Published at the Huffington Post by:

Sue Wilson

Emmy winning Director of Broadcast Blues, Editor of SueWilsonReports.com

Posted: July 27, 2010 01:54 PM

Hate Radio and the War on Immigration

Unless the courts prevent it, the contentious Arizona immigration law Senate Bill 1070, which gives police power to racially profile people of color, will go into effect Thursday, July 29. Both friends and foes of the law are girding for battle, and the war of words is escalating. Language from opponents of the law like the Border Action Network, which plans protests and acts of civil disobedience in Arizona and across the country, is measured: they promise "civic engagement campaigns all over the state encouraging people to register to vote and to vote by mail."

The language from SB1070 supporters, however, is more virulent: a press release from Jim Gilchrist's Minuteman Project states they are rushing a delegation of lawmakers to the border. "We will be accompanied by armed Minutemen. Our guests are appraised of the situation and have made additional safety arrangements as well. The day of picnics and ice cream at the border is over," says Gilchrist.

Anti-immigrant rhetoric is ramping up on the public airwaves as well. On July 10, Arizona Republican Sheriff Paul Babeu told listeners of the openly "pro-white" Political Cesspool radio show they should apply for his department's "posse" program. (It is worth noting that, according to research from Media Matters, Babeu has appeared at least 18 times to promote the controversial law on Fox News, while two Arizona border sheriffs who spoke out against the law have never been invited to appear.)

The Clear Channel radio station in Columbus, Ohio has been running the following contest:"610 WTVN would like to send you where Americans are proud and illegals are scared, sunny Phoenix, Arizona! You'll spend a weekend chasing aliens and spending cash in the desert, just make sure you've got your green card! Win round trip airfare to Phoenix, hotel accommodations, and a few pesos in spending cash." Rush Limbaugh, predictably prevaricating on 600 radio stations, has targeted Flagstaff's City Council for their opposition to the law, resulting in death threats to council members. The list of hate radio rhetoric goes on and on and on.

Perhaps that's why Arizona Congressman Raul Grijalva (D-AZ) at the recent Netroots Nation convention (aimed at the progressive blogosphere) in Las Vegas told me he is targeting the media as a significant factor in the escalating war over immigration reform. "You've got Dobbs, you've got Beck... Dobbs for six to seven years has consistently been demonizing every immigrant as a criminal." Talk radio falsehoods such as increased border crime and beheadings in the desert are typical. "When people think that is 'news,' it's a problem," Grijalva says. "We're closed out of that media. There is no equal time."

The issue of media consolidation was a theme at the convention. Sen. Al Franken, (D-MN), told the audience in his keynote, "Resisting this trend towards media consolidation, resisting attacks on net neutrality - we should throw ourselves behind these causes with the same energy and urgency that we showed in 2006 and 2008." Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, (D-NV), echoed those sentiments, deriding media consolidation and encouraging the bloggers to fight for net neutrality and "keep calling out the Right Wing on misinformation."

Tuscon Congressman Grijalva brought up Congress' rewrite of the Communications Act as a needed solution to the media misinformation problem. The 1996 rewrite of the Act deregulated radio ownership, changing the rule which capped radio ownership at 40 stations per person (corporate or otherwise,) and allowing companies like Clear Channel to buy unlimited numbers of radio stations. (Clear Channel snapped up 1200 stations at the time, and programmed most of them with "Conservative" Talk Radio.) The current rewrite, led by Senators Kerry (D-MA) and Rockefeller (D-WV) and Reps. Waxman (D-CA) and Boucher (D-VA), is mainly focusing on issues of net neutrality and broadband. "As we struggle with the Communications Act," say Grijalva, "it's all about new media. We need to take this opportunity to fix what's wrong with old media."

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'Save Talk Radio!' Really? Republicans amass an army to retain corporate control of the public airwaves...

FROM: Brad Blog

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Guest Blogged by Sue Wilson on 9/15/2009 2:53PM

I was strolling through my local county fair this summer, a small fair, a friendly fair, where cows, sheep, and pigs outnumber food vendors.

The Republican booth caught my eye, but not because of the red, white, and blue decorations. What caught my eye was the sign they'd posted, the sign that summed up the one key issue of importance to local Republicans.

What would it be, in this raucous political summer of 2009? Anger over bailouts, fear over death panels? No. The number one issue for Amador County Republicans: "Save Talk Radio."

