A feverish, corporate-sponsored nationalism has taken root in America at a time when the public depends on a vibrant communications culture to sustain its institutional democracy. Nowhere is this more clear than in the case of Clear Channel Communications, the nation’s largest radio chain. In the outrage that followed the Floridian scandal and George Bush Jr.’s appointment by the Supreme Court… return to article
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Reader Comments (46)Page 1 of 1 pagesWe have way too many radio stations here in San Diego owned by Clear Channnel. It’s difficult to find any unbiased radio stations without the right wing spin we’ve been subjected to. I’ve finally had to tune into our National Public Radiostation in order to escape the barrage of Republican rhetoric that has become so common. It seems that corporate big brother is taking over and it’s lead by Clear Channel Broadcasting.
Posted by ZoÎ Simsay on Apr 5, 2003 at 10:28 AM Don’t want mergers? Support the end of double taxation on corporate profits. If dividends are not taxed corporation will no longer be cash rich as investors will demand profits instead of prefering that they be used as acquisition capital. Thus the imprudent growth towards unwieldy ‘monoliths’ like AOL/CNN/TimeWarner and Disney/ABC/ESPN will cease.
When dividends are returned to investors, instead of held by the big corporations capital will be freed up for start up ventures. Won’t that please the left since it constantly beats the drum against the growth of corporations? Call your Senator today and tell them to fully restore the second Bush tax cut.
Posted by Carl Snodgrass on Apr 5, 2003 at 11:52 AM Great story, but I can add even more fuel to the fire. There is a plea out to people to raise money to “launch a prayer campaign on over 1,200 radio outlets” to help bring the hearts of our leaders and people back to God. Wanna bet on just who those 1200 stations belong to? The plea can be found at
www.presidentialprayerteam.org
/golf.Yes, a golf tournament for God!
Posted by Kelly Church on Apr 5, 2003 at 2:17 PM LISTEN TO KPFA.ORG if you don’t get a Pacifica station in your town. I lived in San Diego for awhile, and the radio was AWFUL!!!
Now I’m back in the Bay, and KPFA helps to keep me sane!! BOYCOTT clearchannel and advertisers!!
Posted by HuckleberryHeather on Apr 7, 2003 at 7:57 AM I work for Clear Channel In Ireland
They are huge, there assists span from Entertainment, TV, Radio & Outdoor Advertising
There a monopoly/multi national.Not only do they do they broadcast there unbalanced coverage to suit there own interests but they have financially supported bush along with the other monopolyís:
They include :
Enron $1.8m
Philip Morris $2.9m
Microsoft $2.4m
GE/nbc, $1.1m
News corp $1.2m
Exxon Monil $1.2m
Time Warner AOL $2.9m
And theres a lot more remember the republicans spent over $100million dollar to get bush into the white house,
The founding fathers of America must be turning it there graves to see the corruption,
These companies arenít giving millions to bush/the republicans for fun there getting something out of it
There working agenst the interests of the average people
And we have seen how that has worked out with companies like enron etcÖ
SEE BELOW FOR THE LATEST INCREACES:
Political donations by US television and radio stations have almost doubled in the last year, research has shown.And the Bush family’s association with many media organisations runs deep and is reflected by the hefty handouts from the likes of NBC network owner General Electric and Rupert Murdoch’s News Corporation, both trenchant supporters of the war.
The amount of money ploughed into party coffers by Rupert Murdoch’s Fox TV, NBC and radio giant Clear Channel among others has gone up to £7.56m in 2001/2002, compared with just £4.6m in 2000, the latest figures reveal.
Posted by Mark O'Donovan on Apr 7, 2003 at 1:40 PM As an American, I am very concerned about the way our illusion of freedom is being taken from us. The way we are being manipulated and controlled. What is the true agenda of those ass-holes in Washington?
We are being attacked on multiple levels with multiple tools. Media exposure and content being the central components of this attack. We should be very concerned about who controlls the sounds we hearthe words we read and the images that we see.
