Don’t think the so-called Fairness Doctrine (which might as well be called the Repeal Freedom of Speech Act) could come back? This Buffalo News editorial suggests it may come back… and tries make the case that it should.

Talk radio lost this federal election in two big ways. Its candidate, Republican John McCain, got creamed. And its most dedicated enemies, who want to trim talk radio’s sails, were massively empowered.

Elements of the team of Presidentelect Barack “Hussein” Obama, as they were fond of calling him, and the expanded Democratic majority will move to remind broadcasters of a fundamental tenet of broadcast law.

That is, that the airwaves do not belong to the station “owners,” as they call themselves, but to the people of the United States of America.

First, John McCain wasn’t really talk radio’s candidate. McCain was long seen as not conservative enough, and I can’t think of a single conservative on-air pundit who vas a McCainiac prior to his apparent victory in the GOP primary. So, their support of McCain was lukewarm at best on ideological grounds.
Second, his full name is Barack Hussein Obama.

The basic service that a broadcast licensee owes a community is truth. As the election neared, that commodity was in short supply.

And the very reason why talk radio has thrived is that the mainstream media, specifically print and television, have utterly failed to provide the honesty so many are seeking. Media coverage this campaign season marked a new low for journalism. Barack Obama hardly needed the millions of dollars he raised with the media carrying the water for him for two years. Talk radio was ahead of the curve on the Jeremiah Wright story by several months. The Los Angeles Times violated the public trust by not releasing a video of Obama from 2003 which would have shed light on his relationship with PLO activist Rashid Khalidi, but also allegedly showed Obama saying that Israel was a terrorist state.

The mainstream media gave vitrually no coverage to the story that Obama’s original birth certificate was sealed by the governor Hawaii, preventing anyone from confirming whether or not Obama was a natural born citizen and even constitutionally eligble to be president.

Douglas Turner, the author of the column, cited what he sees as a few “wrongs” of talk radio, but is apparently unbothered by the mainstream media’s protection of Obama’s candidacy by so-called journalists who falsely claim to be objective.

The fact is that talk radio’s popularity is a result of the mainstream media’s inability to tell the whole truth or be objective. What Turner fails to recognize is that while talk radio hosts do openly express their opinion, they also talk about stories that aren’t given the light of day by print and television media. And atleast talk radio hosts are honest about their partiality… their equivalents in the mainstream media still claim to be impartial.

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This Sunday, I wlll be on “Hardline with Kevin Hardwick” on WBEN NewsRadio 930 from 10:30-11am. I will be in-studio discussing national, state and local election results. Buffalo Pundit was also invited but will be calling in.

UPDATE, 11/9/08, 13:37 PM: Well, I am back home from WBEN’s studio. It was a fun segment, though I think we all wish we had more time to duke things out. The good news is you can definitely expect me to be invited back in the future. I would like to thank Kevin Hardwick for inviting me on the show, and I look forward to next time, which I hope will be sooner than later.

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It’s pretty sad that the only way Barack Obama can attack John McCain is by linking him to President Bush… my friend Scott Leffler seems to think that a similar strategy would work in the 26th District by linking Chris Lee to Tom Reynolds, who many liberal bloggers in WNY despise, for whatever ridiculous reason they can come up with.

… I just found this web page that lists congressmen based on how well they stick up for the middle class. It says he’s at 50 percent for the year. And he’s gotten F’s on the previous four years they graded.     

Yup, that’s the Tom Reynolds I remember … stickin’ it to the middle class.

And he’s endorsed Chris Lee. I wonder if Lee thought about declining that endorsement? Doubt it. From what I can tell, Lee aspires to be just like Reynolds. He’s got the same campaign staff. And he doesn’t return my calls. Just. Like. Reynolds.

If I were advising the Dems, I’d tell them to make sure to link Lee to Reynolds just like Obama is linking McCain to Bush. After all, no one really believes that Reynolds isn’t running so he can spend time with his family. It’s cause he was afraid of getting his ass kicked.

And no one really believes Barack Obama is qualified to be President of the United States, but that’s not stopping millions from for him… But I digress.

What I don’t understand is why Scott was so quick to accept the assessment of the website TheMiddleClass.org as legitimate and objective. It’s easy for a blogger or even a member of the media to give credence to a poll, or a study, or an organization that tells them what they want to hear, while dismissing those that don’t.