I hadn't realized that the industry that just signed a $400 million contract with Rush Limbaugh needed saving, but they thought so; they even had a petition to save it...

Sponsored by a group called "First Amendment Now," the petition read:

We hold dearly our right to freedom of speech and the right for others to express their views. We believe that Government should stand aside rather than stand in the way of the discussion of ideas. We believe that because the First Amendment should be about freedom of choice.

Therefore, we the undersigned oppose all efforts of any Government to limit, censor, or restrict in any way our unfettered right to free speech on our radios, televisions, the Internet or any other medium.

Wow, I thought, a Republican petition that I can really get behind! Then I read on:

We reject any effort to institute (1) the "Fairness Doctrine" or (2) "localism", which in its various forms seeks to establish local committees of "community leaders" to determine if talk radio is "reflecting" the views of the community, or (3) a quota system for ownership of radio stations - or any variance of any of those.

In other words, they advocate free speech for giant corporations, but not for local people. Hmmn.

I wondered how pervasive petitions like this might be. It turns out there are many such petitions on line, promoted by groups much more familiar than "First Amendment Now." So many, in fact, that they have amassed an army of more than a half a million to silence local views.

The Christian Coalition:

They want to pass what is known as the "Fairness Doctrine", which is nothing more than a way for the federal government to demand that all broadcasters must give "equal time" to all points of view.

Equal time to all points of view? What a radical concept.

The Family Research Council:

We need to be aware, however, that liberals may achieve their ends without passing legislation, or even without a new FCC "fairness" rule. They could do it by requiring a fixed amount of local content for radio.

Local content on local airwaves? It must be a Communist plot.

It is easy to dismiss these petitions as fringe. But postings from the Free Speech Alliance reveal something greater:

1. Obama's FCC will use "localism," "diversity of media ownership" and serving the "public interest" as a backdoor "Fairness" Doctrine.
2. We must make any attempt by Obama's FCC to silence talk radio a political third rail, one that the Administration or Congress dare not touch.
3. We will defend talk radio from these governmental assaults on their industry, and build further the case for free speech in all things.

The Left dominates every medium of news delivery, save for talk radio. And they can't stand it, so they want to wipe it off the media map.

The Free Speech Alliance is an arm of Brent Bozell's rightwing Media Research Center (MRC), which for years has been claiming liberal bias in the media with little evidence to back up the claim. This group has been quietly building an army to "go to war" in support of corporate-owned media and to squelch local voices. From another MRC/Free Speech Alliance petition [emphasis added]:

MRC's Free Speech Alliance --- with 69 organizations now involved --- seeks to build the largest possible grassroots Alliance army. So far, we have over 550,000 members, but we need the maximum number possible to go to war when free speech is threatened.

Among the 69 groups in support are: Accuracy in Media, American Conservative Union, National Taxpayers Union, National Religious Broadcasters, Family Research Council, Focus on the Family, World Net Daily, Salem Communications, and Clear Channel.

The creator of the Free Speech Alliance is Seton Motley, the same Seton Motley who appeared on Glenn Beck's show on Fox to target FCC Chief Diversity Officer Mark Lloyd with fabrications about his suggestions in the Center for American Progress/Free Press study "The Structural Imbalance of Talk Radio" [PDF] to give local audiences more control over what they get on their radio stations over their public airwaves. (To see an interview with Mark Lloyd about that report, see the documentary Broadcast Blues, or see a clip of the conversation with Lloyd at right.)

It is clear that the "right" has been quietly assembling troops and is now mounting their attack, an attack largely unanticipated by media reformers, an attack now staged on "Conservative" talk radio and TV (not that there is anything conservative about opposing localism.) Their dominance over radio, where "conservatives" voices outnumber "liberals" by nine to one, means their army is growing every single day, while the other side didn't even know there was going to be a fight.

An army of 550,000 from County Fairs and the Internet. How many more will there be as recruitment shifts to the public airwaves, currently under the private control of those who wish to keep it that way?

And who will stand ready to fight back?

Shortly after Barack Obama was sworn in as President last January, as Brad Friedman reported at the time, the new White House website "Technology" page signaled a hopeful change, and a call to re-examine the oversight of our public airwaves:

Encourage Diversity in Media Ownership: Encourage diversity in the ownership of broadcast media, promote the development of new media outlets for expression of diverse viewpoints, and clarify the public interest obligations of broadcasters who occupy the nation's spectrum.