So yes, pray for America’s leaders; pray that they repent of their sins and resign. Pray that america wakes up and demands that our government responds to the will of its people instead of trying to shape that collective will. Pray that the damage done the United Nations and NATO is repairable. Pray that the anger and hatred that our leaders actions have spawned across the world and in own country do not resupt in the future acts of terrorism. Finially, pray that the example of “unilateral action” is not embraced by other nations. As much as I would like a regime change, I don’t want some outside country to come in and liberate us. Thank about that and get some idea how may of the Iraqi must feel.
This notion that if they don’t love us, if they don’t respect us, then, by God, they will Fear us does not lead where I want my country to go.
Actualy, I don’t thank thet the current regime really care one way or another about what other think, just so they get their way. (If people don’t think…) Which gets back to the need for a less controlled media.
Posted by angry citizen on Apr 7, 2003 at 6:50 PM And there are folks out there who want to call the media liberal? Bad ethics are bad ethics, universal and apolitical. Obviously, loyalty is power is money and around and around the cycle goes. Small government wishes become all-powerful tactics (you listening, Herr Ashcroft?) and agendas are spun again and again until the government line is the media line is the government line… Thanks for trying to straighten the spin a bit, In These Times.
Posted by James on Apr 7, 2003 at 7:40 PM Thank you for making this observation; a couple of years ago an author writing such commentary would have fallen into the category of conspirational theorist. Indeed, times have changed and the theory is slowly gaining more weight. One fears the worst nowadays were it not for the whiff of fresh air and unbiased news we read from writers such as yourself. Keep up the wonderful work and thank you once again.
A native Texan but anti-war nonetheless,
Posted by Leila on Apr 8, 2003 at 5:43 AM Good article, and thanks for the shout-out/quote. Just one small correction—my site is mediageek.ORG not mediageek.COM. Unfortunately, some squatter has the .com domain, but I’m really more of an .org guy anyway.
Clear Channel can clearly be blamed for the rapid race to the bottom in program quality and pandering to the very lowest common denominator (with Infinity/Viacom taking second place). Syndicating crass “shock jock” programming is cheap and gets decent ratings. Even live local shock jocks are cheaper than doing, say, actual news programming employing real journalists.
But what’s so disturbing about the “shock jocks” is not that they revel in potty humor and sex jokes, but the violent undercurrent that direct hostility at anyone who is different from them: women, racial minorities (especially arabs or anyone from the middle east), gays and lesbians.
And now these same low-IQ frat boys have jumped on the jingo flag-waving bandwagon, bringing us the most odious and frightening combination of mysogyny, xenophobia, homophobia and patriotism. It’s like the Christian right with boob jokes.
For those who don’t tune in, the lowest common denominator for these guys has gotten lower than you barely imagine. An Infinity/Viacom station in Detroit was just fined for indecency by the FCC for broadcasting some of the most sickening sexually violent content at 4:30 in the afternoon. And the fine was only $27,000, a drop in the bucket for Infinity.
For more on that see:
http://www.mediageek.org/archives/002067.html#002067
Posted by Paul Riismandel on Apr 8, 2003 at 3:48 PM .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Posted by dsmolla@hotmail.com on Apr 8, 2003 at 5:43 PM .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Posted by dsmolla@hotmail.com on Apr 8, 2003 at 5:51 PM As a combat veteran of World War 2, I am shocked that the main-stream media is not outraged at the patronizing attitude of this administration and it’s managed news.
Terrible as World War 2 was, we saw, through newsreels and newspaper accounts, the reality of that war.
All newspapers carried on the front page, the names of those killed in action, those wounded in action, those missing in action and prisoners of war.
By contrast, there is now showing of the return of body bags.
There is no showing of the rage in the rest of the entire world of what our country is doing to civilians in Iraq.
The media, with it’s very short memory, choses to ignore that shortly after Bush came to office, one of our spy planes was lost off the coast of China. (Big, powerful country), and it was Bush who went hat in hand, begging for the plane. He PAID the Chinese for the plane which was returned in pieces.
He can be very tough with a poor, helpless country in the Mid East. Courage? No a double standard.
Posted by Bob Raisor on Apr 8, 2003 at 5:53 PM For any of you who didn’t see it, last week “NOW with Bill Moyers” featured the loss of diversity in media control and the ramifications of conglomerates who are big political contributors taking over local stations. In its hour-long format it was even scarier than Steven Marshall’s article. (“NOW” is a great program, by the way, for all of you who enjoy “In These Times” or “The American Prospect [www.prospect.org].” Bill Moyers does not shy away from subjects unreported by the gov’t-controlled media.)
