My Fight With Clear Channel

A BUZZFLASH READER CONTRIBUTION
by Robert Millman

Like a lot of people, I think our country is in
trouble. Fundamental issues about war and social
equity are largely ignored by the main stream media.

I decided I had to do something about it, for myself
and my family's sake, and set out to create a series
of thirty second audio recordings, Issue Ads to frame
basic questions about our country. With the help of my
wife and several like minded friends I produced seven
"Paid Radio Moments," and contacted WGY, the big AM
radio station in Albany, New York. It should be no
surprise that WGY is a Clear Channel station.

Through an advertising representative I set up a
schedule and gave them my credit card authorizing a
$710.00 charge. Believe me, that's a lot of money for
me and my wife. The plan was to put six of the ads on
the morning drive program over two days and end with
the "Christianity Spot" on Rush Limbaugh's program.

Within minutes of sending the audio files to the Clear
Channel I was informed by e-mail that my issue ads
were rejected by the programming staff. I wrote back
to Clear Channel twice. I asking for an explanation as
to why the ads were rejected. Was it a specific ad?
Was it specific language? So far, I have received no
answer. A newspaper reporter from the Schenectady
Daily Gazette called WGY and requested a reason for
the rejection of my ads. He also asked if they had a
company policy on advertising. He also received no
answers.

I can understand that this is a two edged sword. I
would not want to hear radio commercials from the Ku
Klux Klan, but surely there is some middle ground. And
if the FCC can censure broadcasters for indecent
speech, there should be some standard for what is
acceptable. If publicly owned air-waves can be used
for the financial benefit of Clear Channel, then I
believe Clear Channel has an obligation to define a
standard for acceptable advertising.

Regardless of what happens at Clear Channel, my hope
is that people in this country will start asking hard
questions, and ask them out loud. I truly believe that
once we get past the labels, many conservatives and
liberals will find they share the same convictions
about fair play and equal rights. Social equity is not
a luxury in a free society, it is the life blood, and
we will perish without it.

Last, but not least, I encourage people who are
concerned about vote suppression to financially
support the statisticians at www.uscountvotes.org. If
we can first turn the public discussion back to basic
issues like the right to vote, we want to have real
information ready when that discussion takes place.

Robert Millman - 12/29/04
------- Sent Wed, 22 Dec 2004 19:13:55 +0000
-------------------------------------------------------

I plan to take on talk radio where I live. And I
encourage you to do the same.AM radio is a free market
place. Anyone can place an issue ad on the
air. All it takes is a credit card, an e-mail address
and access to a fax machine. Depending on where you
live, and what program you choose, a 30-second radio
ad will cost from $20 to $120 a spot.

I have produced seven "Paid Radio Moments." They are
30-second ads that frame progressive issues. I plan on
putting them on air on WGY (the big AM radio station
in Scenectady, New York) in the first week of January.

If you want to help in Albany, that would be great. I
could use help. If you would like to do the same
somewhere else that would be great. If you want to run
all seven or just one, that's fine with me. If you
want, you can even put one on the Rush Limbaugh
program.

I plan to make these audio files available to anyone
willing to put them on the air in their entirety,
that's my only condition for full and free use. As
long as a spot is played in full you are welcome to
one or
all of them.

If I can get this idea up and running, I would like to
post the spots on-line in a place where they can be
downloaded. For now I am limited to sending them out
as mp3 e-mail attachments

The scripts are pasted in below.

Any help or feedback would be appreciated.

Robert Millman

7 "RADIO MOMENTS"

1. TAX CUTS/DEFICIT SPOT
This is a paid radio moment--
The Federal deficit, is 400 billion dollars this year,
the total National Debt is 7 trillion dollars.
I keep hearing it's our money,
But it's gone and now it's our debt.
Not corporate debt, it's citizen debt
Every man woman and child in this country
owes the government 25,000 dollars. (pause)
It would be fair to call this a "Birth Tax."

2. INCUMBENCY/REDISTRICTING SPOT
This is a paid radio moment--
We're all nervous about losing our jobs--
even politicians.
But, they can cut a deal to keep their jobs safe.
When politicians re-draw voting districts, they choose
where your vote
goes--.
And they get elected again and again.
And before they retire, they choose where your vote
goes next.
That's what re-districting is (pause)
A way to steal your vote

3. JUSTIFICATION FOR WAR SPOT
This is a paid radio moment--
The President assured us Sadaam had weapons of mass
destruction,
nuclear capability and ties to Al Qaeda,
Iraq could not be contained.
We declared victory, but we're still there.
We've taken and re-taken the same cities.
13 hundred American troops are dead, many more
wounded,
with no end in sight. (pause)
Half truths got us in. Can whole truths get us out?

4. RIGHT TO VOTE SPOT
This is a paid radio moment--
You have a right to vote. It's in your State
Constitution.
The right to vote along with a right to equal
protection under the law
It's one of your civil rights.
So when some votes aren't counted,
or some voters are harassed
you should be worried.
Vote suppression isn't a strategy.
Call it what it is -- a crime
A crime against your right to vote

5. SUSTAINABLE ENERGY SPOT
This is a paid radio moment--
Oil--it fuels our cars, our jobs, and our lives.
More than 50% of America's oil is imported.
As long as we're dependent on foreign oil,
It's likely we'll have troops in the Middle East,
Because that's where the oil is.
Even if we'd like to, we can't drill our way out at
home,
We don't have that much oil. (pause)
We don't need a marketing strategy, we need a real
solution

6. DISSENT SPOT
This is a paid radio moment--
Some of us disagree with the President.
We think the Iraq war is a mess.
We think vote suppression is a crime.
We think tax cuts for the rich are a bad idea.
We think business doesn't know best. (pause)
And we think dissent is an American value. (pause)
This country was born because people questioned
authority
It's as American as apple pie


7. CHRISTIANITY SPOT
This is a paid radio moment
During times of war, people like to feel that God is
on their side.
I'm not trying to be disrespectful, but I have to
ask--
Which God is that?
Which God supports war?
If you're a Christian and you support a war,
That's your choice, as it should be. You're endowed
with a free
will.
Just leave Christ out of it, all right?
He never supported a war.

