Candidate Sanders No Fan Of Talk Radio

Bernie Sanders

Democratic Presidential candidate Bernie Sanders has again stated that he wants to censor talk radio programs.

Senator Bernie Sanders (I-VT), a Democratic presidential candidate, once again hinted at his displeasure with conservatives’ dominance in talk radio at a candidate forum in Arizona. Though he and fellow candidate Martin O’Malley made headlines by being repeatedly interrupted by “Black Lives Matter” protesters at the forum, Sanders’ comments about the media went mostly unnoticed.

According to The College Conservative, He began the forum by stating:

Here’s the serious issue: We live in a nation in which to a significant degree media is controlled by large multinational corporations. We live in a nation in which 95 percent of talk radio is right wing, including in areas where Republicans have almost no support.

The Senator’s comments harken back to the debates about the “Fairness Doctrine,” a longtime FCC policy that required broadcasters to give equal time to opposing viewpoints on controversial issues. Though the policy was ended in 1987 (and formally eliminated in 2011), it still engenders debate. Conservatives, who dominate talk radio to the tune of 90% of all programming, strongly oppose government intervention in the market–and their speech–while some liberals, frustrated with their ability to compete, support a “balance” of viewpoints.

Sanders is no stranger to talk radio, holding a live “Brunch with Bernie” segment each week for more than a decade. As MSNBC notes, liberal talk radio adores the “democratic socialist” Sanders. But as much as Sanders thrives in the medium, he can’t help but be frustrated by conservatives’ dominance of the airwaves. He co-sponsored the “Media Ownership Reform Act of 2005,” a failed attempt to reinstate the “Fairness Doctrine” and break up ownership of radio stations. He supported a renewed attempt at censorship in 2007 with a new version of the bill.

Read More Now