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Republicans' best kept secret is they understand propaganda is necessary for their survival [1]

['This Content Is Not Subject To Review Daily Kos Staff Prior To Publication.']

Date: 2025-05-06

A follower commented on one of my Blue Sky posts about former Australia prime minister Kevin Rudd saying this about Fox News.

Rupert Murdoch’s monopoly on Australia’s media is a “cancer on democracy” that serves to “chill free speech and undermine public debate,” former prime minister Kevin Rudd said.

Another former Australia prime minister according to NPR, blames Fox News for America’s polarized politics.

I couldn’t agree more.

Fox News is the mother ship of all the other propaganda offshoots that have sprung up in the U.S. including right wing talk radio, alive and well in Iowa. Right wing podcasts disguised as popular culture conversational chit chat are now saturating the internet as well. Joe Rogan is the new Rush Limbaugh.

My Blue Sky follower commented, “You would think we would have fixed this by now.” I agree but the comment reminded me that President Obama was going to try to fix it but was single handedly thwarted by none other than Iowa’s Senator Chuck Grassley.

Republicans understand the value of right wing propaganda. They know it is essential to their ability to stay in power no matter how bad they are, even as our side doesn’t totally get it.

The Fox News effect makes it so no matter what Trump does his approval still hovers in the 30’s. I mean think about it, Trump talks of invading Greenland and Canada. He has abandoned due process. He is trying to destroy the social safety net and dismantle government. We all know what he’s up to. So why should anyone approve of him? Republicans know Fox and friends always have their backs.

But maybe we’re being forced to confront this humongous problem now in Trump2.0.

Art Cullen dared to address this taboo topic. In his substack Fomented Fear is Killing Civil Society he wrote, “Propaganda. That’s what keeps us apart.”

It’s a start.

But back to how Grassley put a fork in the possible return of the Fairness Doctrine. Who remembers this? Grassley wrote a letter to President Obama’s FCC Chair, Julius Genachowski and in it linked to a report by the Center for American Progress on how we could fix the structural imbalance of political talk radio. But Chuck included the report as if it were a bad thing. The reason he was against Mark Lloyd, co-author of the document, being appointed Associate General Counsel and Chief Diversity Officer was because Lloyd was FOR diversity and fairness on the publicly owned airwaves.

Even before this happened, Chuck apparently browbeat Genachowski into swearing by God he would never, ever consider a return to the Fairness Doctrine, if he wanted to be FCC chair. But when Genachowski wanted to appoint Mark Lloyd as General Counsel and CDO, Grassley became suspicious that Genachowski might go back on his word and used the letter to make it clear to Obama’s FCC chair that anything resembling a Fairness Doctrine up to and including the concept of localism, would be over his dead body.

It’s all here, still available on Chuck’s senate.gov page.

https://www.grassley.senate.gov/news/news-releases/grassley-asks-fcc-chairman-clarify-fairness-doctrine-statements

[This is a copy/paste of the press release and letter to Genachowski. If you read it on grassley.senate.gov there will be a link to the letter that no longer works, but the letter is still there below the press release, just scroll down.]

Grassley Asks FCC Chairman to Clarify Fairness Doctrine Statements

WASHINGTON – Senator Chuck Grassley sent a letter today to the Chairman of the Federal Communications Commission, Julius Genachowski, about concerns with the appointment of Mark Lloyd as Associate General Counsel and Chief Diversity Officer. Grassley is concerned with the appointment due to Lloyd’s writings on political talk radio and the Fairness Doctrine.

Grassley discussed the Fairness Doctrine with Genachowski before his confirmation by the U.S. Senate. Grassley was told by Genachowski that he did not support an effort to reinstitute the Fairness Doctrine.

“The appointment of Mark Lloyd to be the Associate General Counsel and Chief Diversity Officer is at odds with assurances that the FCC would not reinstate the Fairness Doctrine that Mr. Genachowski made prior to his U.S. Senate confirmation,” Grassley said. “I hope Mr. Genachowski stands by his word and reaffirms his commitment to me that the FCC won’t be considering anything that accomplishes the goals of the Fairness Doctrine.”

The text of Grassley’s letter is shown below or by clicking here.

