Stern v. Powell

There are actually a few other issues besides Iraq and terror in this country, and I would say that media consolidation and censorship is a biggie. As you might know, FCC Chairman Michael Powell was on KGO Radio in San Francisco yesterday, and when they opened up the phone lines for questions, they received a call from a unique "first-time caller, long-time listener": Howard Stern.

I heard the exchange on Stern today, and despite what I think was a missed opportunity by Stern for pushing the nepotism angle (which is just too easy for Powell to deflect in a he said/she said manner), I thought he really nailed Powell to the wall. What infuriated me most was when Powell was talking about the recent Janet Jackson fine, which was delivered to the affiliates of the Owned & Operated Viacom stations. Ronn Owens (the host of the show) made the good point of "Why are you fining KPIX (the San Francisco CBS affiliate)? What did they have to do with Janet Jackson?" Powell countered that they only fined the O&Os. Owens then said, "Yeah, and KPIX IS an O&O."

Michael Powell's entire job is dealing with media, he's in San Francisco, and he doesn't know that KPIX is owned by Viacom? I'm sorry, that's his job, and that's gross negligence on his part. It just shows you how uninformed these government flacks are. That's supposed to be his area of expertise, for crying out loud!

Apparently, Powell had to be talked into taking calls in the first place. If the Federal COMMUNICATIONS Commission head is hesitant to communicate with his constituents, we've got a problem in America.