Yes, Pat, that’s a bad thing, since there is plenty of, uh, localism coming over the radio airwaves already. In fact, the radio airwaves in commercial breaks in a nationally syndicated talk show are positively brimming with localism. Where I live, the nationally syndicated talk show follows a solid hour show of nothing but localism, localism, localism.
(ok, so I know what’s going on this weekend in the area, already, call me saturated with localism)
Enacting/enforcing “localism” standards would be a backdoor way of attempting to get (anti) Fairness Doctrine restrictions in place without re-enacting the (anti) Fairness Doctrine, per se….Can you imagine the nationally syndicated show(s) having to instill some FCC version of “balance” & tell what’s going on in their own region to a national audience ?
Who are the yahoos at the FCC to define “balance” in the first place ? Just folks with agendas who (might) even pretend to objectivity, like everyone else associated with government bureaucracy in these times.
Bottom line is that every attempt by “the Left” to compete in the marketplace of ideas on talk radio (most notably, Air America and yellers and screamers like Randi Rhodes and Al Franken) have fallen flat on their faces and not been profitable. I guess Alan Colmes, at night, is hanging in there with his show.
Overall, however, the Left is PO’ed and considers its failure to successfully compete something that, of course, should be remedied by the regulation of an all encompassing Jabba the Hutt Left dominated government.
And that, Pat, is not only a bad thing for the future of intelligent life on the planet, it’s a very bad thing for the future of our (still barely in tact) Republic.
