Howard Stern And The Burning Bush

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/gate/archive/2004/03/09/eguillermo.DTL

<snip>

On Monday, Stern insisted he wasn't crying wolf. He said his sources told him that FCC Chair Michael Powell is "freaking out."

"He realizes that once he fines me, and I'm thrown off the radio, he'll set me free to be one of the most powerful men in this country," said Stern. "He's concerned he's handing Kerry the election by throwing me off the air."

<snip>

"There's only one thing you can do," said Stern. "Remember me in November when you're in the voting booth. I'm asking you to do me one favor. Vote against Bush. That's it."

Can Stern become that powerful a force to sway an electorate? In the era of Arnold Schwarzenegger and disgruntled electorates, if I were Bush, I wouldn't want to test it.

The answer is YES he can. And that is good news for us Dems! So go ahead Mr. Powell, roll the dice. Just don't be surprised if they come up snake eyes.

that would be huge.

and he will...love him, hate him..whatever...he will get people out of their seats and out to vote because he says so...and that is good for us...

one love
spike

reach people. He would not have any influence - people would have forgotten about him by the time of the elections.

Only time will tell. Personally I think the FCC has a tiger by the tail to dredge up an old cliche'. I believe that there would be a number of media outlets prepared to hire on a Howard Stern in one capacity or another. He is after all a proven money maker.

It has a potential for vote yield of different voters, ones who may not follow politics, vote normally, or care much about the other big issues (Iraq, economy etc.).

The fact that Rove and Bush are thinking about the threat of Howard Stern stikes me as the funniest thing since hearing that Miller is going to pay people to see his show...
I say Go Howard! I guess since he has read Al Frankens book and seen how well that and other Lib Books have done he see an untapped wealth in the Democratic dollar..Fine by me.
I used to listen to Sterns show and I think he can be very funny..Sure he will offend me and bore me with his gushing over porn stars and strippers. But he can be very funny and smart. His attacks on bush have been the best on radio since most other Radio stars do is nothing but whore for Bush

Here are excerpts from a column by Joe Bevilacqua on www.tompaine.

"Fox News Network, The Washington Times, Rush Limbaugh -- there's a bunch of them," Gore continued, "and some of them are financed by wealthy ultra-conservative billionaires who make political deals with Republican administrations and the rest of the media," Al Gore said.

According to the Senate Democratic Policy Committee, the top five radio station owners currently control 45 powerful, 50,000-watt or better, radio stations. On those stations, on any given Monday through Friday, you can find 310 hours of nationally-syndicated Right-wing talk. As for liberal talk, you'll find a total of five hours, three of which feature the moderate Alan Colmes as part of Conservative Sean Hannity's show.

Critics argue that the media deregulation begun in the 1980s during the Reagan Administration has led to a slow but steady consolidation of media control. Some say that has meant the death of local programming, that now fewer and fewer voices are being heard, and it has led to an enhanced ability to use television and radio as a propaganda tool for the conservative Right.

"The emergence of the Murdoch Empire, Fox, and a whole strategy of polarization... polarize people. 'You're either with us or against us,' as President Bush says. Polarizing people in a way that in a sense intimidates the center, tries to move the center to the right and this is what has happened," Randy Schechter says.

"New politics is media politics," says Danny Schechter, "What I call a mediaocracy, has replaced democracy. Most political candidates spend most of their time raising money to buy air-time, because the only way they can get on the air is through a commercial, which is often the most manipulative form of communication."

Meanwhile, media outlets were moving away from investigative journalism toward a kind of entertainment news.

To understand just how concentrated media ownership has become in just a few years, consider that today Clear Channel Communications owns more than 1,200 radio stations, turning the nation's commercial radio system into, what Chester and Hazen call "a wasteland of conformity and commercialism. In contrast, in 1996, the combined total of the number of stations owned by the two largest radio chains was a mere 115."

One of the chairmen, not a Powell fan and alarmed by recent Bushite rewriting of the rules, said they never have gone after Stern and that is not their practice. Of course, the disciplining has a whole Right wing chain to go through that is not official FCC doings so why bother?

Does Stern understand the players and the process or is he exaggerating for effect? It is harder to go after his private sector bosses who can make any changes they want without the political accountability.