Over a hundred thousand protesters took to the streets across the country the week the war started—but not to protest the war. They were protesting the protest of the war. They chanted, carried signs and held banners proclaiming "God Bless the U.S.A." and "Boycott France." In an attempt to convey feelings of solidarity with the U.S. troops in the Middle East, a movement called Rally for America has organized demonstrations nationwide. That movement is supported by San Antonio radio behemoth Clear Channel Communications, which owns more than 1,200 stations in the U.S. (four in Jackson) and wishes to control more.
In Jackson, some 2,000 people took to the steps of our state capitol to provide some fair balance to the anti-war protests that sprang up around the U.S. and the world, including locally, as the war began. Participants in the local rally, sponsored in part by Miss 103 (a Clear Channel station) and State Auditor Phil Bryant, signed a banner emblazoned with the words "Mississippi Won't Forget" to send to the troops.
Begun by Glenn Beck—who hosts a nationally syndicated talk show (and is one scary somebody; check out http://www.glennbeck.com for his End Of World updates) on Premiere Radio Networks, a subsidiary of Clear Channel Worldwide—Rally for America has sponsored "rallies" from San Francisco to Atlanta. Rather bizarrely, the organization uses the now-feminist icon of Rosie the Riveter from World War II as an emblem.
Clear Channel's home office refutes the idea that the company is directing its stations to get involved in war politics. Officially their stance is that "any rallies that our stations have been a part of have been of their own initiative and in response to the expressed desires of their listeners and communities," as Clear Channel spokeswoman Lisa Dollinger told the Chicago Tribune last week. But the company is known for centrally controlling its radio stations, leading many critics to charge that the company could be in the war game for more than mere patriotism. It could be about deregulation. That is, if the company loudly supports the Bush administration's war strategy, then maybe the administration—and specifically Federal Communications Commission chairman Michael Powell, son of Colin—will help with its bid to get even more regulations lifted in the broadcast industry, thus allowing it to own more stations. (It only became a powerhouse—from 43 stations to 1,200—once the Telecommunications Act of 1996 melted away media ownership restrictions.) And, indeed, Powell announced that the FCC would consider its next round of ownership deregulation in June, despite criticisms that the proceedings should slow down a bit in deference to the war.
Or, as New York Times columnist Paul Krugman posited March 27, maybe the rallies are just a friendly gesture—from Clear Channel vice chairman and Bush family friend Tom Hicks (who helped Bush II become a multimillionaire when he purchased the Texas Rangers) to his friend in the White House. Krugman theorized that this back-scratching is "the next stage in the evolution of a new American oligarchy," made so much easier by the absence of "effective watchdogs."
Whatever the theory, Clear Channel's stakes are high in Washington. A bill by Sen. Russell Feingold (D-Wis.) could stop radio deregulation and limit each company's audience share and percent of advertising dollars. So, in turn, the conglomerate may soon need a show of support from the Bush administration.
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