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September 10, 2007

The Fairness Doctrine... Who Benefits?

The purpose of the proposed Fairness Doctrine is easy to ascertain. All that needs to be done to answer the question proposed in this channel is a simple evaluation of who benefits from its implementation.

Proponents of the Fairness Doctrine claim that it will give an equal voice over the airwaves. This would seem to indicate that it would be applied to all forms of media that utilize the airwaves. Of course, we know this to be false.

The Fairness Doctrine is being used in the same way a sniper would use his rifle, and the target in the cross-hairs is quite specific. It is only being aimed at Talk Radio.

The Conservative domination of talk radio has been well-documented. Talkers Magazine, the self-proclaimed "bible of talk-radio" has compiled a list called the "Heavy Hundred," an obvious reference to the top 100 talk radio hosts in 2007. The top ten are:

1) Rush Limbaugh
2) Sean Hannity
3) Michael Savage
4) Laura Schlessinger
5) Ed Schultz
6) Opie & Anthony
7) Laura Ingraham
8) Michael Reagan
9) Neal Boortz
10) Glenn Beck

We will set aside Opie & Anthony, as their show is primarily aimed at entertainment and satire rather than political commentary. Also Laura Schlessinger, whose show, while very conservative, is most heavily focused on administering guidance in personal matters, mostly with women.

Therefore, of the top ten, eight shows deal with political matters. Of those eight, only Ed Schultz provides political commentary from the liberal viewpoint. Neal Boortz leans conservative, although he is liberal on many social issues. The remaining six would easily be categorized by Hillary Clinton as members of the "vast right-wing conspiracy."

To provide a greater perspective on the conservative domination of talk radio, consider this: We could combine the audiences of numbers 2 - 10 and it would still not equal the audience of the top-rated host, Rush Limbaugh.

In addition, in the entire list of the top 100, which includes all radio categories from legal advice to local issues and sports talk to relationship advice, only 6 personalities identify themselves or their show as either progressive or liberal. In contrast, more than 25 personalities readily identify themselves or their shows as Conservative. This number excludes some personalities who are well-known conservatives, such as Mark Levin and Bill Bennett, who do not identify their shows as conservative. If we included these, the number would increase to almost 40.

A final

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