3 ms·
It may be politics. 90% of AM radio stations are owned by ~5 companies pushing a conservative agenda, with a similar disparity in programming (i.e., 90% conser
by w10-1 2y ago
It may be politics.
90% of AM radio stations are owned by ~5 companies pushing a conservative agenda, with a similar disparity in programming (i.e., 90% conservative).
Most of the 10% of non-conservative stations are in progressive markets, where they have little impact. E.g., in San Francisco, the programming split is ~70/30% conservative/liberal.
Here's the (admittedly biased) source, but the numbers would be easily rebutted if untrue:
https://www.americanprogress.org/article/talk-radio-by-the-numbers/ https://www.americanprogress.org/article/talk-radio-by-the-n...
AM radio licenses are a fixed government monopoly, and it's well within the budget of political organizations to subsidize a radio station, so there will be no change in this disparity driven by market solutions.
Assuming the numbers are true, once government policy results in an enduring political bias in media, does the government have any responsibility to mitigate that bias?
Does the government have any obligation or even mandate to reach into product design and require certain features - features unrelated to safety, pollution, energy, or any other generally accepted social good?
- eropple 2y agoMaybe by the manufacturers, but I doubt it; see Musk's pivot to conservative pantomime since acquiring Twitter. And Ed Markey is not exactly a conservative politician.
- KerrAvon 2y ago[flagged]
- rpcope1 2y agoIt would be really nice if the FCC hadn't actively tried to kill low power FM and had promoted more low power AM, in conjunction with the FTC or whomever breaking up the big broadcast monopolies. I think mandating AM receivers should come with a push to significantly democratize parts of the bands so that there's more than just the same old stuff across every frequency.
- eru 2y agoThey should auction off the frequencies, and let the winner use them however they see fit. Instead of holding beauty contests. (Especially, the winner should be allowed to run eg better wifi on them, or better mobile phone data.)
- trimethylpurine 2y ago>90% of AM radio stations are owned by ~5 companies pushing a conservative agenda This is a bipartisan bill protecting the government's ability to transmit emergency notices on what is inarguably the best available technology to do it. Saving lives takes precedence over your political identity, I hope. Thankfully both sides of the Senate think so. I'm glad you weren't involved in their decision. You seem to have lost sight of what's important.
- deleted 2y ago[deleted]
- unethical_ban 2y agoThis is a place for discussion, so have a little grace, eh? It's fair to ask "Why not use NOAA radio" or "Doesn't the Emergency Alert System still work".
- Spivak 2y agoOr that maybe there are actually some politics involved behind the scenes because AM radio is a big distribution channel for Sean Hannity given it's the 4th most popular talk radio with 10 of the top 20 talk radio shows being conservative talk radio. I would be shocked if they didn't weigh in if for nothing other than financial interest.
- trimethylpurine 2y agoThey probably did. And leaving the band alone is still the best solution. Do nothing, problem solved. I don't see what the criticism is about. If the Left pushed to rearrange the band and won, then there would be something to criticize. Now we have to redo signage? Or we're all less safe? For what? To silence a handful of people? To give the automaker lobby a win by saving $5 per a car? I doubt they care so much. The Left has no reason to do anything other than what they did. Approve it.
- unethical_ban 2y ago