BuzzFlash Reader Contribution

CONTRIBUTOR ARCHIVES  

Clear Channel Tramples on First Amendment Rights. It Won't Allow a Modern Day Paul Revere on the Public Airwaves, Even if He Pays.

A BUZZFLASH READER CONTRIBUTION
by Robert Millman

Update: Read Robert's "My Fight with Clear Channel"

BuzzFlash Note: On Monday we posted in the mailbag a letter from Robert about his radio ads. Today we heard the ads, heard that Clear Channel wouldn't air them -- despite that Robert was paying the regular ad rate for them to air -- and had to help. Here's the point of the issue: the airwaves are the property of the American people. The FCC licenses bandwidth, but they are our airwaves. And here is a radio company refusing a person the right to pay to express their opinion. It's like having censors in the Soviet Union. We hope that highlighting these ads brings them wide national coverage. They deserve it. Listen to all seven of them, send the pages to your friends and family, and, if you can afford it, try and get them on your local radio station.

Radio Ad: Dissent

Click the > to play.
[ NEXT AD ]

DISSENT
This is a paid radio moment–
Some of us disagree with the President.
We think the Iraq war is a mess.
We think vote suppression is a crime.
We think tax cuts for the rich are a bad idea.
We think business doesn’t know best. (pause)
And we think dissent is an American value. (pause)
This country was born because people questioned authority.
It’s as American as apple pie.

Credits: These scripts were developed with input from: Robert Millman, Joan Fucillo, Greg Rossel, Oliver Dawshed, and Dennis Meyer. Audio Engineer, Rick Reineke.

Download the "Dissent" MP3.

* * *

From Robert Millman:

I plan to take on talk radio where I live. And I’m writing to ask you to help.

AM radio is a free market place. Anyone can place an issue ad on the air. All it takes is a credit card, an e-mail address and access to a fax machine. Depending on where you live, and what program you choose, a 30-second radio ad will cost from $20 to $120 a spot.

I have produced seven "Paid Radio Moments." They are 30-second ads that frame progressive issues. I plan on putting them on air on WGY (the big AM radio station in Albany, New York) in the first week of January.

I plan to make these audio files available to anyone willing to put them on the air in their entirety, that’s my only condition for full and free use. As long as a spot is played in full, anyone is welcome to one or all of them.

Robert Millman

* * *

From Robert Millman, on the Daily Gazette article (original article here):

I believe this article raises the question of who controls the public air-waves. The FCC censures indecent speech on the air because the broadcast air waves are public property and it is for the public good to censure certain language. By the same reasoning it follows that certain speech must be allowed for the public good. I keep hearing it is a market economy. If this is a market economy, then I have a right to buy commercial air time in the market and place I choose.

* * *

Robert's Mailbag Letter:

Subject: Stand and Fight

I’ve had enough of the radical right, vote suppression and the failures of our current government. For me, it’s time to do something about it.

Starting in early January, I am putting progressive issue ads on WGY, an AM radio station in Albany, New York. Anyone who wants to do the same (in Albany or anywhere else) is welcome to use the ads I’ve created.

It isn’t difficult to put an issue ad on the radio. All it takes is an e-mail address, a credit card, and access to a fax machine.

Progressive Issue Ad Topics:

1. DEFICIT SPENDING

2. INCUMBENCY/REDISTRICTING

3. JUSTIFICATION FOR WAR

4. RIGHT TO VOTE

5. SUSTAINABLE ENERGY

6. DISSENT

7. CHRISTIANITY

I believe that the ideas expressed in these 30 second recordings will resonate with anyone who values fair play and good government. And to repeat, they are available to anyone. My one condition for use is that any spot must be played in its entirety, other than that; I offer them for public use.

If this idea appeals to you, send me an e-mail and I will send all 7 audio files to you in mp3 format. Your return e-mail must be able to accept attachments totaling 3.25 MB. And if you like them I invite anyone to post them on a web site for public downloads.

We are in a war of ideas, and fair play is a potent idea.

Please forward this message,

Robert Millman

A BUZZFLASH READER CONTRIBUTION