Savage Stupidity

By Van Kensinger

According to Fairness and Accuracy in Reporting (FAIR) (1):

"The Fairness Doctrine has two components. First, and most importantly, it affirmatively requires that each broadcast licensee carry some coverage of controversial issues of public importance. This ensures that every broadcaster meets its duty to inform the electorate on public issues.

The better-known second prong of the doctrine requires reasonable balance in the coverage of these issues in a station's overall programming. The station has broad discretion on how to provide balanced coverage -- be it through news, talk show discussions, guest editorials or other programming."

The Fairness Doctrine was enforced from 1949 through 1987, and was a condition that broadcast licensees (aka station owners) were required to comply with in order to receive and to renew their right to broadcast. The actual requirements it placed on station owners were minimal (for example, requiring that at least one free minute of broadcast time be provided for every three to four minutes sold to an opposing viewpoint, if the former lacked the resources to pay and desired to have their views aired), but still irked conservative station owners .

The FCC of that era justified the elimination of the Fairness Doctrine by citing perceived chilling effects on editorial expression by station owners, an idea not borne out by subsequent research, which documented "that there was not a mass effort by broadcasters to begin or cease editorializing after the Fairness Doctrine was set aside by the FCC in 1987". In fact, only two stations, out of 306 surveyed, began to broadcast editorials at that point.(2)

According to Citizens for Independent Public Broadcasting (CIPB), "Research demonstrates that news and public affairs substantially declined after termination of the Fairness Doctrine, contrary to broadcaster promises. What did increase were right wing talk shows and religious right ministries, now free to editorialize against their favorite demons without fear of contradiction."

And so they have. Freed from the unpleasant requirement to make even the slightest effort to provide a balanced point of view, corporate America embraced the likes of Rush Limbaugh and Michael Savage with a vengeance. This is what conservatives would portray as "an upsurge in public affairs programming and discussion of controversial issues" on the radio.

So, how does a community activist fight back? Thomas and Gunilla Leavitt, residents of Santa Cruz, and currently unemployed victims of the dot.com downturn, turned to the medium they know best - the Internet. Thomas co-founded the world's first self-service web hosting service back in 1994 (Web Communications, LLC), and subsequently went on to participate in several other Internet startups. Since moving to the United States in 1996, his wife, Gunilla, has designed hundreds of web sites for a wide variety of clients large and small. Their combined talents resulted in the web site they now jointly run: SavageStupidity.Com, which focuses on Michael Savage, the ultra right-wing host of "The Savage Nation", one of the nation’s fastest growing nationally syndicated talk shows (currently rated 4th in the nation according to Talkers Magazine).

SavageStupidity.Com exposes both the vitrolic nature of Savage’s commentary (among other things, he has been quoted as saying that “marchers in gay pride parades [are] the ‘brown shirts of the modern era.’” and that “Liberalism is not a political position, it is a mental disorder.”), and the unbalanced nature of modern talk radio syndication practices (including a more extensive analysis of how the repeal of the Fairness Doctrine has affected radio diversity).

Thomas, 30, has a long record of digital activism dating back to his high school years, where he helped put together SHWASHLOCK (SHowers, WAshers, and LOCKers for the homeless) with a group of fellow citizens he had met through Santa Monica’s then leading edge digital discussion service, the Public Electronic Network (or PEN). On and offline, Thomas is at the center of the Santa Cruz activist scene, working with SCAN (he was elected to the organization’s steering committee earlier this year), the Green Party (where he has facilitated numerous meetings and put forward many agenda items over the past year), homelessness activists of all sorts (including the infamous Robert Norse via HUFF, where he serves as webmaster), as well as participating in queer activism at a local, regional, and national level both in and out of the Green Party. More information about his activities can be found at his personal web site, http://www.thomasleavitt.org/.

Gunilla, 36, has volunteered her time and energy to create web sites for a number of community groups and activist organizations, including SoBOA (South Bay Bisexual Organizers and Activists), which she also serves as President, and the Santa Cruz Red Cross and Rideshare Week 2002 (a site which she has maintained for several years). An on-line portfolio of her work is available through her personal web site at http://www.godmoma.com/.

1. Description quoted from A Question of Fairness: Will FCC Let Both Sides Be Heard on Smoking Initiative? By Robert B. Krinsky, available on the web at:
http://www.fair.org/extra/9411/fcc-smoking.html

2. Research cited from THE FAIRNESS DOCTRINE, THE CHILLING EFFECT, AND TELEVISION EDITORIALS, by Dr. David Spiceland, December 1992, available on the web at:
http://www.acs.appstate.edu/~spicelnd/fairdoc.htm