Written by King Lizzard on 13 April 2010
Okay, maybe I’m just getting old, but I think all this youth culture worship of cell phones is way the fuck over-rated. Now, mind you, I got my first cellular phone back in the early nineties when they resembled grey bricks with antennas, and they have come a long way, but the thing I don’t get is, they just don’t seem to live up to their own hype. Read the rest of this entry »
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Tags: Antennas, Bricks, Cellular Phone, Cyber World, Enough Memory, Five Minutes, Latte, Line Networks, Line Phones, Magical World, Memory Messages, Nineties, Pixelated, Starbucks, Television Commercials, Top Of The Line, Twenty Minutes, Using A Gps, Video Game, Youth Culture
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Written by King Lizzard on 03 June 2005
FROM KAAN-MAN:
From The Wall Street Journal: “After being hit with a $495,000 fine over airing the
Howard Stern radio show, Clear Channel Communications Inc. said it is dumping
the shock jock from the six Clear Channel stations that had carried it. The Federal
Communications Commission, which confirmed the big fine Thursday, upped the ante,
saying it now has trained its sights on the show’s syndicator, Viacom Inc.’s Infinity
Broadcasting Corp.
“Infinity could be hit with up to $1.49 million in fines if the FCC finds it aired
the same material on its 18 stations that carry the show.
“Clear Channel’s quick move to drop the show signaled how sensitive broadcasters have
become to the highly charged indecency issue. Earlier, the controversy prompted the
company to suspend Mr. Stern’s show in those six markets…
“Clear Channel’s moves put Infinity in an awkward position. The more steps Clear
Channel takes to make sure it broadcasts no indecent content, the more pressure it
puts on Infinity to take similar steps.”
FROM KING LIZZARD:
No big loss, my opinion…
I certainly don’t think that 200 years from now, should mankind survive that long,
anyone will look back at Howard Stern and say “He was a genius, I can’t imagine a
world where Howard Stern never existed!”
FROM METAL MASTER:
The free speech argument is always a tough one, if there’s no common sense involved.
Frankly, there are plenty of outlets for adult-oriented programming, especially with
the proliferation of the internet and satellite radio. Freedom of speech does not
give one the right to yell “Fire” in a crowded room when there’s no fire, as the
saying goes.
My problem with the current witch hunt is that Howard Stern has been talking about
the same graphic adult material for years on the air. Now all of the sudden he’s
public enemy #1. And to think all of this started with the bump and grind of the NFL
Super Bowl half-time show…
FROM KING LIZZARD:
Janet Jackson opened a large jar of shit on superbowl day…I don’t think anybody’s
had any problems with tits and ass on TV and smut talk on radio, but when the all
sacred Superbowl was desecrated with millions of kids and old folks watching it was,
literally, the straw that broke the old camel. Again, the censorship and the First
Amendment guarantees the government won’t shut you up…but the First Amendment gives
me the right to shut your ass up and that’s what’s going on…non-government owned
companies are exercising their free speach rights in censoring what the feel is
offensive to them.
Janet, if only you woulda kept your sorry ass titties hidden. Well, hindsight and
foresight.
FROM KAAN-MAN:
You both make very good points. Yeah, Howard Stern has been doing this for many
years, and it doesn’t seem right that all of a sudden they come down on him this
hard. And that it is all about free speech, but what is the border line between
something that’s descent and indescent behavior? And I believe in the end Howard
Stern and shows similar to him will reign on satellite radio and/or internet radio.
Just shows you that commercial radio is just that, and will always be bland and
boring. And it is our job as internet entrepeneurs to get internet radio popular, but
then again, if it does, the FCC will probably start throwing their muscles around
then too. For example, when wrestling wasn’t that popular, before the Monday Night
War between WWE and WCW, WWE could almost get away with anything with their
programming, but as soon as the WWE got insanely popular in the late 90′s their were
groups coming out saying that wrestling is bad for kids and some of their antics
should be censored. Just like shows like Jerry Springer and the big mouthed Robert
Downey. Those shows did what they did until they got so popular and attracted so much
attention that it got negative publicity and that those shows should be censored. My
point is, that when something gets very popular, and isn’t a conservative show,
whether on radio or tv, it should be censored to some extent. Which doesn’t seem
fair. Hmmm, and we suppose to live in a country with free speech? But they forgot to
add, as long as you’re not offensive. What a load of shit!