It’s a real shame that most of the U.S. population let conservative radio hosts do their thinking for them and can’t be bothered to read the news first-hand and form their own opinions. The current plutocracy is doing its best to take away our access to information that would reveal its true nature.
Posted by carmen on Apr 8, 2003 at 9:18 PM I remember when the GOP’s were squeeling about Gore getting money from ‘foreigners’ and them affecting our elections but I do NOT hear the same volume of any peeps from them when a foriegner by the name of Rupert Murdock abd his little Fox Fauz News Corp give us balast for GOP tv news. Did he become a citizen because he votes correctly??
Posted by j tally on Apr 9, 2003 at 2:10 AM Great article. One mistake is that Michael Powell wasn’t appointed by President Bush, but by Clinton in 1998. Of course Bush could have decided to rid the FCC of Powell, but that didn’t happen. Also I think one should also analyze the political contributions made by Clear Channel, and the ties of Tom Hicks to the Bushies. A great resource is the link below:
http://www.takebackthemedia.com/radiogaga.html
Posted by Josh Frank on Apr 9, 2003 at 7:12 PM Excellent piece. Important topic. Clear Channel ought to be dismantled. So should much of the rest of America broadcast media. We American people deserve better than a steady diet of Limbaugh, Hannity and No-Spin whatsisname on FOX. —Russ N. (retired TV reporter)
Posted by Russ Nichols on Apr 10, 2003 at 4:36 AM “...but the wealth of the sinner is stored up for the righteous.” Proverbs 13:22
Socialists have their state radio network, NPR.
Christians builds one with PRIVATE money and all the left can do is whine.
Pathetic!!!
Posted by Carl Snodgrass on Apr 10, 2003 at 4:41 AM The left’s ideas are supported with tax dollars on NPR.
The right’s ideas by free choice on AM Talk Radio.
Now, which ideas are of merit???
Posted by Carl Snodgrass on Apr 10, 2003 at 4:43 AM The drawing next to Mr. Marshall’s headline reminds me of the picture on Hobbes, “Leviathon.” Only in this case instead of the people comprising the power of the monarch, the people are lambasted and oppressed by the state and
left wing media leaders who revolve back and forth from leftist government positions to the reporting/punditry.The latest set of commercials bought by the state with money taken from me and my neighbors airing on commercial radio warns me to watch out for pedestrians.
Huh!!???????
I need hundreds of thousands of dollars if not millions of my and my neighbors money spent on that???
And then they tell us they will need to close some parks and cut back on police and fire units because of a lack of funding.
Stupid is too kind of a word to describe this kind of nonsense.
Posted by Carl Snodgrass on Apr 10, 2003 at 4:53 AM Does anyone else’s mind go numb when some loon starts quoting scripture? That’s no knock on the Book, but it sure seems a bit trivial tossing around verses because “oh, oh, this’ll show them damn hippies that they are so out there.” Perhaps the left does control the media just like it does education… don’t you remember in school how we were always taught that the Soviet Union was a model to be respected, how the North Vietnamese fought the noble fight for all things blissfully socialist, and all of those wonderful things about the fascists in Italy, Spain, Yugoslavia, etc. America was a wonderful place for an open and liberal education, especially for those of us lucky enough to have been reared in the days of Chairman Reagan.
Posted by james on Apr 10, 2003 at 3:28 PM Clear Channel is to radio what Fox News is to TV—bigoted, selfish, censorious. Clear Channel is just like the Murdoch empire in using its holdings to promote a right-wing/pro-fascist agenda.
While the Army was raising the US flag in Baghdad yesterday News Corp., the owner of Fox News, announced it was buying America’s largest satellite TV provider—DirecTV. Nobody has dared bring THAT up!
Posted by Charles on Apr 10, 2003 at 7:06 PM I had not bothered to read Mr. Marshall’s bio when I first read his article. What a contribution to the culture he has made, eeh?
Without Mr. Marshall, America would not be blessed with the likes of Eminem struting around its television screen and telling how he wants to rape women and murder those engaged in homosexuality.
