Watching Howard Stern on David Letterman, baldly plugging SIRIUS radio on the show as a Christmas present--free advertising time for the satellite radio network couched as part of Stern's continuing claim that he's protesting the FCC's indecency crackdown by switching to a pay-per-listen broadcast model.
What a free speech hero, eh? I could just listen to that boob-job plugging, dwarf-abusing, impulse-control challenged perpetual teenager all day, revelling in my rights as an American. And now, Stern with more swearing--Yes! It almost makes me want to slide the dial a few notches over to SIRIUS Patriot, "Conservative talk radio with a flag-waving, patriotic flair."
Of course, it's hard to exactly side with the FCC either--while the commissioners are getting all worked up over some cheesed-out steamy lockerroom antics, they continue to ignore complaints about the shamelessly partisan pandering of Sinclair Broadcast Group just prior to the election. Local viewers in the Carolinas have seen enough; they've begun filing challenges to license renewals for Sinclair-owned stations.
The protesters are facing an uphill battle. FCC Chairman Michael Powell has no intention of following his father's lead in stepping down from his post. "I still am having fun," he told the AP.
But on the bright side, rebel commissioners Michael J. Copps and Jonathan S. Adelstein continue their inspiring tour across America to actually ask Americans what we think about the hypercommercialized advertainment crapola piped into our living rooms by media conglomerates.
Check it out: real-life free speech heros. When they get their show on SIRIUS, then I'll start my subscription.
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Jessica Clark is a writer, editor and researcher, with more than 15 years of experience spanning commercial, educational, independent and public media production. Currently she is the Research Director for American University’s Center for Social Media. She also writes a monthly column for PBS’ MediaShift on new directions in public media. She is the author, with Tracy Van Slyke, of Beyond the Echo Chamber: Reshaping Politics Through Networked Progressive Media (2010, New Press).
