as a junior in college, and a broadcasting major, I read this sentence and it knocked me off my feet - so obvious, and so apparently forgotten to Rush Limbaugh - it can be a harsh and brutal lesson to learn - but let's rewind a bit to my brief time in talk radio before I complete this sentence
as a broadcasting major in Minnesota, I worked a couple minor DJ jobs here in Minneapolis before landing what I thought was a killer low paying gig as the Board Operator at the "Talk Station" at AM1500 KSTP in Minneapolis - in between another part time job somewhere else, I ran 25 hrs of satellite programming, including Rush, and 15 hrs of live programming to make it 40 hrs a week.
One day, someone called someone a communist on-air, and we all had to go to a meeting where, by and large, we were explained a couple things -
1. On-air speech is REALLY protected - like...if you walk in the office and say to the receptionist or wherever she can hear that she is looking hot today, that's harassment and illegal. But if you imply the same thing on-air, it's protected speech.
2. Never call anyone a communist on air - there is actually legal precedence for suing someone (Thanks, Senator McCarthy!) - I think it's why republicans always call us socialists or fascists.
Anyways...point is this - Rush had the legal right to spew ignorance about a woman and her beliefs that was totally off mark, wrong, and an inconsistent representation of her testimony. Legally, that is, he probably is ok. Protected speech....
But Rush forgot the cardinal rule of broadcasting....it's not free speech - it's paid for
The purpose of broadcasting is to sell the attention span of listeners to advertisers
I read that my 3rd year in college and it hit me like a duh - why, we're rebels showing new music to the masses or political intellectuals arguing one point vs. another and spreading the gospel over the airwaves - WRONG
we sell attention spans to businesses. And that's the key - if Carson Daly can fill up 10 years of airtime with vapid replays of pop artists, and it sells pimple cream, he's doing his job
I expect Rush to get on his pity potty Monday about Censorship - it's not censorship - (the Government didn't shut him down - hell, no one did) -
Businesses enter into a voluntary legal contract to pay for Rush's commentary with the expectation of a certain amount of return investment in the form of reputation and business, and they are voluntarily choosing to withdraw that investment in his program, just as we have made it clear we would withdraw any investment in their businesses if they continue to support him.
it's a simple and wise business decision to not support Rush. It's not a crisis of free speech against him or Conservatives, nor is it likely to be the nail in his coffin, though his ratings aren't what they were.
it's just good business - and Rush isn't a good businessman. He's a political entertainer and a hack spewing ignorance who forgot the first rule of broadcasting
RB