Citizen Petition to the FCC

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WHEREAS, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) ceased to enforce the so-called "Fairness Doctrine" in 1987 because the Doctrine "had the net effect of reducing, rather than enhancing, the discussion of controversial issues of public importance;" and

WHEREAS, the FCC's decision led to a vast expansion of both consumer free choice and free speech; and

WHEREAS, Rush Limbaugh's program, Sean Hannity's program and other nationally syndicated programs hosted by people like Mike Reagan, Bill Bennett, Janet Parshall, Hugh Hewitt, Michael Medved and G. Gordon Liddy, all contribute to a far more informed public; and

WHEREAS, popular demand has also resulted in hundreds of local talk radio hosts discussing both the national and local concerns of the day with their listening audience; and

WHEREAS, Fairness Doctrine advocates like Congresswoman Louise Slaughter (D-NY) have admitted that their intention to reinstate the Fairness Doctrine was specifically motivated by the ability of talk show hosts like Rush Limbaugh to arouse "their listeners to contac[t] their members of Congress" and that Rush Limbaugh's program was "a waste of good broadcast time and a waste of our airwaves" (PBS, 12-17-04); and

WHEREAS, Senator. James Inhofe (R-OK) told a Los Angeles radio host in 2007 that he had once overheard Senators Hillary Clinton (D-NY) and Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-CA.) on a Capitol elevator complain about the prevalence of "right-wing extremists" on talk radio (The Hill, 6-27-07); and

WHEREAS, talk radio has effectively mobilized the public to oppose federal certification of all home schooling parents (1993), stop statehood for Spanish-only Puerto Rico (1998) and block efforts to grant amnesty to millions of illegal aliens (2006 and 2007); and

WHEREAS, former Senator Trent Lott (R-MS) urged reinstatement of the Fairness Doctrine specifically because, according to conservative leader Paul Weyrich, "talk radio has encouraged people to call his congressional office to complain about the immigration bill;" and

WHEREAS, efforts to reinstate the Fairness Doctrine have heretofore been unsuccessful, including a 2007 vote by U.S. House of Representatives (309-115) to amend the Financial Services and General Government appropriations bill to bar the FCC from requiring broadcasters to balance conservative content with liberal programming such as Air America; and

WHEREAS, a 2007 report by the Center for American Progress cleverly recast the Fairness Doctrine as "localism" by stating that "any effort to encourage more responsive and balanced radio programming will first require steps to increase localism;" and

WHEREAS, the Center's report also urged quotas by race and sex for radio station ownership because a survey of all "10,506 licensed commercial radio stations reveals that stations owned by women, minorities, or local owners are statistically less likely to air conservative hosts or shows; and

WHEREAS, the Center's report also urged aggressive and far more frequent challenges of broadcast licenses by both groups and individuals; and

WHEREAS, on January 24, 2008, the FCC published a "Notice of Proposed Rulemaking" in the Federal Register which, if ultimately adopted, would impose the biased vision of the Center for American Progress on the nation's airwaves, a vision which is targeted with the precision of a laser beam against conservative talk show hosts like Rush Limbaugh; and

WHEREAS, the FCC's proposed regulations claim that radio station "programming -- particularly network programming - often is not sufficiently culturally diverse" and seeks "to ensure that broadcasters serve their communities, especially traditionally underserved audiences," such as non-English speakers, whether or not these people actually exist and whether or not these "underserved groups" can be served consistent with the needs of commercial radio to make a fair profit; and

WHEREAS, the FCC's proposed regulations require that all "licensees should convene and consult with permanent advisory boards" which "should include representatives of all segments of the community," a requirement which would empower self-appointed "community leaders," such as representatives of the league of United Latin American Citizens (LULAC) or the Center for American Islamic Relations (CAIR), to discourage commercial radio stations from airing discussions of controversial matters such as the costs of illegal immigration or the meaning of jihad; and   

WHERAS, these permanent advisory boards would be uniquely in a position to demand that radio stations must purchase expensive "outreach" advertising, including advertisements in languages other than English, in publications which coincidentally happen to be owned by advisory board members; and

WHEREAS, in the era of the Internet, cell phones with 24/7 news feeds, cable news and the older institutions of National Public Radio and the Public Broadcasting System, Rush Limbaugh and his fellow talk show hosts hardly enjoy monopoly power regarding what news reaches the American people;

THEREFORE, this American citizen calls upon the Federal Communication Commission to cease and desist its efforts to silence Rush Limbaugh and other conservative talk show hosts via these abominable regulations and, should the FCC fail to heed our request, that Congress formally disapprove of FCC document FCC07-218.

Sincerely,