A few months later, after the campaign from the right had kicked into full gear, charging that liberals were trying to prevent free speech on the radio, the paragraph was quietly removed from the White House website.

So I ask again...who will stand ready to fight back and in favor of real free speech on our public airwaves?

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Sue Wilson is the Emmy Winning Director of the media reform documentary "Broadcast Blues".

Sue Wilson: Radio Speech Is Not Free Speech

FROM:




BloggedBy By Sue Wilson on 8/18/2009 2:00PM
Sue Wilson is the Emmy Winning Director of the media reform documentary "Broadcast Blues."

On August 11, 2009, the San Francisco Board of Supervisors in a unanimous vote became the first elected body in the United States to stand up to Hate Radio. Their resolution urges "the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to conduct a comprehensive investigation on hate speech in the media, allowing public participation via public hearings, and asks the NTIA to update its 1993 report on the Role of Telecommunications in Hate Crimes."

For two years, San Francisco's Hispanic/Latino Anti-Defamation Coalition has been trying to get some traction on this issue. They've staged rallies against Michael Savage worked with the Media Alliance, Common Cause, and Broadcast Blues to protest hate radio, and supported the National Hispanic Media Coaltion's campaign to convince the FCC and NTIA to act. But HLADC leader Aurora Grajedas saw she could better affect national change by working with her own city's board of supervisors. Acting locally is a good lesson for all activists.

Still, there is resistance to any such study, as opponents charge these groups are trying to shut down the First Amendment. But let us be clear, Radio Speech is not Free Speech. I will stand by Glenn Beck's right to stand on the street corner and say illegal immigrants should be made into a new fuel called "Mexinol." I may not like it, but I stand by his right to say it. But there is a difference between shouting on the street corner and broadcasting all over the country.

Broadcasting pioneers witnessed the power of propaganda with radio Tokyo Rose, so they worked with government on two key broadcast regulations. First, to qualify for a license to broadcast on the public airwaves, stations had to serve the public interest, which became defined as local news, political debates, equal time, and a rule that said no personal attacks. Second, one person could own just 6 radio stations, nationwide. There were a lot of "street corners" in radio.

Today there are almost none. The 1996 Telecommunications Act changed the law so one person can own unlimited numbers of radio stations nationwide, and up to eight in a single town. It means a handful of businessmen now decide what we all get to hear on our local radio dials. They decide which few musicians get airplay; even Bruce Springsteen can't stand up to Clear Channel. And this tiny group of older, white, conservative men also decides which political messages we get to hear on our radio and which we do not. They make sure we can hear conservatives in every corner of the country and make sure we do not get to hear moderates or liberals. (They say only conservative talk gets ratings, but that is not true. You have to see my film for that story.) If they want us to hear hate, they have the power to program hate. Exclusively.

Plus Ronald Reagan did away with requirements for political debates, equal time, and the personal attack rule; those changes made it so much easier to do Hate Radio. It is very hard to attack someone with hate speech and then have to give them equal time to respond; you might have to actually look them in the eye.

So today, Rush Limbaugh promotes violence on 600 radio stations, Glenn Beck promotes Mexinol on 400 more, Michael Savage calls autism a fraud and Latinos criminals on another 400; the list of conservative hatemongers and their numbers goes on and on. Hate and lies, broadcast with millions of watts of power into every little town and farm, backed by corporations that have a lock on the market and won't allow any other voice on the air to push back.

It is Radio Speech, and it is not free; it is owned and managed by just a few people who share a political agenda. It clearly does not serve the public interest. (Reagan couldn't do away with that part of public policy, even though today's broadcasters pretend that he did.)

And now, the San Francisco Board of Supervisors is calling on the FCC, which enforces public interest standards, to at least study what the Leadership Council on Civil Rights sees a correlation between hate radio and violent hate crimes. They also call on the National Telecommunications and Information Administration, which advises the President on telecommunications policy, to update their last study of 1993, completed long before the media paradigm shift of 1996.

But even if the FCC and NTIA do quantify that which we already innately understand -- that hate and lies on the radio do incite violence -- they have little power to change the situation. It took an Act of Congress to get us into this media mess, and it will take another to get us out of it.

