[xpost from ![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
free_speechfcc]
2005-02-28 20:26![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
digitaldiscipline
digitaldisciplineIn addition to the stated aims of the community, I'm also prone to advocating that the FCC stop being used as, or behaving like, a tool of morality. There exists a free market for communication of all stripes, whether vocal minorities or majorites approve of it. Free speech is, and traditionally has been, one of the cornerstones of this country.
That has eroded. Not to the extent that the doublethink envisioned in 1984 is the only recourse, but by limiting discourse or distracting the public eye from the important issues at hand, or moving to silence those voices that are critical of the powers that be, implicitly or explicitly, the FCC has been used as a tool by those who wish to be secure in their station.
I am certainly one of the first to criticize the failings of the deregulation that allowed giant media conglomerates to quickly become dominant near-monopolies (yes, I'm talking about Clear Channel), and believe that maintaining diversity in broadcast media should be, and should have remained, the FCC's overarching responsibility.
But they have failed. At the hands of a few wealthy corporations who have chosen to dictate policy, the politicians are more than willing to capitulate. At the hands of an outspoken, exclusionary band of religious fanatics, the FCC has buckled.
I have all but forsaken broadcast media, both out of protest for this sorry state of affairs, and because no meaningful alternative has presented itself, other than the internet. I can all too easily see a future where a corporate state controls the common flow of popular information.
If this is a chance to tell that future to go fuck itself, and shove a red-hot needle under the eyelid of some self-righteous fucks who have the temerity to dictate what I can and cannot choose to watch and listen to, then so be it.
That has eroded. Not to the extent that the doublethink envisioned in 1984 is the only recourse, but by limiting discourse or distracting the public eye from the important issues at hand, or moving to silence those voices that are critical of the powers that be, implicitly or explicitly, the FCC has been used as a tool by those who wish to be secure in their station.
I am certainly one of the first to criticize the failings of the deregulation that allowed giant media conglomerates to quickly become dominant near-monopolies (yes, I'm talking about Clear Channel), and believe that maintaining diversity in broadcast media should be, and should have remained, the FCC's overarching responsibility.
But they have failed. At the hands of a few wealthy corporations who have chosen to dictate policy, the politicians are more than willing to capitulate. At the hands of an outspoken, exclusionary band of religious fanatics, the FCC has buckled.
I have all but forsaken broadcast media, both out of protest for this sorry state of affairs, and because no meaningful alternative has presented itself, other than the internet. I can all too easily see a future where a corporate state controls the common flow of popular information.
If this is a chance to tell that future to go fuck itself, and shove a red-hot needle under the eyelid of some self-righteous fucks who have the temerity to dictate what I can and cannot choose to watch and listen to, then so be it.
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
(no subject)
I am truly afraid in this environment. How is it even possible *to* make an informed choice when one is *not* informed?
If we have to sift through a lot of idiotic dick humour on Comedy Central in order to be able to maintain freedom of speech in the news and have better understanding of what is going on in the world at large, then so be it. Which is more important? Sanitizing our experience, or having access to (truly) free press?