August 14, 2009

Julius Genachowski

Chairman

Federal Communications Commission

445 12th Street, SW

Washington, DC 20554

###

Dear Chairman Genachowski,

On July 29, 2009, you announced the appointment of Mark Lloyd as Associate General Counsel and Chief Diversity Officer for the Federal Communications Commission (FCC). I write today to express my concerns with this appointment and ask for you to clarify and reaffirm statements you made to me in a personal meeting prior to your confirmation related to the Fairness Doctrine and efforts to diversify broadcast media.

On April 22, 2009, before your confirmation by the U.S. Senate for your position as Chairman of the FCC, you came to my office and told me that you did not support an effort to reinstitute the Fairness Doctrine. I took you at your word that, if confirmed, the policies that you promoted at the FCC would not include any policy or regulatory shifts that seek to reintroduce the long abandoned Fairness Doctrine. However, I have serious reservations that you may be moving away from these statements you made to me regarding the Fairness Doctrine given the appointment of Mr. Lloyd to a position within the Office of the General Counsel (OGC) at the FCC. Please allow me to elaborate.

My concerns relate to Mr. Lloyd’s participation in scholarly writings on political talk radio, the Fairness Doctrine, and efforts to bring greater diversity to talk radio. Prior to joining the FCC, Mr. Lloyd served as a Senior Fellow at the Center for American Progress (CAP), in addition to positions as a professor at the Georgetown Public Policy Institute. In his capacity as a Senior Fellow at the Center for American Progress, he coauthored a paper titled, “The Structural Imbalance of Political Talk Radio.” This paper argued that radio programming was currently “imbalanced” and that there are “serious questions about whether the companies licensed to broadcast over the public airwaves are serving the listening needs of all Americans.” Mr. Lloyd’s paper suggests three options to remedy the “imbalance” in political talk radio, including (1) restoring caps on commercial radio station ownership, (2) ensure greater accountability in licensing, and (3) require owners who fail to enforce public interest ownership obligations to pay a fee. While these remedies seem innocuous on their face, hidden within the paper are some stark revelations.

First, Mr. Lloyd’s paper suggests that the Fairness Doctrine was “never formally repealed.” Instead, Mr. Lloyd argues that the FCC merely announced “it would no longer enforce certain

regulations under the umbrella of the Fairness Doctrine.” The paper continues by stating that while the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals upheld the FCC decision, the Supreme Court has “never overruled the cases that authorized the FCC’s enforcement of the Fairness Doctrine…thus it technically would not be considered repealed.”

Second, the paper suggests that the FCC revise the licensing process for radio broadcasters. Specifically, it suggests that licenses should not be permitted for longer than three years, that they be subject to challenges in the decision to renew their licenses, and that they submit to strict documentation and regulatory requirements.

Finally, and perhaps most importantly, the paper suggests that commercial radio owners be subjected to new regulatory requirements enforcing public interest obligations and if they fail to meet these standards, subjecting them to fees and taxes in order to compel compliance. The paper suggests that such a fee or fine structure could raise between $100 million to $250 million in new revenue, but would not “overly burden commercial radio broadcasters.”

Taken together, these statements represent a view that the FCC needs to expand its regulatory arm further into the commercial radio market. However, it would be unfair for me to say that Mr. Lloyd has specifically advocated for a return to the Fairness Doctrine. Instead, he has argued that the Fairness Doctrine is unnecessary if other regulatory reforms to commercial radio are implemented. Specifically, in discussing the CAP paper “The Structural Imbalance of Political Talk Radio,” Mr. Lloyd authored an internet article published on CAP’s website entitled, “Forget the Fairness Doctrine.” In that piece, Mr. Lloyd stated, “we call for ownership rules that we think will create greater local diversity…we call for more localism by putting teeth into the licensing rules. But we do not call for a return to the Fairness Doctrine.”

Simply put, I strongly disagree with Mr. Lloyd. I do not believe that more regulation, more taxes or fines, or increased government intervention in the commercial radio market will serve the public interest or further the goals of diversifying the marketplace. I am concerned that despite his statements that the Fairness Doctrine is unnecessary, Mr. Lloyd supports a backdoor method of furthering the goals of the Fairness Doctrine by other means. Accordingly, I ask that you clarify and reaffirm your commitment to me to oppose any reincarnation of the Fairness Doctrine. Further, I ask you to affirmatively state that you will not pursue an agenda that includes any new restrictions, fines, fees, or licensing requirements on commercial radio that would effectively create a backdoor Fairness Doctrine. I appreciate your prompt reply regarding this important matter.

Sincerely,

Chuck Grassley

United States Senator

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