Armed Forces Radio controversy
On May 26, 2004, the article “Rush's Forced Conscripts” appeared on the online news and opinion magazine Salon.com. The article discussed the controversy surrounding the fact that American Forces Radio and Television Service (AFRTS), (which describes itself as “
stateside radio and television programming, 'a touch of home', to U.S. service men and women, DoD civilians, and their families serving outside the continental United States”), carries the first hour of Limbaugh's show. Melvin Russell, director of AFRTS, defended Limbaugh's presence, by pointing to Limbaugh's high ratings in the US: “We look at the most popular shows broadcast here in the United States and try to mirror that. is the No. 1 talk show host in the States; there's no question about that. Because of that we provide him on our service.” In addition, AFRTS produced a ballot of radio and television shows asking troops worldwide, "Who do you want that we don't at present carry?" The Rush Limbaugh Show was not listed on the ballot, but won the vote as a write-in by the troops. A later poll by Lund Media Research found that a majority of soldiers preferred that talk show programs be replaced by Hip Hop and Rap stations, bringing into question the future of content such as the Rush Limbaugh Show on AFRTS.<2>
Critics have pointed out that other programs, such as the eight-million listener per week Howard Stern show, are absent from AFRTS. (This statement was made before Stern left for satellite radio in 2006.) Other claims—for example, that there is no political counterbalance to Limbaugh on AFRTS—have been rebutted by Byron York, a columnist for the predominantly conservative National Review: “American military men and women abroad have access, for example, to the talk show of liberal host Diane Rehm … Jim Hightower and CBS News anchorman Dan Rather.” Another possible political counterbalance to Limbaugh is Harry Shearer, who emphasizes his presence on AFRTS at the end of every episode of his satirical Le Show.
On June 14, 2004, U.S. Senator Tom Harkin (D-IA) introduced an amendment to the 2004 Defense Authorization bill that called for AFRTS to fulfill its stated goal of providing political balance in its news and public affairs programming. The amendment passed unanimously in the Senate. Limbaugh responded by calling the move “censorship”. On his June 17 radio show, he commented that: “This is a United States senator amending the Defense appropriations bill with the intent being to get this program—only one hour of which is carried on Armed Forces Radio—stripped from that network.” The amendment never became law. As of 2005, the first hour of Limbaugh's show is still on AFRTS. Rush Limbaugh visited US forces in Afghanistan in 2005.
This treatment of The Rush Limbaugh Show proved to set a precedent for Congressional debate on AFRTS content. The Ed Schultz show, a liberal talk radio show with over one million listeners a week, was originally scheduled to be broadcast on AFRTS on October 17, 2005. It was subsequently pulled, with some alleging political motivation, which was later debated in Congress. A few weeks after this debate, AFRTS added Schultz to the line-up along with other talk show hosts: Al Franken and Sean Hannity.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Rush_Limbaugh_Show