Mediacom v. Sinclair
The new season of "American Idol" began tonight but thousands of central Iowans were deprived the chance to see the debut thanks to the ongoing contractual dispute between Mediacom cable and Sinclair Broadcasting, and an ongoing boycott spurred by the defeat of performer Nikko Smith in 2005.I pay enough for cable, and I have no love for the radical right-wing agenda of Sinclair, which infects every addition of their local news broadcast on the local FOX affiliate, KDSM. Sinclair offers virtually no local or service-oriented programming (even their half-assed news department works out of Cedar Rapids), and still they're granted a free license from the Federal Communications Commission to use the people's airwaves.
What we need is monumental change at the FCC. Satellite receiver technology provided the cable companies with the competition they needed for so long, but those cable companies are still forced to carry local stations in their lineups in lieu of other network affiliates from across the country. Sinclair is pleading with Congress not to get involved in a dispute between "two private businesses," but Congress is completely within its rights to hold hearings on the competency of the FCC and its policies.
---
Slate.com publishes a lot of dumb articles designed to elicit controversy (i.e. "Is it always bad to drink when you're pregnant?" and anything written by Christopher Hitchens about Iraq), but this one might take the cake.
---
The Cardinals visited the White House today.
posted by CM @ 8:40 PM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home