The King of All Media

Howard Stern's radio show has been dropped by Clear Channel due to a half-million-dollar fine levied by the FCC against the company for indecency. At issue was the April 9, 2003 broadcast of Stern's show, which included descriptions of anal and oral sex. Reading the transcript, this broadcast sounds like a fairly typical Stern show, and is certainly no more indecent than anything else he's done over the years. The draconian fines to be levied against Infinity Broadcasting and other syndicatees may ultimately result in Stern being completely removed from the airwaves.

Several things to note about this:

+ This broadcast was from a year ago, and the FCC is just now getting around to assessing a penalty. If the FCC is truly outraged by this particular broadcast, why have they taken so long to act?

+ The FCC hasn't fined Stern for indecency in almost a decade. Again, if Stern is such a threat to common decency, why haven't any other actions been taking against him recently?

+ The FCC's sudden action just happens to coincide with Stern's recent anti-Bush rhetoric, which has developed after years of what could either be considered Republican sympathizing or political apathy. Isn't the timing of the FCC fine rather curious? And if Rush Limbaugh were to start discussing his sex life on the air, would he face similar punishment?

Per Eric Boehlert's article, "Howard Stern Unplugged", at Salon.com:

The recent barrage of fines has galvanized Stern, turning the former Republican sympathizer into a fierce critic of not just the FCC but of President Bush as well. "I strategize more about my radio show than Bush does about the war in Iraq," Stern quipped on Monday. The jock claims Bush has sold out to the religious right and ordered the FCC to crack down on broadcasters to appease this political base. He saves many of his most stinging barbs these days for Attorney General John Ashcroft, whose fundamentalist critique of popular culture puts Stern in mind of the black-robed jihadis America is fighting in the Middle East.

The lesson here? Say whatever you want, but don't rip the Administration.