equal time controversy

[Alan Tolz]

First, thanks for sending the article our way...I didn't know Steve Weisman 
was Talkers Legal Editor.  We worked together back in the day at WRKO.

In as far as talk radio providing a forum for all sides of the story and 
including any and all candidates that run for a given office, IMHO, that's 
the most compelling way to program a talk show.  When Jerry Williams and as 
Donna accurately points out, David Brudnoy did shows on upcoming elections 
producers made it a point to invite EVERY candidate running for that 
particular office.  Sometimes they would show up, other times their press 
handlers felt as if they would not be treated fairly by the host and/or the 
audience and they would decline to appear, but from the perspective of 
providing the best possible program we wanted everyone involved.  The 
program was livlier... it allowed for crosstalk between the candidates that 
you'd never get in a debate format and it was comeplling talk radio in the 
hands of a talented host whether they had an agenda or not.

Now, should radio be obligated to offer equal time as the Commission used to 
mandate?  I would say within 30 days of an election, yes.  Should the 
Fairness Doctrine be put back into place?  I don't think so.  There are far 
more outlets in the internet age and frankly, the power of talk radio to 
sway an election has diminished in large part due to the overall 
fragmentation of the audience and the ham-handed way that partisan talk has 
taken over what's left of the talk radio landscape.

Alan
----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Donna Halper" <dlh@donnahalper.com>
To: "Boston Radio" <boston-radio-interest@lists.BostonRadio.org>
Sent: Monday, June 04, 2012 8:37 PM
Subject: equal time controversy


>I am hopeful we can discuss this one with courtesy, rather than breaking it 
>down via partisan points of view.  There's a question being raised in 
>Wisconsin by Sue Wilson, a Democratic advocate from the Media Action 
>Center,  about the fact that all the leading radio stations in Milwaukee 
>are dominated by Republican talk shows and are only inviting Republican 
>guests to discuss the issues and to promote voting for Republicans 
>(including the governor).  Beyond whether you do or do not like Democrats 
>(or Republicans, for that matter), does radio still have a duty to present 
>both sides of major issues when a small group of corporate owners control 
>all the stations?  I always thought radio should present guests from both 
>sides, and here in Boston, as you know, hosts like David Brudnoy, even 
>though they were personally conservative, always invited guests from both 
>sides and treated them with respect. But in some cities, evidently, not so 
>much.
> http://www.talkers.com/2012/06/04/wisconsin-recall-spurs-question-of-equal-time-on-milwaukee-newstalk-outlets/
>