

The frightening thing about the bicycle thing is that FOUR stations in various parts of the country were complicit in encouraging harrassment of bicyclists!! This would appear to be some sort of conspiracy against people using vehicles which do not use gasoline. Some of the bicyclists who spoke were prominent citizens and some had traveled some distance to speak.

The payola issue was big too. Commissioner Adelstein seemed to be genuinely concerned after several musicians spoke about the same issue.