Stern the canary in the coalmine? [Archive]

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devEcon

06-15-04, 02:27 PM

<blockquote><blockquote>Stern warned that the "fascist right wing" is "getting so much power."</blockquote></blockqutoe> So, why was Stern pulled from Clear Channel? He wasn't doing anything with sex or language that he hadn't done every day for the past decade. If he did, no one can produce what the big deal was. But on that day that Clear Channel Pulled him... <blockquote> Listed by FOX last March as one of the "pro-Bush celebs [missing] out on the limelight," [Fox News] Stern has since rethought his position. [...] On Feb. 26 (the day Stern's program was suspended in half a dozen Clear Channel markets), he not only said that the Bush administration doesn't know what it is doing in Iraq, but within a ten minute span pointed out that: <ul> <li>Al Gore won the election. <li>Bush did not fulfill his duty in the National Guard. <li>George W. will never admit that Poppy Bush pulled stings to get him into the Guard and keep him out of Vietnam. <li>There are several questions about Bush's character. </ul> While callers to the show repeatedly expressed dismay that Stern was taken off the air in certain cities, one fan expressed the overall mood by saying that the new FCC/Clear Channel tactics are reminiscent of Nazi book burnings. Never mind that the canaries in the proverbial coal mine were chirping a similar tune last year, back when radio stations were organizing Dixie Chick CD demolitions, the distant rumbling of goose-stepping is now being heard by former Bush supporters, too. Dubbing Clear Channel "fear channel," Stern warned that the "fascist right-wing" is "getting so much power." The following day, Stern was even more forceful. "Get rid of George W. Bush," he said, adding that Bush is "dangerous" and has a "religious agenda." By Monday, March 1, Stern was circumspect. "There's a real good argument to be made that I stopped backing Bush and that's when I got kicked off Clear Channel," he said. </blockquote> The bigger question is: Are media monopolies like Clear Channel gaining undue influence on our culture and our politics? <blockquote>Pop music played a crucial role in the national debate over the Vietnam War. By the late 1960's, radio stations across the country were crackling with blatantly political songs that became mainstream hits. After the National Guard killed four antiwar demonstrators at Kent State University in Ohio in the spring of 1970, Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young recorded a song, simply titled "Ohio," about the horror of the event, criticizing President Richard Nixon by name. The song was rushed onto the air while sentiment was still high, and became both an antiwar anthem and a huge moneymaker. A comparable song about George W. Bush's rush to war in Iraq would have no chance at all today. There are plenty of angry people, many with prime music-buying demographics. But independent radio stations that once would have played edgy, political music have been gobbled up by corporations that control hundreds of stations and have no wish to rock the boat. Corporate ownership has changed what gets played — and who plays it.</blockquote> And: <blockquote>The New Blacklist The nation's largest radio network's list of "questionable" songs By Tom Morello As rescue workers tirelessly searched the rubble of the Pentagon and World Trade Center, one casualty went unnoticed: a nation's freedom of speech. In later years, September 11 may also come to be seen as the day the music died. In the wake of the tragedy, the doorway is open for opponents of free speech to trample dissident voices and narrow the parameters of what can be discussed in art and music. In the days following the terrorist attack, the media monopoly that is Clear Channel walked through this doorway. Clear Channel is a multi-tentacled corporation that owns over a thousand radio stations in the United States--including 60 percent of the nation's rock-format stations (Salon, 4/30/01). Clear Channel also controls hundreds of music performance venues, as well as companies that manage many of the artists at the top of the Billboard charts. Following September 11, Clear Channel program directors put together a list of more than 150 "questionable" songs, and sent them via fax and email to their 1000+ stations and affiliates, with the not-so-subtle hint that these were songs to be steered clear of. These songs included everything from the Bangles' "Walk Like an Egyptian" to the Talking Heads' "Burning Down the House," from Led Zeppelin's "Stairway to Heaven" to Simon & Garfunkel's "Bridge Over Troubled Waters."</blockquote> Links: http://www.fair.org/extra/0111/blacklist.html http://radio.about.com/cs/latestradionews/a/aa022704a.htm http://www.onlisareinsradar.com/archives/000954.php http://www.mindspace.org/liberation-news-service/archives/000600.html

ari4324

06-15-04, 02:27 PM

so are you a liberal or a conservative?

Devils00Champs

06-15-04, 02:27 PM

stairway to heaven? wtf? why? and bush is a DlCK, stern is pretty cool.

devEcon

06-15-04, 02:27 PM

<< so are you a liberal or a conservative? >> I would say that I'm socially Liberal, and fiscally Conservative. The words "lib-Ral" and "CON-serveitive" have become media buzzwords -- they no longer are about a point of view, as they are used to identify Washington D.C. gang loyalty. <blockquote>Long answer: Really, I deny the validity of your question. The current right-wing wants to sell us out to corporate power, while taking away our rights -- both to silence dissent, and to pander to the people who want the USA to become a Christen religious state. The left-wing of the country is weak, apologetic, and still wants to take away our rights -- this time to pander to the recording industry along with the anti-gun and PETA nuts. I’m libertarian when it comes to people’s rights, but not on most issues. I believe in progressive taxation. Markets do a good job of allocating resources (as long as they are heavily policed and incentives are appropriate). That said, We should not let our nation's critical infrastructure fall into private hands. Also, some things should be public becuse we don't want a profit motive at work (ie water & war). I vote for the guy who has received less dirty money, and I hope that means he will give out less of my tax money as pork. I will not vote for anyone who doesn't support my rights. To this end, I listen to a lot of info the comes out of NGO’s like the NRA, ACLU, LP, Judicial Watch, CCR, Citizens for Tax Justice, Union of Concerned Scientists, and Public Citizen.</blockquote> If you vote "left" or "right" then you are a sucker -- vote for people, not parties.

Terri

06-15-04, 02:27 PM

Wow i must have been hiding under my rock..i missed all this...although i never really got into watching Stern Here's an interesting press release....... Clear Channel Cleans Up F**king Indecent Programming : American broadcasting powerhouse Clear Channel suspended the controversial radio personality Howard Stern today in an effort to rid the airwaves of f**king indecency and other kinds of offensive s**t. "You have to draw a f**king line in the sand. Once these motherf**king c**ks**kers start on this swearing s**t there's no telling when it will f**king stop. F**k, f**k, f**k," a spokesman for Clear Channel said. "Furthermore, the constant reliance on vulgar and obscene language demonstrates absolutely no f**king originality," he added. "I mean, after a while you begin to look like one of those pathetic Internet satire sites desperate for a cheap f**king laugh." Humm.....

ari4324

06-15-04, 02:27 PM

I care about the polices

devEcon

06-15-04, 02:27 PM

<< I care about the polices >> Who's polices? Clear Channel?