Why is this leaker not in trouble? According to the account, Premiere had this prospective employee audition for work by actually calling in live to a show and reading one of their scripts for free. This is worse by a magnitude - offering people a financial incentive to lie about who they are is promoting a disturbing moral message to people in need of money, an awfully sinful practice that monetizes and rewards unethical behavior.
Ironically, another clause in the fine print of the one-sided contract for use of their web services makes users sign away their "moral rights" and hypocritically claims to frown upon just this type of fraud and deception, banning activities which:
"[i]mpersonate another person or entity or falsely state or otherwise misrepresent your affiliation with a person or entity, or adopt a false identity if the purpose of doing so is to mislead, deceive, or defraud another."
Industry watchers claim they would not be surprised to find any number of goofy DJ shows using plants for their various pranks and exploits, but it would be a different story if used for political shows and "astroturfing". A Premiere Radio Networks spokesperson Rachel Nelson did not deny the service was being abused, saying instead that it is the stations that are responsible for how the calls are "integrated into programs".
In 2008, we heard about an industry insider who worked at Milwaukee's WTMJ when they denied air time to sitting U.S. Senator Russ Feingold who was trying to refute slanted claims made to the Wisconsin public. Since no one filed any FCC complaints, the stations routinely turned away callers with opposing views, a former program director at the station revealed.
While this news does not specifically prove hosts like Hannity used the planted caller services his parent company sells, Hannity's record of being caught manipulating public opinion, deceptively editing tapes, suppressing opposing views, and lopsided call ratios through the decades speaks for itself. The show doesn't sound like America and never has.
It is documented and time-stamped on Twitter for years now, how "average" Hannity callers are denied public rebuttal time. Dissenters describe Hannity's screeners practice intimidation, requiring they produce a return phone number in exchange for air time.
But if Hannity's on-air calls were faked without disclosure, fines or license revocation are well within the jurisdiction of the FCC or Attorney General's office. Although it might be hard to prove the host was in on it, it's the FCC license holder that would be accountable anyway.
Hannity has always maintained it's the listeners and sponsors who decide if they want deliberately distorted programming, but this would be deception of a higher order, if he had actors pretending for example to be soldiers, or military families, doctors, health care workers, etc.
Hannity's tricks, out-of-context smears and questionable charity "expenses" demand he deny on the record his knowledge of this practice. Otherwise, it is reasonable to assume he has been doing this throughout his 20 year career, especially using his brand of logic.
This Article Updated Here
Updated - see important follow ups:
Limbaugh, Hannity, Beck Respond To Report That Parent Company Hires Actors for Call-ins
Report: Glenn Beck Staged Calls as Wacky DJ, More Questions Abound
How Hannity's "Fair and Open" Screeners Censor Liberals
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