LOCALISM: A NEW THREAT TO CONSERVATIVE TALK RADIO


"Janet Murguia, the President of the National Council of La Raza (NCLR) thinks there is too much 'hate' speech on your radio and television. By hate speech, she means statements like 'immigrants should learn English.'"

"Ever since they lost the vote that would have given amnesty to illegal aliens, La Raza has been doing whatever it could to destroy conservative talk radio programs that they believe helped to defeat the McCain-Kennedy amnesty bill."

"AND THEY HAVE A NEW WEAPON with which they feel they can both eliminate conservative talk radio AND replace it with their own truly racist propaganda. IT IS CALLED 'LOCALISM' and it has many POWERFUL ADVOCATES, INCLUDING BARAK OBAMA."

"JUST WHAT IS LOCALISM? It's a new spin on a tired old leftist theme - REPRESSED MINORITIES MUST HAVE MORE AND BETTER ACCESS TO GOVERNMENT CONTROLLED SERVICES."

"So, instead of your local radio station airing popular nationally syndicated programming like the 'Rush Limbaugh Show' or some other national talk show you may enjoy, localism advocates like La Raza want your radio to play only programs addressing 'community concerns' of the 'underrepresented' members of the community."

"Is it possible that huge popular nationwide talk shows could actually be taken off the air and replaced with local community programming? Absolutely and here is why:

"The FCC (Federal Communications Commission) is extremely sensitive to charges of racism. A single complaint filed with the FCC challenging the broadcast license of a station at renewal time can cause station managers to do practically anything to preserve their station licenses which are worth millions - even giving up a lucrative and popular talk show."

"La Raza is well-schooled in manipulating our bureaucracies to get its way and grossly misrepresenting the facts has never been a problem for them."

"Murguia knows that when she says '...(i)f letting these people (conservatives) get on the air unchecked isn't bad enough, many of the network talk show hosts parrot hate speech openly and abundantly on the air,' the FCC is obligated to respond."

"La Raza also has accomplices, like the Minority Media and Telecommunications Council, a group whose members include La Raza."

"FCC chariman Kevin Martin, a Bush appointee, actually convened an official FCC hearing on broadcast localism at the Chicago headquarters of Rev. Jessee Jackson's Operation PUSH!"

"Also testifying in favor of the localism proposals was SENATOR BARAK OBAMA. Obama would even write to Chairman Martin in October, 2007, saying:

"'Minority-owned and operated newspapers and radio stations play a critical role in the African-American and Latino communities and bring minority issues to the forefront of our national discussion. However, the commission has failed to further the goals of diversity in the media* and promote localism."

'THE LOCALISM regulation Obama, Jackson and La Raza are demanding WAS ISSUED IN PRELIMINARY FORM IN FEBRUARY, 2008. Under the rules, THE FCC CAN ISSUE A FINAL RULE AT ANY MOMENT."

"WE HAVE TO MOVE QUICKLY TO STOP THIS FINAL RULING. We dare not fail!"

"La Raza hates talk radio because people listen and learn from talk radion and take action to defeat La Raza's anti-American agenda."

"MOST MEMBERS OF CONGRESS DO NOT UNDERSTAND THE LOCALISM ISSUE. But they do understand (hearing from their constituents), especially in an election year. ... 'Just say NO! to broadcast localism.''

"We have learned that Congress will likely be called back into session in November to try to pass a number of bills. As you may know, some of the wrost legislation is always brought up at the last minute."

(Slightly edited version of letter received by mail from Jim Boulet, Jr., Executive Director, English First, 8001 Forbes Place, Suite 102, Springfield, VA 22151. Most caps mine)

Boulet encourages all to immediately contact their Representative and two Senators in the U.S. Congress about the treat of the "localism doctrine" to maintaining balanced opinions over our publically-owned airways. He also requests that those who are able please support the efforts of English First to oppose the "localism doctrine" in upcoming sessions of Congress in addition to promoting its other programs.

Boulet concludes, "This isn't about hate speech. And it isn't about diversity. It's about advancing the real agenda of ethnic activists which is to give themselves an even bigger platform from which to spew their anti-American rants."

http://www.englishfirst.org

*Please note that there are now, in the Dallas/Ft. Worth, TX area, almost as many, if not as many. "media outlets" (AM and FM radio and television stations) broadcasting in Spanish as there are in English. When I wrote Mr. Martin, President of the FCC, last year inquiring why Channel 23 television (Dallas/Ft. Worth) was allowed to advertise itself as "the home of La Raza ('the Race')" when such a designation would be taken off the air immediately if it were run by an English-language station, Mr. Martin never bothered to reply.