The China Teaching Web

I live in a country where free speech in the media is virtually non-existent. Radio, television, and the print media are all controlled by the Central government in China. Anti-government or anti-China rhetoric in any public broadcasts or announcements are strictly forbidden.  Of course, just 40 years ago, Chinese people had to be careful about what they said even in private so I am optimistic that China’s rapid development will bring about more freedom of speech in the media in the future.

Unfortunately, I am not so optimistic about the future of the media in the United States, especially in the area of radio. Before coming to teach in China, I spent almost a decade in radio broadcasting and if Barack Obama is elected next week, I am afraid that the 90’s and first decade of the 21st century may go down in history as the ’second’ Golden Age of Radio.

Nancy Pelosi, and many of her Democratic colleagues in both the House and the Senate are ‘chomping on the bit’ to bring back the infamous Fairness Doctrine and silence conservative talk radio once-and-for-all in America. This policy, which was instituted in the U.S. in 1949, required American broadcasters to treat controversial issues of interest to the general public with ‘kid gloves.’ In other words, both sides of an issue had to be presented in order to reach a balance that would be fair and acceptable to the general public. Fortunately, in 1987, under the Reagan administration, the FCC voted unanimously to do away with the regulations admitting that it severely limited the “journalistic freedom of broadcasters.”

The abolishment of the policy in 1987 ushered in an era in which conservatives have dominated the radio airwaves. I grew up, for example, listening to the likes of Dr. Laura, Paul Harvey, Sean Hannity, and G. Gordon Liddy among others. While these hosts have certainly left their mark on the social and political landscape of America, there is only one radio personality who has been a perpetual ‘thorn in the side’ of the Left in America. Every afternoon from 12-3 Eastern Time, the airwaves across the ‘fruited plains’ of America are filled with conservative doctrine and liberal bashing from Rush Limbaugh who has for years been proclaiming himself as the “America’s Doctor of Democracy.” With an estimated audience of over 20 million people per week, it is no wonder that Nancy Pelosi and company are desperate to find a way to shut him down and tell his audience to ‘take a hike.’

There is just one slight problem. No one is forcing Americans to listen to Rush Limbaugh or other popular conservative talk show hosts. In fact, radio is still one shining beacon of free market economics in the United States. Everyday, when Americans reach for the dial, they are confronted with dozens of choices much like when they go to buy a six-pack of beer at the local supermarket. The decision is based on tastes and Rush Limbaugh happens to be the Budweiser (or is it Bud Light these days?) of talk radio in America. Why? Limbaugh appeals to the average American on the left and the right because of his ability to interpret politics into layman’s terms while at the same time making it entertaining. No other political talk show host has been able to captivate and hold such a large audience for so long a period of time as Rush Limbaugh.

Limbaugh’s huge audience translates into great ratings which in the radio business translates into advertising money for local stations that are carrying his program. Even the most liberal program directors that I worked for begrudgingly kept Rush in his live slot because he was always the highest rated show. In some cases, it was the advertising revenue that his show generated that kept the radio station alive. Taking him out of the lineup would have been equivalent to pulling the plug on the transmitter.  Limbaugh, for his part, has reaped the rewards of his highly “anticipated” and rated show with a salary that rivals those of major league baseball stars. Thus, Limbaugh’s show is on hundreds of stations for one reason; people choose to listen.

While the average liberal in America might well enjoy listening to Limbaugh and other conservatives on the radio even if they disagree with the politics, the leftist political establishment in Washington is much less tolerant of opposing political views in the media. In fact, the Left attempted to counter the success of conservative talk radio by pouring millions of dollars into Air America, a liberal leaning radio network which has struggled throughout its existence and was forced to file for bankruptcy in 2006. The network is still on the air but is missing local affiliates in major markets. Now that the Democrats in Congress have realized that nothing they produce on the air can ever come close to rivaling Limbaugh’s three hours of fast paced radio, they are trying to find a ways to shut him down from Washington such as re-instituting the Fairness Doctrine. An Obama presidency win next week could very well bring that to fruition in the future.

While Obama’s campaign has claimed that he is not interested in ‘reimposing’ the Fairness Doctrine, it is difficult to believe that he would not at least seriously consider bringing it back should it ‘catch any wind’ in Congress. After all, Obama has already shown the American people quite clearly during his campaign how he deals with criticism; he simply does not tolerate it. Earlier this year, Obama’s campaign supporters attempted to intimidate WGN radio in Chicago for having Stanley Kurtz on the air to discuss links between Obama and Bill Ayers, a former radical activist. His campaign has also threatened to ‘block’ TV stations that run ads suggesting ties between himself and Ayers. This week, Obama’s campaign reportedly cancelled interviews with a Florida television station in response to some ‘tough’ and ‘critical’ questions that were asked of the Democratic vice presidential candidate Joe Biden.

Whatever opposition in the media that Obama has tried to stifle in the past few years, it pales in comparison with the opportunity to silence Rush Limbaugh, who in the Left’s estimation has been allowed to ’stand on his pedestal’ for too long. They know all too well that Rush Limbaugh is more than just an entertainer. He changes minds and mobilizes the Right. He is a force to be reckoned with.

Unfortunately, the radio industry would be in no shape to defend itself if Congress did manage to revive the Fairness Doctrine. Many of the executives in radio are simply empty ’suits’ who have no concept of what it means to stand up and say ‘enough is enough.’ If the recent past is any indication of the future, these ’suits’ would simply step aside and allow Congress and the FCC to have their way with radio.

While it is unlikely that a revival of the Fairness Doctrine in-and-of-itself would immediately force Limbaugh and other prominent conservative hosts off the air, the Democrats can simply not be trusted with its implementation. After all, they have the most to gain from reimposing the doctrine on the American airwaves. And would the Democrats, should they find themselves with a huge amount of political capital come January, be able to contain themselves from modifying the Fairness Doctrine to fit their purposes? I think not. In the future, the doctrine could very well be extended to include cable television, Internet blogs, and film documentaries.  Call me paranoid if you wish but I strongly believe that if we see the combination of an Obama win and large gains for the Democrats in Congress next week, the radio industry will be ’looking down the long barrel’ of government regulations and censorship that has never been seen before in America. Radio will never be the same again.