These scripts were developed with input from: Robert
Millman, Joan
Fucillo, Greg Rossel, Oliver Dawshed, and Dennis Meyer


My Fight With Clear Channel

A BUZZFLASH READER CONTRIBUTION
by Robert Millman

Like a lot of people, I think our country is in
trouble. Fundamental issues about war and social
equity are largely ignored by the main stream media.

I decided I had to do something about it, for myself
and my family's sake, and set out to create a series
of thirty second audio recordings, Issue Ads to frame
basic questions about our country. With the help of my
wife and several like minded friends I produced seven
"Paid Radio Moments," and contacted WGY, the big AM
radio station in Albany, New York. It should be no
surprise that WGY is a Clear Channel station.

Through an advertising representative I set up a
schedule and gave them my credit card authorizing a
$710.00 charge. Believe me, that's a lot of money for
me and my wife. The plan was to put six of the ads on
the morning drive program over two days and end with
the "Christianity Spot" on Rush Limbaugh's program.

Within minutes of sending the audio files to the Clear
Channel I was informed by e-mail that my issue ads
were rejected by the programming staff. I wrote back
to Clear Channel twice. I asking for an explanation as
to why the ads were rejected. Was it a specific ad?
Was it specific language? So far, I have received no
answer. A newspaper reporter from the Schenectady
Daily Gazette called WGY and requested a reason for
the rejection of my ads. He also asked if they had a
company policy on advertising. He also received no
answers.

I can understand that this is a two edged sword. I
would not want to hear radio commercials from the Ku
Klux Klan, but surely there is some middle ground. And
if the FCC can censure broadcasters for indecent
speech, there should be some standard for what is
acceptable. If publicly owned air-waves can be used
for the financial benefit of Clear Channel, then I
believe Clear Channel has an obligation to define a
standard for acceptable advertising.

Regardless of what happens at Clear Channel, my hope
is that people in this country will start asking hard
questions, and ask them out loud. I truly believe that
once we get past the labels, many conservatives and
liberals will find they share the same convictions
about fair play and equal rights. Social equity is not
a luxury in a free society, it is the life blood, and
we will perish without it.

Last, but not least, I encourage people who are
concerned about vote suppression to financially
support the statisticians at www.uscountvotes.org. If
we can first turn the public discussion back to basic
issues like the right to vote, we want to have real
information ready when that discussion takes place.

Robert Millman - 12/29/04

----------------
WGY refuses to air area man’s issue ads

By PHILIP SCHWARTZ Gazette Reporter



Robert Millman of Glenville just wanted a voice, a venue to spout off his ideas.

His plan? Place seven radio ads — tackling everything from the national deficit to the war in Iraq — on the air for a two-day campaign beginning Jan. 2 on radio station WGY, 810-AM. And it would be entirely self-funded, costing about $700.

But after recording and producing the spots himself, Millman received word on Tuesday from an advertising representative at WGY that the station wouldn’t approve his ads.

A spokesman for the Clear Channel-owned WGY said the station had no comment. And when asked for a copy of WGY’s ad policies, he said he could not meet the request. He would not say why the ads were turned away.

Millman had his own motives behind the campaign. "Personally, I’m fed up with a lot of bad choices by our government that I don’t think are being addressed anywhere," he said. "I think the country is careening in the wrong direction. The lack of questioning is alarming."

Millman went to WGY to run his ads, he said, because of its large market share, but also because he wanted his spots to appear on Rush Limbaugh’s show, which the station features in the afternoon.

It’s hard to deny that Millman’s ads would run counter to Limbaugh’s conservative commentary. But Millman, a Democrat who ran for Glenville’s town board in 2003, said he toned down the ads.

The entire text for the ad on the Iraq war reads: "The president assured us Sadaam had weapons of mass destruction, nuclear capability and ties to al Qaeda; Iraq could not be contained. We declared victory, but we’re still there. We’ve taken and retaken the same cities. Thirteen hundred American troops are dead, many more wounded, with no end in sight. Half truths got us in. Can whole truths get us out?"

Commenting on the rejection, Millman said: "I consider [the ads] pretty basic to fundamental American values — the right to vote, the right to question the deficit," Millman said Tuesday. "And I wanted to present this in the most populous kind of way." He added: "If I’m willing to spend the money, why can’t I go to the market I want to advertise in?"

At the Poynter Institute, Kelly McBride, who specializes in ethical issues in the media, said this subject arises all the time. "These organizations have the right to refuse any kind of ad," she said. But she added that this usually only comes up in cases of adult entertainment advertising and with messages that may be ethnically offensive.

"They may look at this and say they know their audience," McBride said, "and then say their audience may be offended by this politically."

Millman said he will shop the ads around in the hope he’ll find airtime at another station.