Sue Wilson: Federal rules give corporation-backed conservative radio all the local voices

It should also be about revealing the information that Enron, Bear Stearns, Halliburton and other corporations would prefer to hide.

Critics will argue that there is so much information available in these modern times, people can easily find an opposing point of view to Rush Limbaugh, or Sean Hannity, or Bill O'Reilly or the rest, somewhere other than radio. But commuters who are stuck in traffic for hours every day own these airwaves, too.

Why must they go online when they get home just to hear the other side? Why should traveling salesman and long-haul truckers, who can drive across several states without hearing any progressive point of view, have to pay hundreds of dollars for satellite radio to replace what they already own for free? Why should rural communities, which depend first on AM radio for their information and who are lucky to get low-speed Internet access, be deprived of any political balance on their own airwaves?

We have allowed policy-makers in this country to create a so-called marketplace to promote one message almost exclusively over another.

But there really is no marketplace at all. Anybody can start a new coffee shop across from Starbucks and compete for business. But almost nobody can just start a new radio station to compete for listeners; the airwaves are limited, and the frequencies are already taken – mostly by big corporations.

Considering a 2003 Gallup poll showing that 22 percent of Americans get their information from talk radio, we're not just talking about what is fair play; we are talking about a threat to the democracy we hold dear.

What to do? The FCC (five commissioners, appointed by the president) could bring back the Fairness Doctrine. But Republicans in Congress, such as Indiana Rep. Mike Pence, are fighting tooth and nail to prevent its return. And even groups who favor media reform, like Free Press, believe restoration of the Fairness Doctrine would face First Amendment challenges. But as a producer who actually worked under the Fairness Doctrine, I personally don't see what's wrong with proving to the community that I at least attempted to provide both sides of the story.

Repealing radio-ownership rules put in place by the 1996 Telecommunications Act is another possibility; restoring ownership caps to their 1995 levels – allowing one company to own a maximum of 40 stations nationwide – would put many more microphones in the hands of independents. Whether the advertisers would support speech anathema to their ideology, even on independent stations, remains to be seen.

One thing is certain: It is time to act. Progressive talk radio has been taken off the air in Boston; Fresno; San Diego; Madison, Wis.; Eugene, Ore.; Austin, Texas; New Haven, Conn.; Columbus, Ohio and other markets all across the country since the 2006 election, often replaced with formats that get lower ratings. But in Madison and Columbus, people rose together and protested and brought progressive radio back to their communities.

It is time for all of us to take their lead, to remember that we the people own these frequencies, and to compel our representatives to put the public back into the public airwaves.

About the writer:

• Sue Wilson, a former reporter and host for Capital Public Radio, is an Emmy award-winning television and radio journalist based in Sacramento. She is producing and directing a film about media policy and reform titled "Broadcast Blues," which she hopes to premiere this year. You can reach her at suewilsonreports@gmail.com.