When the government allocates monopoly rights to frequency, and there are only a handful in each community, it’s picking the winners in the competition. Robert McChesney Read Quote
If you look at the history of broadcasting, what you find is the National Association of Broadcasters is a trade association whose mission is to protect the interests of the commercial broadcasters. Robert McChesney Read Quote
So the system we have in radio and television today is the direct result of government policies that have been made in our name, in the name of the people, on our behalf, but without our informed consent. Robert McChesney Read Quote
When the government picked companies and gave them monopoly rights to frequencies in San Francisco and Los Angeles and New York and Chicago, it was picking the winners of the competition; it wasn’t setting the terms of the competition. Robert McChesney Read Quote
Our existing media system today is the direct result of government laws and subsidies that created it. Robert McChesney Read Quote
And they’ve got to be held accountable; our broadcasting system has to be made accountable; and unless it is, it’s going to be very hard to change anything else for the better in this country. Robert McChesney Read Quote
So that what you tend to see is someone like a Rush Limbaugh, he’s the classic case because he’s the most successful, he didn’t sort of like come out of his mother’s womb with the highest ratings in the country. Robert McChesney Read Quote
As the mainstream media has become increasingly dependent on advertising revenues for support, it has become an anti-democratic force in society. Robert McChesney Read Quote
But having said that, what’s happening with campaign finance reform and our political culture is devastating. Robert McChesney Read Quote
The commercial broadcasters have tremendous influence in Washington, D.C., for a couple of reasons. First, they’re extremely rich and they have lots of money and they have had for a long time, so they can give money to politicians, which gets their attention. Robert McChesney Read Quote