But it will take many more local actions to get their attention.

Bravo, Aurora.

Grassroots Groups Tell FCC: "Stop Hate Radio"!

Activists, members of community organizations in the San Francisco Bay Area who plan to attend the San Francisco Premiere of Broadcast Blues , also plan to Rally prior to the presentation of the film to highlight the need for Media Reform and to demand for the FCC to open a docket on Hate-Speech, misinformation and Media Consolidation, which is the model that allows a more widespread and uniform disemination of racist, xenophobic, nativist, homophobic, sexist, transphobic, et al, views to a nationwide audience already prejudiced with feelings of intolerance and hate.
And we have been seeing the results of their dehumanization of other human beings, people are being abused, discriminated, verbally bashed, beaten and even murdered by listeners of Hate-Radio, some of them (Listeners) have taken the arguments against targetted people and groups that the Shock Jocks make on a daily basis, to their logical, and in far too many times, fatal conclussions.

Firmly believing that one of the biggest, if not the biggest factor in the abuse and attacks against people and groups which are viewed as different, is hate speech in the media made possible by the extense consolidation of it, grassroots forces have concluded that the former needs to be stopped and the latter changed.

Members of The Hispanic / Latino Anti-Defamation Coalicion SF, this time joined forces with Common Cause and Media Alliance, to once again, mount a Rally / Demonstration against Hate Speech, Rush Limbaugh, Michael Savage, et al in San Francisco in front of the Victoria Theater prior to the showing of the San Francisco Premiere of Broadcast Blues by Emmy Award winner Sue Wilson on Sunday June 28 at 4:00p.m. - The Rally will be held before the showing of the documentary.

"We feel that this film is one everyone should see, specially the ones who are not that well informed about Media Consolidation and the harm it does to our Democracy and Communities." This is a common view held amongst the people who will be protesting.

It was shown in Sacramento CA on March 22 and it was a huge success together with the action they held there, now it is coming to San Francisco and the plans are to have a nationwide tour in a couple of months, Common Cause will be one of the Organizations sponsoring it.

Personally, the way I see it, is that people need to hear about this Documentary, what is all about and what we can do to take the media back, after all, we own the airwaves.

We need to publicize the film, the actions we are taking and can take - we need to keep up the pressure, our people will benefit, we need to have Media Reform, we need to have the FCC open a docket on Hate Speech, there is so much that needs to be done - the words of FCC Commission Acting Chairman Michael J. Copps are so true, in case you didn't know, he said that if we want to have any progressive reform enacted, we need to have Media Reform first to open up the Media to opposing points of view.

In addition, demonstrators are in agreenment and in support of the NHMC Petition to the FCC and will be asking attendees and the public in general, to also contact the FCC in support of the Petition.

SUMMARY: Hate speech against vulnerable groups is pervasive in our media – it is not limited to a few isolated instances or any one media platform. Indeed, many large mainstream media corporations regularly air hate speech, and it is prolific over the internet. Hate speech takes various forms, from words advocating violence to those creating a climate of hate towards vulnerable groups. Cumulatively, hate speech creates an environment of hate and prejudice that legitimizes violence against its targets.
Because the media has a powerful influence over people’s behavior and perceptions, it is not mere conjecture that hate speech over the media is producing concrete harms. As they have become the victims of more hate speech in media, hate crimes against Latinos have increased in frequency and in intensity. Indeed, hate crimes against Latinos have increased by 40% in just the last four years. And physical violence is not the only harm suffered at the hand of hate speech – studies show that such speech causes severe emotional and psychological distress to its targets. These harms may be particularly acute for Latino children given that children are uniquely susceptible to messages in the media.
The National Hispanic Media Coalition (NHMC) applauds President Obama’s commitment to equality and justice, and therefore respectfully requests that the FCC complement his efforts by initiating an inquiry into hate speech in the media.
Specifically, the NHMC requests that the Commission invite public comment on hate speech, inquire into the extent and nature of hate speech, examine the effects of hate speech, including the relationship between hate speech in the media and hate crimes, and explore options for counteracting or reducing the negative effects of such speech.
The NHMC is very supportive of First Amendment freedoms, and believes the cure for bad speech is not the suppression of speech, but more speech. The NHMC asks the FCC to shine a spotlight on those who use the public airwaves to promote a divisive agenda, heedless of the human cost.