FROM METAL MASTER:
My only problem with the Janet incident was the venue that her and cohorts picked to
bump, grind, and flash. Everyone knows the Super Bowl is watched by children and old
people. Parents don’t have to expect to turn the channel on something like this. From
what I heard, the Lingerie Bowl had less sexual content than the Super Bowl show.
In Howard Stern’s case, people already know what he’s about. People already know not
to listen to him with the kids in the car. If you don’t want to listen to
Howard…turn to another station.
FROM KING LIZZARD:
The whole thing boils down to economic leverage.
The USA is, for all of its talk of freedom, a very conservative country. European
countries are far ahead of us in promoting sexual content to the masses.
Like MetalMaster said, you know what Howard Stern is and, if you don’t like him, you
don’t listen to him. But the Superbowl thing happened without warning and in a brief
millisecond Jackson screwed the pooch and set back freedom of expression fifty
years.
The conservatives who watch football were infuriated that tits were flashed with
their kids and family watching…these conservatives, in turn, threaten the promoters
to boycott their products. The advertisers, in turn, put economic leverage on the
radio stations that unless this shit stops they will pull out all of their
advertising dollars…without money, the stations can’t function so therefore they
must take action.
I’m not sure how much involvement the FCC will have in this, because it will come
down to a question of First Amendment violations, otherwise, it’s just a pissing
contest between civilians. It’s fortunate that we have the legal separation of church
and state, or else we might get thrown back into the dark ages like most of the
Islamic countries.
There’s a proper time and place for stuff and the Superbowl isn’t a place to exercise
artistic freedom, especially with the stakes (financially and artistically) so high.
FROM METAL MASTER:
Economic leverage indeed. Excellent dissertation, King Lizzard. However, this could
be a boon to internet and satellite radio. Wherever there’s change, there’s
opportunity. Whenever the mass media fails to deliver what the people want, people
will seek alternatives.
FROM KAAN-MAN:
Yes, very valid points from MetalMaster and King Lizzard. And we all know that money
makes this country run. I mean, if someone hosts a radio show that generates, for
example, one million dollars a month to the station, but the station has to pay
one-hundred thousand dollars in fines to the FCC, the station wouldn’t care because
of the fact that the show makes them a net of nine-hundred thousand dollars a month,
hypothetically. The one with the most money controls everything, and they’re just
using Howard Stern as an example that if your show has offensive behavior or is
obscene, then the FCC can fine you for each offense.
Well, maybe they need to start putting disclaimers on the radio before and during an
adult oriented show that says, “What you are about to hear on this show may be
offensive to young listeners. Listener discretion is advised.” Or something to the
effect like the TV program ratings they implemented a few years back. Because fining
someone because of a programs content when almost everyone listening knows of the
nature of the content is ridiculous. That’s like fining a TV station for airing a
movie that had adult content. If TV can be regulated for children, so can radio. But
if this means internet radio is the future, then great, FCC can fine till there
hearts content. Dam, I had to get that off my chest.
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Tags: Clear Channel Communications, Clear Channel Communications Inc, Crowded Room, Entertainment, FCC, Federal Communications Commission, Graphic Adult Material, Howard Stern, Howard Stern Radio, Indecent Content, Infinity Broadcasting Corp, King-Lizzard, Music-General, Nfl Super Bowl, opinions, Public Enemy 1, Radio Freedom, rants, RIAA, Satellite Radio, Shock Jock, Super Bowl Half Time, Super Bowl Half Time Show, Viacom Inc, Wall Street Journal, Witch Hunt
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