With such achievements as these under his belt it is now much more clear to me how Mr. Marshall could produce such a masterpiece of thought as the above essay.
Posted by Carl Snodgrass on Apr 11, 2003 at 1:07 AM Charles accuses FOX NEWS and Clear Channel of being “censorious” (Is that a word?)
Charles, would that be ‘censorious’ like Newsweek spiking the Monica Lewinsky story or ‘censorious’ like Dan Rather’s avoidance of mentioning Gary Condit’s difficulties, or ‘censorious’ like the NY Times failure to report on the gratitude of the Iraqi people for their liberation?
Just trying to get a frame of reference. :-)!
Posted by Carl Snodgrass on Apr 11, 2003 at 1:13 AM Mr. Snodgrass, would you like a job? We need more people like you at CC. Maybe you could assist former Congressman JC Watts, when he is appointed to our Board. He says JC doesn’t stand for “Jesus Christ”, but I have seen him walk on water and know that he is “connected” to the One. We have asked him to join our board becuase we want an inside perspective on the 2nd Coming of Christ and we figuired his next to kin, JC Watts, would assure us a monopoly on the coverage. Thanks again for your support. It’s nice to know that someone else realizes that CC is “connected” and will always be seen in the light of the Lord. Amen! ;)
Posted by Lowry Mays on Apr 11, 2003 at 8:24 PM Dear Lowry Mays,
The JC of JC Watts stands for Julius Ceaser Watts. Obviously for reasons of modesty Mr. Watts has chosen to use his initials.
:-)!
Posted by Carl Snodgrass on Apr 13, 2003 at 1:21 AM I assure you, as a resident of the state that spawned JC Watts, modesty is not his greatest virtue… I can’t tell you why he uses only his initials, but humility is only an act for the former OU quarterback…
JC Watts, Steve Largent - obviously football is the priority and qualification for public service in the state of Oklahoma.
Posted by WPL on Apr 13, 2003 at 4:42 PM This admnistration will implement an Orwellian nightmare in this country ala “Truman Show” -the Movie- Drawing parallels here, where the entire USA is characterized by Truman, (Jim Carrey) and the Bush administration, would be the guy calling the shots in the development of the “live” story, .
If not restrained, this adminsitration would be a defacto Regime, although they would gladly use the euphmism of “Adminstration” instead..See the movie and draw the parallels yourself….
Posted by Ludwig Kette on Apr 13, 2003 at 9:38 PM Thanks for all the excellent commentary, folks. A couple of notes… first an apology to Paul Riismandel for blowing his URL. Secondly, we never said that Bush appointed Powell, only that he named him Chairman after the Inauguration. Finally, Mr. SnodGrass… though I actually agree that much of Eminem’s work is very hateful and inciteful… the video GNN produced for his track, White America, was an attempt to make something relevant and thought-provoking for his young audience.
You can check it out on GNN.tv.
Posted by Stephen Marshall on Apr 14, 2003 at 7:21 AM Stephen—thanks for your work and don’t worry about the URL—that’s what comments are for. I
Posted by Paul Riismandel on Apr 16, 2003 at 5:07 AM great stuff! thanks for the article!!!
I was at Noam Chomsky’s first public speech after 9-11ô. I approached him afterwards, and asked him “how do you think the media coverage will be affected with all the stuff Michael Powell has done, and is doing”
Chomsky replied “who is that???”
thats when I knew just how evil this stealth mode bastard is…it really creeps me out BIGTIME.
Posted by steve hunt on Apr 16, 2003 at 7:55 AM This is why I have Sirius Satellite Radio In my car,and my wife`S car and soon in my homeI love Peter Werbie and Mike Malloy, The ie radio network, that is how I found you guys..Life long Democrat..J.C.
Posted by John Carroll on Apr 17, 2003 at 10:28 PM This is why I have Sirius Satellite Radio In my car,and my wife`S car and soon in my homeI love Peter Werbie and Mike Malloy, The ie radio network, that is how I found you guys..Life long Democrat..J.C.
