The number one lobby that opposes campaign finance reform in the United States is the National Association of Broadcasters. Robert Waterman McChesney More Quotes by Robert Waterman McChesney More Quotes From Robert Waterman McChesney So the system we have in radio and television today is the direct result of government policies that have been made in our name, in the name of the people, on our behalf, but without our informed consent. Robert Waterman McChesney government names people So that what you tend to see is someone like a Rush Limbaugh, he's the classic case because he's the most successful, he didn't sort of like come out of his mother's womb with the highest ratings in the country. Robert Waterman McChesney successful mother country One survey that I saw that was published I think in Variety or Electronic Media within the last three weeks says that now the average hour of radio in the United States has 18 minutes of commercials. Robert Waterman McChesney media average thinking Deregulation is a popular term that's used across the political spectrum. And it's one of these terms like "choice," that corporate interests have used because they know their focus-group buzzword testing makes it sound like a popular word. Because, who can be against deregulation? Being free, having liberty, not having someone tell you what to do, being deregulated, hey, that sounds great. But deregulation is a non sequitur in the realm of media policy or media regulation. The issue is never regulation versus deregulation; our entire system is built on media policies and subsidies. Robert Waterman McChesney being-free political choices If you look at the history of broadcasting, what you find is the National Association of Broadcasters is a trade association whose mission is to protect the interests of the commercial broadcasters. Robert Waterman McChesney missions association looks Because Hightower's problem, among other things, is that advertisers would be a lot less interested in his show than in Limbaugh's, even if they have similar ratings, because of what Hightower is saying. Robert Waterman McChesney rating problem would-be And understand that scarce spectrum is used today for example for cell phone operators, they have to pay for the airwaves they use, for their services. Robert Waterman McChesney phones cells use Also, the commercial media in a superior position, really, to any other corporate lobby, because where would people hear about commercial media or corporate media criticism, where would they hear criticism of them other than in the commercial media? Robert Waterman McChesney media criticism people There is no real answer [to the U.S. economic crisis] but to remove brick by brick the capitalist system itself, rebuilding the entire society on socialist principles. Robert Waterman McChesney principles real answers The range of debate between the dominant U.S. [political] parties tends to closely resemble the range of debate within the business class. Robert Waterman McChesney political party class In the last two years we've seen a sea change in the United States on media issues. Two years ago, people would have read this, then opened the window on the ledge of the 18th floor and jumped. They would have said, "Okay, it's over, there's nothing I can do, it's just getting worse." But in the last two years, what we've seen is that millions of Americans have gotten aware of the issue, they've organized on it, they've risen up, and we're seeing the beginnings of a burgeoning media reform movement across this country. Robert Waterman McChesney country people window
