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Corey's Radio Blog

By Corey Deitz, About.com Guide to Radio since 2002

The Fairness Doctrine: Free Speech and the Radio Marketplace

Thursday July 3, 2008
For about 26 years between 1949 until 1985, Radio adhered to a government policy called "The Fairness Doctrine". After it was eliminated, conservative talk radio made a stunning rise in popularity, led by Rush Limbaugh. Now, some critics are calling for The Fairness Doctrine to be brought back. There's nothing "fair" about this relic of regulation and let me tell you why. (Opinion)

BBC Radio 4 Airs Lost Beatles Tape

Wednesday July 2, 2008
Natalie Finn at eonline.com reports: "A 1964 interview with the Fab Four that was only broadcast once has been discovered in a South London garage, where it had been tucked away in one of 64 film canisters for who knows who long."

Excerpts were played Monday on BBC Radio and the full conversation aired Tuesday afternoon.

You can listen to "The Lost Beatles Interview" online.

Related: Beatles Fan Creates His Own Internet Radio Station

More: Radio DJ Murray "The K" Kaufman Was 5th Beatle

Clear Channel Makes 350 HD2 Stations iTunes Tagging Compatible

Monday June 30, 2008
Clear Channel Radio just announced that all of its HD2 stations are iTunes Tagging compatible. This completes a rollout that began with the company's 350 HD radio stations. Combined, that means 700 of the companies stations now allow songs played to be added to an iPod when tagged by a tagging-capable receiver.

Some of the HD2 stations offered by Clear Channel Radio where listeners can tag music include JokeJoke (from WLW-AM), Mother Trucker (from WOFX-FM), Club Phusion (from WAKS-FM), Smooth Jazz (from KPTL-FM), Slow Jams (from KIKI-FM), Music Summit (from KOYT-FM), The Tejano Channel (from KTZR-FM), and eRockster (from WWDC-FM). You can listen online to any of these and more.

The complete list of Clear Channel Radio’s HD2 channels is available at www.clearchannelmusic.com/hdradio/.

Related: HD Radio Users: Like a Tune? Download and Purchase It

Canadian Supreme Court Affirms Radio Host's Freedom of Expression

Saturday June 28, 2008
According to nationalpost.com: "Canada's highest court delivered a 9-0 ruling Friday upholding a previous B.C. Supreme Court decision that the right to fair comment protected "shock jock" Rafe Mair's statements in an on-air editorial about Kari Simpson, a well-known public figure whom Mair compared to Nazis and Ku Klux Klan members."

According to Tracey Tyler, the Legal Affairs reporter for thestar.com: "The case turned on the issue of what constitutes "fair comment," a defence frequently used in defamation cases."

Mair's comments were first aired during a broadcast in 1999. He was fired from CKNW in 2003, spend a short time at CKBD until the end of 2005 and then began providing commentary on TV. Mair is also the author of several books.

More: Canadian Radio History

Related: What Is the Difference Between Libel and Slander?

Tales from the Studio: Callers from Hell

Thursday June 26, 2008
My day job is actually doing a morning radio show and it's been a while since I wrote an article with a really "inside" perspective. So, I decided to talk about callers. Callers to radio shows and radio stations fall into a very small minority. Even so, they can be a very bizarre and strange group. Let me share some of my thoughts on this and as usual with a piece like this, it's only my opinion. Read More.

The Replaced Weighs in on the Replacer: Kuby on Imus

Tuesday June 24, 2008
Earlier this week, during a discussion about football player, Adam "Pacman" Jones, a remark by Don Imus sparked a controversy which has put him back in the racial bullseye. (Right: Don Imus, Photo Credit: © WABC/New York)

For the record, Imus says it was misunderstood, but, he has once again come under fire by various websites and detractors for racial insensitivity.

Ron Kuby, who did the morning show on WABC/New York with Curtis Sliwa before Imus was hired for the slot last December, recently went to Air America Radio to do "American Afternoon". In this audio clip, Kuby chimes in with his thoughts on the current controversy surrounding Imus.

