Sacramento, CA - Monday, December 12, Media Reform and Occupy groups across the country will protest and occupy Clear Channel radio stations. Clear Channel, the largest radio operator in the US, pulled a fast one on its listeners last week in Sacramento, where a generation ago its station KFBK launched Rush Limbaugh's career. It replaced soft rock on its 50,000 watt KGBY 92.5 FM station with a simulcast of its KFBK programming - a typical right wing format featuring Limbaugh and Sean Hannity.
It means the region now gets four stations promoting pro-corporate "conservative" hate speech, but zero stations promoting any opposing ideas; opposing views are simply not allowed by corporate owner Clear Channel. This is the case in better than 90% of the USA. And Clear Channel's actions are not limited to Sacramento; they are taking progressive stations off the air across the nation, in advance of an election year.
A physical protest co-sponsored by Occupy Sacramento, Media Action Center, and Sacramento Media Group will be held at the Clear Channel building in Sacramento at 1440 Ethan Way Monday at 10:30 AM. We will announce license challenges and boycotts of sponsors. Then we will enter the building to conduct a day long public files inspection, as is our legal right. In solidarity, dozens of Occupy and other groups from DC to LA, from Wisconsin to Florida will simultaneously converge into Clear Channel stations to demand files inspections.
Says Media Action Center founder Sue Wilson, "Conservative talk radio supporters will tell us that this is all about free speech, and if we don't like it, we should just change the channel. They are right, it is about free speech. OUR free speech. Where is OUR opportunity to get an alternative message out to our community on OUR PUBLIC AIRWAVES? Stations only get licensed to broadcast IF they 'serve the public interest.' It is time we use every legal means at our disposal to reclaim our right to be heard in the public square of radio."
Sunday, December 11, 2011
Occupy Clear Channel Monday!
From a press release from Media Action Center:
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ignorance...
ReplyDeletemisdirected anger.
stop whining and start your own, if you don't like what you hear. That is your right.
Let's say that these folks actually get their way, how many people who are now employed by clear channel will lose their jobs? How will this affect the economy in those area's? Did these folks stop to think about this before they jumped on the "Occupy" band wagon?
ReplyDeleteActually, Clear Channel has laid off of thousands of local radio workers in the name of "cost-savings"- mostly by automating the stations and playing right-wing garbage like Rush on stations instead of locally-driven programming.
ReplyDeleteAs for "getting our own station," sure, I'll just pull out about $1-$2 million out of my pocket and take an established station. Oh wait, I DON'T HAVE THAT KIND OF SCRATCH ON ME. Only the corporate slime that sponsor right-wing garbage do (because they need the propaganda to counter reality). And now you know why there is no local left-wing voice in Milwaukee radio despite the county voting 2-1 against Scott Walker (well, that and lefties having a life and outside interests, unlike the average Sykes listener).
Get the point? This is why 620 is going to get itself occupied sooner or later. They've ignored reality and their community far too long.
I didn't know that equal time on the air waves would cause any lay offs. In fact, watt for watt, liberal talk radio does much better than conservative talk radio. Which is why the corporations had to usurp all of the stations they could.
ReplyDeleteKind of funny how these business gurus keep throwing their money away like tat.