… has right wing talk show hosts running scared these days. And this report has them just about apoplectic.
Our conclusion is that the gap between conservative and progressive talk radio is the result of multiple structural problems in the U.S. regulatory system, particularly the complete breakdown of the public trustee concept of broadcast, the elimination of clear public interest requirements for broadcasting, and the relaxation of ownership rules including the requirement of local participation in management. […]
Ultimately, these results suggest that increasing ownership diversity, both in terms of the race/ethnicity and gender of owners, as well as the number of independent local owners, will lead to more diverse programming, more choices for listeners, and more owners who are responsive to their local communities and serve the public interest.
I’m not holding my breath — the behemoths are well-entrenched — but it’s fun to listen to Hannity and Limbaugh desperately try to explain why “equal time” = “censorship.”