MRC-Radio: Bozell on WMAL's 'Grandy & Andy' Discussing 'Fairness Doctrine', Tea Parties

Media Research Center President and NewsBusters Publisher Brent Bozell appeared by phone on this morning's "Grandy & Andy Morning Show" program on Washington, D.C.'s WMAL (630 AM).

The whole chat lasted about seven minutes, with topics ranging from the media's bias against the Tea Party movement to liberals' affinity for resurrecting the free speech-abriding "Fairness Doctrine."

Here's the exchange on the latter (2:32 into the MP3 recording):

FRED GRANDY, co-host:  Are you sensing that this may be trying to pave the way towards some kind of initiative to reinstate the Fairness Doctrine?

BRENT BOZELL, NewsBusters publisher:  Look, the Fairness Doctrine is something that every conservative needs to be concerned about because virtually every liberal leader has championed it.

GRANDY: Yes.

BOZELL:  And I think they would have made a stronger effort in the last year if we hadn't succeeded in making it [the] third rail [of] politics. The Fairness Doctrine is the worst form of political censorship imaginable.

But, you know, after seeing this administration in motion the last 12 months, nothing is out of bounds for them, as far as I'm concerned.

When you've got the head of quote, unquote diversity at the FCC -- there's another unelected, unconfirmed position -- when you've got him championing Hugo Chavez because he took over radio stations in Venezuela, I worry. I absolutely worry.

ANDY PARKS, co-host: Well, wait a minute, now. Hang on, Brent, didn't Barack Obama say that he wasn't for bringing back the Fairness Doctrine?

BOZELL: Yeah, but his staff is.

[Parks and Bozell chuckle]

BOZELL: You know, memo to the president:  Stop hiring these people! 

GRANDY: Yeah, but if you feel empowered by this health care victory, such as it is -- and I hope it's more Pyrrhic than anything else -- certainly there have to be some of those staff makers [sic] saying, "Hey, Mr. President, the time is now to act against these conservative critics that are misrepresenting you."

BOZELL: Look, they thought that at the start of this administration when his approval rating was at 76 percent... at the very top of their list was things like the Fairness Doctrine? Why? Because they understand politics, and the number one most powerful voice of opposition is conservative talk radio. They know that. So what's the best way to stop them? A Fairness Doctrine which demands that the station manager balance Rush Limbaugh with a liberal and since it's not possible, the only recourse for a station manager to do it is to stop having talk radio on his [station], which was the goal of the Fairness Doctrine.

So, yeah, I mean, this is censorship. It's absolute censorship.