The other day, Buffalo Pundit criticized Chris Lee’s latest ad for citing data from a conservative think tank, the Heritage Foundation. It’s fair argument to make, just as I have similarly questioned the sources Democrats use to support their claims, be it from liberal think tanks, research groups, etc. 

What Scott failed to do (or just chose not to do) was question the source. It would have taken all of 10 seconds to find out that TheMiddleClass.org is run by the Drum Major Institute, and that the Drum Major Institute is a liberal research group. Not bipartisan. Not nonpartisan. Liberal. 

Do I really need to say anything else?

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This afternoon while I was on my lunch, I happened to flip through the latest issue of the left-wing rag Artvoice. I’m not sure why I bother looking at it. The writing is horrible and unbalanced. 

That aside, I didn’t read any articles, but there was an ad that caught my eye almost immediately. It was an ad for Lebro’s Restaurant. 

I have no idea what to make of this ad, or if there’s really anything to make of it. Artvoice is undeniably a left-wing paper, so I was rather shocked to see the Palin’s family portrait being used in an ad. Now, I don’t usually read Artvoice, so I don’t know if this is something Lebro’s Restaurant typically does — use topical photos in their advertisements — or if this is a unique ad.

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Last week, in the wake of the Sam Hoyt scandal, the media, including the folks at WBEN, attacked Joe Illuzzi, and by elaborating on how bad blogs are… that they are unaccountable, unregulated, unprofessional etc. etc. Well, it turns out that the “accountable,” “regulated,” and “professional” Buffalo News reported a false internet rumour about Nicole Kidman and her alleged campaign to save Studio Arena Theatre as legitmate front page news. I heard WBEN report on the same fake story as well.

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SCOTT LEFFLER: The fall of the mainstream media?

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According to the Associated Press, Tom Brokaw will moderate NBC’s ‘Meet The Press’ through the November elections.

Veteran news anchor Tom Brokaw will moderate NBC’s “Meet the Press” through the November election in the place of the late Tim Russert, the network announced Sunday.

Brokaw is scheduled to start on June 29. He had filled in on the program for the Sunday following Russert’s death of a heart attack on June 13.

NBC News President Steve Capus said the show will continue to be produced in Washington.

“To have someone of Tom’s stature step up and dedicate himself to ensuring its ongoing success is not only a testament to his loyalty to Tim, but his enduring commitment to NBC News and our viewers,” Capus said.

Nothing was immediately said about who would anchor the broadcast after the election or whether Brokaw, 68, would be interested in continuing beyond that. He wouldn’t be the oldest man on the Sunday morning beat — CBS’ “Face the Nation” host Bob Schieffer is 71.

The filling of Tim Russert’s shoes is certainly a big challenge for NBC, and while Tom Brokaw is only slated to fill in through the elections, I would expect his place as moderator at Meet The Press will become permanent. He certainly would be a better replacement than the following names that have been floated.

David Gregory, Andrea Mitchell and Chris Matthews had been talked about as potential candidates for the full-time job as moderator. If Brokaw weren’t interested in continuing, his tenure would allow NBC more time to study a potential selection and have that person debut during a less intense news period.

All three of them would damage the integrity and reputation of ‘Meet The Press.’ In the wake of Tim Russert’s passing, one of the most common compliments Tim Russert got regarding his tenure at ‘Meet The Press’ was his ability to be tough and objective.

Objective is hardly a word to describe David Gregory, Andrea Mitchell or Chris Matthews. I’d hate to see ‘Meet The Press’ become another mouthpiece for the Democratic Party.

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Newsday has the story:

Federal lawmakers from New York say they want to rename a portion of U.S. Route 20 near Ralph Wilson Stadium in Orchard Park after the late Tim Russert.

Sens. Charles Schumer, Hillary Clinton and Rep. Brian Higgins say they’ll introduce a resolution regarding the highway’s name on Monday.

Under their proposal, a section of the highway that runs in front of the stadium _ home to Russert’s beloved Buffalo Bills _ would bear the late newsman’s name. They didn’t specify exactly what the new name would be or how long a stretch of the highway would be renamed.

Not a bad idea, but I also like Buffalo Pundit’s idea of renaming Buffalo Niagara International Airport to Tim Russert International Airport.

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