Reply With QuoteAm I the only one who thinks this shit is getting pretty goddamned scary?
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmp...d=513&ncid=716
Never liked Howard Stern, but I think the FCC is going too far with it's threats and is beginning to encroach upon free speech. Janet Jackson went too far, but the FCC and Clear Channel are going just as far in the other direction. I always knew that the Clear Channel monopoly was a bad idea.
Am I the only one who thinks this shit is getting pretty goddamned scary?
It's scary that people think obscene material on public radio and television is a bad thing?
I think Clear Channel has the right to air whatever they want.
Yeah, the problems start when companies like Clear Channel are able to own so much of the media that their decisions begin to replace those of the public.Originally Posted by Bob Cherub
Think what you like about Stern, but the solution is not to ban him, it's to turn the dial.
Absolutely. And that's why they shouldn't be allowed to own so many channels.
It's scary that some people feel the need to make the decision of what other people are "allowed" to see and hear.
I don't find Stern even mildly amusing on his best days, but I've never heard anything from him that warrants shutting him down.
Well of course Stern has not really been shut down, as he is also nationally syndicated by Infinity Broadcasting. His show will continue, just not on any of the 1200 stations Clear Channel owns.
If the FCC continues to bend over for these media congloms, however, the day may come when a company like Clear Channel owns virtually every radio station in the US, and then cancellation really WOULD be final.
Now that's scarier than any inappropriate nipple reveal that I've ever seen.
That's how it's going. And it's not just in the US; the problem is worldwide. Give it another decade or so and we'll all be getting our news and information from four or five corporations. This is one of the reasons I value state broadcasting. Say what you want about governments funding news organizations like CBC and BBC, but I always find them far less biased (and more professional) than the privately owned competiton.
It was just a matter of time. Stern and his imitators will be hard pressed to survive this for very long.
I always thought Stern was going downhill. I wonder if its just taken him this long to try and catch up with Opie & Anthony. :P
I'm not a fan of censorship, but perhaps it's better if Stern actually uses a ban like this to do something that employs his brain (that he has and I enjoy in those rare glimpses I get to see it) instead of going back to supplying mindless programming.
On the other hand, I don't think Opie & Anthony have that choice.
The real problem, I agree, is that Clear Channel owns too many damn stations and music is all blending into one bland goo on the stations they carry.
I was not offended by the JJ silliness, but I think a good portion of viewers were and a majority of the country has just gotten tired of the slow relaxing of the restrictions of what is allowed on TV during prime time. A bit more violence, a bit more sex, a bit more foul language had begun to irritate many people in the country (again not me...devil's advocate), but it was never enough to get people riled up. That incident was seen by millions and was the breaking point for many. Complaints poured in and it built a head of steam in the media.
I could look at titties on football games and watch lesbians make out with midgets all day long. TV has pushed the boundaries of decenecy (which obviously varies from one person to the next and changes as time goes by) since its inception, one event triggered a "that's too far" reaction, so media outlets and the government are pulling back to simmer things down.
I'd like to see this make listeners push back. Hit ClearChannel where it hurts for inviting the FCC to bend them over the chair.
Since we're discussing radio ownership/management rights, what is satellite radio like? Do Sirius/XM own the actual stations they broadcast, or do they give a share of the subscription profits to separately owned and operated stations?
If its the latter and not just a scale version of ClearChannel/traditional broadcast radio, I'd like to see some of the shock radio people who can pull listeners away from traditional broadcast to the satellite radio front and try to make that a more viable front.
That's an important point, especially since the news story I heard today said he was only on six Clear Channel stations, compared to something like 120 Infinity stations.
So what did Stern do?
http://www.cnn.com/2004/SHOWBIZ/News...ion/index.html
A caller into his show said nigger on air. Apparently only effects 6 stations nationwide.
Wait a minute, callers say unallowable words all the time, and they hit the delay button. What happened here?
Impolite and hateful, OK, but when did the word 'nigger' become indecent? Or has the definition of indecent been expanded to include all uncomfortable language?A caller into his show said nigger on air.
And nigger? They ran their World's Meanest Listener Contest last year and one entry was a guy going NIGGERNIGGERNIGGER over and over. One call-in says it and they ban the show?Wait a minute, callers say unallowable words all the time, and they hit the delay button. What happened here?
They usually "nigger" through. Actually, there's a bunch of stuff that goes over the radio that they don't allow on the E! show, like "fag" and "goddamn".
Today the Stern show was getting inundated with requests for interviews. Stern picked a particularly hot local news reporter and agreed to be interviewed if she would wear a thong bikini and sit on his lap (for the duration of the interview). She was checking with her superior to see if they'd allow her to do it.
When I had to go to work they were taking bets as to whether she'd get permission or not.
They suspended the show for using the word nigger? Geez, I've heard Stern asking guests if they like anal sex.
I guess Chappelle's TV show is next to go. He says nigger all the time!
I don't think Clear Channel owns Comedy Central though...
Is that worse?
The real problem with Howard Stern isn't that callers say things like N***** on the air, but that they call in, say N***** to the call screener, and are put on the air because of it.
You know, I was trying to figure out what my personal definition of "obscene" was.....and I couldn't come up with anything. Oh sure, throwing a dead fetus in a blender on live radio maybe, but that's not obscene speech - it's an action. If "obscene" is equivalent to "a really disgusting discusion", I honestly can't think of anything.
If that's the case, then "obscene" would be to censor it. Or you could censor yourself and move into the realm of "moronic".
I heard a Clear Channel ad on 94.7FM out of Indianapolis that I really couldn't believe. It was the guy that does the call letters for every hard rock station, and he said "This station is part of the Clear Channel network: if we don't own ya', we'll dominate ya!"
How fucking arrogant.
Is Howard Stern even 'edgy' anymore?
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