Stars & Stripes
Future military radio menu could be more pop, less talk
Hip-hop-heavy content recommended for stations around the world
By Leo Shane III, Stars and Stripes
Mideast edition, Saturday, June 3, 2006
WASHINGTON – Military radio stations around the globe soon could be playing more hip-hop, more pop hits, less country music and no sports or political chat shows.
The biggest change proposed in the review would be centralizing most programming decisions in the United States, and creating a pair of music stations for broadcast worldwide.
The first station would feature hip-hop, rap, pop music and other similar formats. A second station would have classic rock, alternative bands and a mix of other Top 40 songs.
Popular talk radio programs such as Rush Limbaugh and those from National Public Radio, as well as country music, would be relegated to a third station, broadcast only in a few select areas with three military radio frequencies.
http://www.estripes.com/article.asp?section=104&article=36735&archive=true
http://www.stripes.com/06/jun06/afrts.jpg
The Radio Equalizer: Brian Maloney: Limbaugh, Hannity, AFRTS
“if both liberal and conservative programming are dealt the same blow, where’s the bias?
Because conservative talkers are many times more popular with the troops than their liberal counterparts, the right will suffer greatly, while “progressives” have much less to lose. That’s because very few stationed overseas are listening to the lefties.”
With this kind of data, how could anyone determine that nearly all political talk radio should be eliminated from the two proposed primary worldwide broadcast stations? Why not remove the unpopular liberal shows and keep the rest?
http://radioequalizer.blogspot.com/2006/06/limbaugh-hannity-afrts.html
GOP takes aim at PBS funding – The Boston Globe
By Rick Klein, Globe Staff | June 8, 2006
WASHINGTON — House Republicans yesterday revived their efforts to slash funding for public broadcasting, as a key committee approved a $115 million reduction in the budget for the Corporation for Public Broadcasting that could force the elimination of some popular PBS and NPR programs.
On a party-line vote, the House Appropriations subcommittee that oversees health and education funding approved the cut to the budget for the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, which distributes money to the Public Broadcasting Service and National Public Radio. It would reduce the corporation’s budget by 23 percent next year, to $380 million, in a cut that Republicans said was necessary to rein in government spending. …
The same appropriations subcommittee called last year for an even more drastic cut of $223 million from public broadcasting programs. At the time, Republicans attacked the PBS for programming they said represented out-of-the-mainstream viewpoints, highlighting in particular a “Postcards From Buster” episode that featured lesbian couples and their children in Vermont.
But, in a defeat for House leaders, 87 Republicans joined unanimous Democrats in bucking an attempt to cut funding from the stations.
http://www.boston.com/news/nation/washington/articles/2006/06/08/gop_takes_aim_at_pbs_funding/