Last week, a radio executive at Atlanta-based Cumulus Media sent a memo telling its talk show hosts to stop spreading rhetoric about a stolen election or face termination.
“We need to help induce national calm NOW,” Brian Philips, executive vice president of content for Cumulus, wrote in an internal memo after a mob attacked the national Capitol building, first reported by Inside Music Media.
The company “will not tolerate any suggestion that the election has not ended. The election has been resolved, and there are no alternate acceptable ‘paths,’” the memo said. “If you transgress this policy, you can expect to separate from the company immediately.”
Cumulus runs Westwood One, one of the nation’s largest syndication companies in the nation, includes major Trump-supporting hosts such as Mark Levin, Ben Shapiro and Dan Bongino.
Nationally, Cumulus is the second-largest radio operator with 416 stations, behind only iHeartMedia.
Self-regulation. Who Needs It?
Historically, industry self-regulation was (and remains) a total joke. Industries, like people, are regulated by laws. Ever since, Ronny Reagan made the laws that regulate American media go away in 1987, we’ve been losing ground as a nation every day and every total fabrication passing as truth since.
Today, American media is free to run any made up shit they want. And they do. They do because playing ‘make believe’ is lucrative.
Why do you think people are against facts? Facts require time to weigh and process. After a day on the job and/or attending to the kids’ and pets and everything else, where is there room for weighing facts and allowing them to guide our decisions? We are emotional beings, and we are guided by so much more than facts. Nevertheless, facts remain in place.
Here’s a fact. Advertisers can crush or reform these traditional media channels. Traditional media has been drained of money. If brands stop spending now, these media outlets will soon vanish. I suggest a higher path, whereby all media—including social media—is regulated by the federal government and by the business sector.
For the American people, who have not known accountability of any sort for decades, quieting the lies might seem like a violation of free speech. It’s not. A private company can quiet any lie it chooses, or all the lies it chooses.
The U.S. Constitution does not protect individuals or media entities who yell “Fire!” in a crowded theater, which hasn’t stopped the immoral and corrupt among us from doing so. Immense damage has been done. Enough already. Laws and common sense still exist. Can we please put them to use and clean up this outrageous media mess?
