Y'know who I feel bad for in the wake of the Howard Stern fiasco that just happened? The small, local stations. The ones who are now looking at a maximum of "all your money for ever and ever and being locked in a debtors prison" as a fine if one of their DJs has a rotten day, slips up, and continues a conversation from the party last night on the air. I mean, gosh, it's just a fine of $27,500. That's only, like, half the yearly operating budget of a radio station.
We complain about the Clear Channel Formula, then let this kind of crap happen. It's the only smart business model, having a computer play your music and keeping humans off the air. This is the agency that's trying to get hold of your cable, satellite and internet broadcasts.
Ponder that: Sure, cable, that makes sense, except that I paid to get it into my house and know what I'm getting; sure, satellite, that makes sense, except that I pay to have a signal sent to me and me alone, and choose exactly what I'm getting; sure, internet, that's not a foothold into censoring all content you go looking for on your computer including news.
When they stuck it to The Man, I stood and cheered.
When they stuck it to The Man's Boss, I clapped.
When they stuck it to The Man's Sponsors, I nodded in sage approval.
When they stuck it to the Consumers of The Man's Sponsors, I went to jail for ever.