Posted by John Carroll on Apr 17, 2003 at 10:28 PM I rarely listen to talk radio for more than 15mins. at a time.I worry that the lack of truthful and honest open discussion are having a very negitive effect on our way of life.It seems that most of talk radio is just jingoistic propaganda for the far right Christian conservitives,anyone not agreeing with them are branded as traitors,supporters of Sadam or worse.I also believe there is very little fair and balanced news reporting in the mainstream media.I dare say if the reporters and correspondents that are employed in todays media where around in the late 60’s and early 70’s we might well be still winning the war in Viet Nam and Nixon would have skated through Watergate.
Posted by Tim Miller on Apr 19, 2003 at 3:06 PM For a moment, I was tempted to praise Fritz and Howard (Hollings and Berman), since I like their position here. Then, I remembered what they do for a living and these delightful articles:
http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/features/2001/0301.koerner.html
http://www.privacydigest.com/2002/08/02
It’s no surprise, but it still sucks…
Posted by Eagle on Apr 25, 2003 at 3:52 PM good story - incisive clear writing - thanks
listen to 99.5FM in NY WBAI Pacifica -
boycott clear channel, shop in thrift stores;
turn off your lights, don’t drive - grind ‘em down
Posted by marie caesar on Apr 25, 2003 at 4:01 PM ClearChannel in Portland owns almost every billboard, and as we were going in to trounce Iraq, those billboards unveiled new messages from the Air Force Reserve. One version calls the reservist a “hero”, another shows fighter planes in formation “a traffic jam”...scary stuff because it shows the payoff to ClearChannel in a full circle of corruption.
Posted by Cass Martinez on Apr 26, 2003 at 8:45 AM What really gets my goat about CC is that a great deal of their stations play classic rock, or “freedom rock”. It is very disconcerting to hear a DJ spout right wing war-mongering propaganda and then say, “OK…here’s a tune by Bob Dylan.”
One more thing: NPR is NOT left-wing radio. They anger me as much as they agree with me. It is sad when a balanced news outlet is regarded as left-wing by virtue of their fairness. It indeed shows how far the pendulum has swung to the right.
Posted by Rob M on Apr 26, 2003 at 1:26 PM Note: Michael Powell was appointed to the FCC by Clinton (in 1997, not 1998) as a commissioner.
He was designated Chairman of the Commission by Bush in January 2001.
Posted by E. Archibald on Apr 26, 2003 at 8:34 PM I’m not suprised, there was a meeting in turkey 2000 about all digital radios: I honestly do not want the radio situation to rot like the tv.
Posted by Priscilla on Apr 27, 2003 at 7:05 AM You’d have had to be blind not to see the obvious support for the Bush admin that the media has portrayed. I say once the media is bought, democracy is pretty much a joke. And, Diane, could you be a little more specific? Like actually point out what is wrong with the article? Stinks to high heaven sounds like the opinion of a five year old.
Posted by Valerie Cribbs on Apr 27, 2003 at 4:17 PM As a FORMER/EX employee under union contract to Clear Channel that lived and worked through the takeover from Bgp/SFX and finally to whoever the fuck is running it now; from someone who WAS in this business since the mid 70’s; who Does NOT listen to the radio or watch TV, from someone who has finally walked away from it all, in rapid order,
I have a message for all of you…
“Wake up Neo, the matrix has you…”
Posted by Kevyn Clark on Apr 28, 2003 at 5:23 PM The boring, generic, spreading blanket that is ClearChannel is not a surprise. Anything that is formulated to please a wide, wide variety of people is going to end up mediocre, and that’s what drives CC programming—pleasing some of the people all of the time so they can sell ads. Yes, it’s a capitalist society we live in so the point is making money. But what IS upsetting is the thought that government is going to allow a company to run rampant at the expense of listeners across America (and other countries, and also the smaller station owners. Monopolies are NOT GOOD; diversity is better in business and for a fairer distribution of wealth.
And by the way, I thank GOD my tax dollars pay for NPR, which at least tries to present a more even-handed look at what’s going on. You think Jesus would like FOX News? You think he would support cutting welfare and social programs? You think he would want you to try to hang on to your “hard-earned” dollars so you could buy yourself a better car, a new laptop computer, or Nikes for your spoiled kid? Wake up, you part-time Christians! Some of you people should really try reading your Bible right-side-up for a change.
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