In Cincinnati, A Democrat's Call For Talk Radio Reform Gets Big Play

CINCINNATI (TDB) -- Today's edition of the morning metro daily carried a thoughtful opinion piece by Jerry Baker, a SW Ohio Democratic Party precinct exec, who contends the radio industry needs reform because it is a virtual monotone of conservative political talk.

Baker says the the flap over the fairness doctrine for equal time on the airwaves is a canard. He says the real issue is whether media corporations have eliminated or discouraged progressive talk radio where liberals and Democrats and people who think Rush Limbaugh is from Uranus can have a forum.

"We propose reinstituting a limit on the number of stations that can be owned by corporations like Clear Channel to return real competition to the marketplace. Shorten the time between license renewals back to three years, and allow public comment each time the renewal is applied for. Then listeners get a real chance to voice their desires."

Baker makes some excellent points -- the airwaves do need to be pried open to a diversity of opinion that is not available in many communities. Also, the Cincinnati Enquirer gets a kudo for publishing the Democrat's opinion piece in its community forum. But the Enquirer, long a backer of almost all things GOP, could do more. It could actually produce a strongly worded editorial agreeing with the Democratic Party precinct exec's position.

What are the chances of that happening? Probably about the same as Limbaugh endorsing Hillary Clinton.