Free speech for me, but not for thee:
Sinclair, Fox and the FCC

A TV station in Madison, Wisconsin, has refused to run a commercial accusing the Bush admininistration of misleading the nation about Iraq’s alleged weapons of mass destruction. The twist(s):
1. The ads were paid for by the Democratic National Committee.
2. The station, WMSN, is an affiliate of the demonstratedly right-wing Fox network, run by longtime Bush supporter Rupert Murdoch.
3. WMSN is owned by the fiercely conservative Sinclair Broadcast Group.

Complaints by DNC chair Terry McAuliffe were met by a Fox spokesperson’s assertion that the decision wasn’t made on the national level: "You would think a man in his position would know the difference between a local affiliate and a national news network."

Of course that’s what’s funny about the story: WMSN is about as local as Wal-Mart. Sinclair Broadcast Group, a fervently rightwing network of 62 local stations nationwide, pipes in much of its on-air content from the corporate HQ in Baltimore. For a taste of Sinclair’s extremist bent, tune into NewsCentral and its commentary section, The Point. You’ll hear a Sinclair corporate VP calling peace activists "wack jobs" and the "liberal" media the "hate-America crowd." Given WMSN’s refusal to run a DNC TV spot criticizing the prez, last night’s edition was particularly audacious :

"Congress shall make no law… abridging the freedom of speech…"

That’s from the First Amendment. The operative issue here is Congress. Congress shall not censor speech. But anyone else can and may. No private entity has an obligation to carry the speech of another, because that would violate the free speech rights of the carrier, be it a newspaper, magazine, Internet site, radio or whatever.

But John McCain and the Senate Commerce Committee don’t get it. They’re angry because radio stations – responding to listeners -- elected to not carry the Dixie Chicks earlier this year. Wake up, Senators. Hundreds of bands don’t get played on the radio every single day.

The irony here is that by threatening radio stations into playing certain groups the Senate Commerce Committee is--for all practical purposes--violating the First Amendment it claims to uphold. It’s time they step outside and get a good breath of fresh air.

Har-dee-har-har. Yes, the First Amendment’s a wonderful thing, as long as you’re not talking about Democratic ad campaigns! The whole commentary, though, feels more like whining: after Sinclair’s costly and enduring lobbying of the FCC to loosen media ownership rules in their favor, the House of Representatives has voted by a staggering 400-to-21 margin to do just the opposite.