Re: The Fate of WEVD

[Marvin <physchem...>]

----- Original Message -----
From: "Eliott Kahn" <Elkahn (at) JTSA(dot)EDU>
To: "World music from a Jewish slant" <jewish-music (at) shamash(dot)org>
Sent: Friday, August 03, 2001 11:14 AM
Subject: Fwd: Re: The Fate of WEVD


>
> >Date: Fri, 03 Aug 2001 09:58:38 -0400
> >To: jewish-music (at) shamash(dot)org
> >From: Eliott Kahn <Elkahn (at) jtsa(dot)edu>
> >Subject: Re: The Fate of WEVD
> >
> >
> >>The station which once contested its license suspension by the FCC
noting
> >>that "WEVD must survive as the one place where Capitalism cannot lay its
> >>brutal paw..." and would not be reporting "...the results of polo
matches"
> >>will now be the flagship of the nation's major sports network run by a
huge
> >>conglomerate corporation.
> >>How the irony  gods must be laughing.....
> >>
> >>Henry Sapoznik
> >
> >The double whammy is that somehow the ordinary citizen keeps getting his
broadcast frequencies hijacked. In a previous era, when the FCC threatened
to rescind licenses on the basis of lewd or controversial content, or the
Congress would bust up Rock n' Roll and independent labels with the Payola
scandal, the airwaves were regulated on behalf of large corporate interests
and a conservative moral mind set. Nowadays, our new FCC chairman Michael
Powell believes in no government regulation. That's fine, except most of the
broadcast media is falling into the hands of powerful corporate
interests--who will inevitably be cramming watered-down news and more
insipid, banal "entertainment" down our throats.
> >
> >Even more disturbing, just a few months ago the Congress effectively
killed recommendations for more low-level radio frequencies that were
initiated by the former FCC chairman, Michael[?] Kennard.  These measures
were highly supported by grass-roots religious organizations as well as
musicians by numerous petitions.
> >
> >I don't need to tell members of this list how many great musicians there
are out there who never get their work broadcast over the radio. Meanwhile,
the endless stream of vulgarity and dribble that passes for "music" keeps
getting played over the people's airwaves.
> >
> >I'll get off my soapbox now.
> >
> >Eliott Kahn

He who pays the piper calls the tune.  In this case, the piper is the
broadcaster and the tune caller is the advertiser.  Advertisers aim for the
most gullible part of the public, not the most educated, or sophisticated,
or judgemental.  Have you noticed the low quality of what is on nearly all
TV stations and channels?  How many art movie houses are left?

Gresham's law (The theory holding that if two kinds of money in circulation
have the same denominational value but different intrinsic values, the money
with higher intrinsic value will be hoarded and eventually driven out of
circulation by the money with lesser intrinsic value.) was formulated for
money, but it has broader application.

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