PRESS RELEASE

For Immediate Release

Grassroots Groups Tell FCC: Stop Hate Radio!

At 3:00 PM on Sunday June 28, the Hispanic/Latino Anti-Defamation Coalition, Media Alliance, and California Common Cause will mount a rally outside the San Francisico Premiere of Broadcast Blues at the Victoria Theater at 16th and Mission. The message is clear: Tell the FCC to schedule hearings on Hate Radio. The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) is the federal agency which oversees broadcasters.

"A recent UCLA study shows a correlation between hate radio and hate crimes. We are demanding the FCC listen to the public about this crucial public interest problem," says Dr. Marcos Gutierrez, radio host and director of Hecho en California Radio.

“Common Cause is concerned when a few corporations own our media resulting in less local programming and fewer viewpoints being broadcast. More alarming, we are hearing more `hate speech' including broadcasters spreading misinformation, stereotyping, and fostering violence against certain people or groups,” notes California Common Cause staffer Emily Pears.

Broadcasters say they have the right to exercise Free Speech, but Broadcast Blues director Sue Wilson challenges that assertion. "There is Free Speech, and there is Radio Speech. The two are not the same. When the radio dial is opened up to all points of view, radio speech will be free. Until then, it is owned and operated for a political agenda. That must change." Broadcast Blues reminds us that we the people own the airwaves, and that we do have the power to hold stations and the FCC accountable.

Tracy Rosenberg of Media Alliance says, "How is it in the public interest to call other human beings …vermin? If I were a regulator whose job was to rent out the nation's communication space, I'd look into that. That's what we're asking the FCC to do.”

The rally will be held at the Victoria Theater, 2961 16th Street, San Francisco, at the 16th St. BART station. The screening of Broadcast Blues will follow at 4PM. More information is at www.broadcastblues.tv

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Para distribucion inmediata

Los grupos de base dicen al FCC: ¡Parar el odio en la radio!

A las 3:00 P.M. del domingo 28 de junio, la Coalición Hispánica/Latino de la Anti-Difamación, la Media Alliance, y Common Cause de California montarán un rally enfrente del Teatro Victoria antes de la premier de Broadcast Blues en San Francisco en la calle 16 y la misión. El mensaje está claro: Decir al FCC que programe Audiencias sobre la radio del odio. La Comisión Federal de las Comunicaciones (FCC) es la agencia federal que supervisa los locutores.

" Un estudio reciente del UCLA demuestra una correlación entre la radio del odio y los crímenes de odio. Estamos exigiendo al FCC que escuche a el público sobre este problema crucial de interés público, " dice a Dr. Marcos Gutiérrez, anfitrión de radio y director del programa Hecho en California.

“Common Cause esta preocupado de que algunas corporaciones poseen nuestros medios resultando en menos programación local y menos puntos de vista difundidos. Más alarmante, estamos oyendo más “discurso del odio” incluyendo los locutores que diseminan información falsa, estereotipando y fomentando violencia contra ciertos gente o grupos” Hace notar Emily Pears que es empleada en la plantilla de Common
Cause de California.

Los locutores dicen que tienen el derecho de ejercitar su libre expresión, pero la Directora de Broadcast Blues, Sue Wilson, desafía tal aserción. " Hay discurso libre, y hay discurso de radio. Los dos no son iguales. Cuando el dial de la radio se abra a todos los puntos de vista, el discurso de radio será libre. Hasta entonces, se posee y es operado para una agenda política. Eso debe cambiar." Broadcast Blues nos recuerda que la gente somos dueños de las ondas, y que tenemos el poder demantener a estaciones y a la FCC responsables.

Tracy Rosenberg de la Media Alliance dice, " ¿Donde esta el interés público al llamar a seres humanos… bichos? Si yo fuera un regulador cuyo trabajo fuera el alquilar espacio de la comunicación de la nación, indagaría sobre éso. Eso es lo que estamos
pidiendo que la FCC haga.” El Rally será en el teatro de Victoria, 2961 calle 16th, San Francisco, en la estación de la 16th del BART,la proyección de Broadcast Blue seguirá a las 4PM. Para más información www.broadcastblues.tv

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HEAR AND VIEW WHAT SHOCK JOCKS ARE SAYING