Listen: Ron Duby on Don Imus' "Pacman" comment
More: Profile of Ron Kuby
More: Profile of Don Imus

I-man Comment on Pacman Brings Quick Response

Tuesday June 24, 2008
Not quite 6 months into his new stint doing mornings on WABC/New York, Don Imus is once again at the center of a race controversy. During a discussion about football player, Adam Jones, the following exchange occurred as reported by The New York Times: (Right: Don Imus, Photo Credit: © WABC/New York)

"When told by the program’s sportscaster, Warner Wolf, that Mr. Jones no longer wished to be called by his nickname, Pacman, so that people might forget his record of multiple arrests, Mr. Imus asked, 'What color is he?'

'He’s African-American,' Mr. Wolf responded.

'Well, there you go,' Mr. Imus said. 'Now we know.'

Even though Imus later explained, "I meant he was being picked on because he’s black," reaction was swift from detractors, including several websites. Al Sharpton also criticized the remark, warning it would be looked into.

Imus was expected to address the controversy this morning (Tuesday) on his show.

More: Profile of Don Imus

George Carlin Dead - His 'Seven Dirty Words' Helped Define Radio's Boundaries

Monday June 23, 2008
Comedian George Carlin has died of heart failure. He was 71. Carlin's routine, "Seven Words You Can Never Say on Television" was at the heart of a Supreme Court case in 1978.

In 1973, New York listener-supported radio station, WBAI-FM (owned by the Pacifica Foundation), aired Carlin's routine which brought a complaint from a father whose son had heard the broadcast. The Federal Communications Commission was notified, an investigation ensued, and eventually WBAI-FM was fined for broadcasting obscene content. WBAI-FM appealed the ruling and it eventually went to the highest court in the United States.

Five years later, by a 5-4 vote, the Supreme Court upheld the F.C.C. decision ruling the routine was "indecent but not obscene".

FCC v. Pacifica Foundation is one of the highest profile free speech cases of the last century and it served to make George Carlin a household word and also helped define Radio's verbal boundaries for the future.

Related: Offensive Speech vs. Free Speech

View: Watch George Carlin perform "Seven Words You Can Never Perform on Television" (Warning: offensive language)

Former Radio Reporter Ron Kirk Sentenced to Prison

Saturday June 21, 2008
According to mercurynews.com: "Former radio station KZST reporter and news anchor Ron Kirk Kuhlmeyer was sentenced to six years in state prison this morning in Sonoma County Superior Court for committing three or more lewd and lascivious acts with a girl under age 14."

Kuhlmeyer, known on-the-air as "Ron Kirk", was a co-anchor and reporter for KZST and KJZY. Prior to that he worked for KSRO.

He was arrested October 23, 2007 and resigned a week after his arrest. He was originally charged with 15 felony counts of lewd and lascivious acts on a child under 14.

The district attorney prosecuting the case said police also found 3,700 images and 50 movies of child pornography in Kuhlmeyer's home.

KZST/100.1 is bills itself as "Sonoma County's Radio Station". You can listen online at www.kzst.com.

More Tales from the Dark Side of Radio:
* Child Porn Charges: Former San Francisco Talk Shot Host Bernie Ward Pleads Guilty
* Kansas City: Former Local DJ Indicted on Child Porn
* Former Country DJ Gets 5 Years for Child Porn

First Universal Internet Radio Platform Rolls Out Next Month

Thursday June 19, 2008
As reported at thestandard.com by Andrew Hendry for Computerworld Australia: Torian Wireless, the Australian developer of the world's first universal Internet radio platform, iRoamer, has agreements with manufacturers that will see the first commercial batch of products with the iRoamer technology launched next month.

Torian Wireless developed the iRoamer platform to give wireless Internet radio capabilities to almost any consumer electronic device, such as portable media players, Hi-Fi systems, set-top boxes, IP-TV units, car radio products, mobile and VoIP telephones.

Background:
* nFusion Provides Portable Internet Radio That Fits In Your Pocket
* miRoamer Gives You Internet Radio - and Customized
* Company Claims First Mobile Internet Radio

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