Deregulation may blow radio up too!

Want to press Hannity’s hotbutton? Want to send Limbaugh into orbit? Mention the possible return of the Fairness Doctrine and sit back and watch the fireworks. The concept that a radio station has an obligation to offer a buffet of differing viewpoints would have stopped the rise of conservative radio and kept millions of dollars out of the hands of the right wing blowhards and billions out of the hands of their owners and handlers.

Who knows what evil...

The fat lady, though, is about to sing. Radio stocks like Citadel have taken a nosedive and one of the biggest players in the right-wing hostage taking, Clear Channel, went private just before the bust (they literally regotiated in a panic as the grim reaper was approaching).

While it would be an oversimplification to single out deregulation as sole cause (radio is old media and will die soon of natural causes anyway,)  radio traded away its credibility for the quick buck, and now that the GOP is tanking, it will be taking its kept medium with it.

When the voices in the ether on the far right found, in 2008, that they couldn’t sway the Republican Party from its choice of McCain, it showed the first signs of its new impotence. If it couldn’t do that by howling 24/7 its not much good selling products in 30 second pitches. Maybe if it hadn’t been so anxious to trade on its newly-acquired unfairness, it might have more value today.