Sunshine State Censorship: Who Needs the FCC?

The Broward County Commission triggered a political mini-hurricane this week, when it considered cancelling its emergency communications contract with a local radio station because its programming is too conservative. For the past year, WIOD-AM has been the county’s “official” station for emergency news and information. On Tuesday, the county commission delayed its renewal of the station’s contract. The problem: the station airs conservative talk show hosts such as Rush Limbaugh and Sean Hannity. The station is out of step with area politics, explained Commissioner Stacy Ritter. “They have every right to speak, but we don’t have to do business with them,” she said.

How thoughtful. I know when I’m looking for disaster information, I’ll want it to be from someone who is in step with my area’s politics.

The reaction, of course, was swift – with Limbaugh, Hannity and others ridiculing the decision – and county officials were deluged with complaints. And to Broward’s credit, several commissioners on the all-Democrat board who had missed the Tuesday meeting came to WIOD’s defense. Yesterday, the county backed off, with a majority of commissioners pledging to renew the contract.

It’s tempting to dismiss the episode as just another bizarre Broward controversy. But the petty censorship attempt by local officials here may be a dry run for a much broader attempt at content control by Congress. Can you say Fairness Doctrine?

It’s also interesting to observe how the national media covered the story. While the controversy received nationwide coverage from conservative outlets, the mainstream national media largely ignored it. Of course, the Miami Herald – the largest newspaper in Florida – did run a piece on the events in Broward. They missed the censorship angle, though – instead they focused with horror on the fact that Rush Limbaugh had called Ritter a “babe.”

So much for the MSM.

SHARE: 2 comments