WIOD-Enemy of the County

Wiod is a news talk radio station serving Broward county in the state of Florida, and the county doesn't like it. WIOD has has a contract with the county to broadcast news events including serious weather information warnings etc. Well, aside from those contracts, the station also broadcasts shows, which help them meet the expenses that come from running a business. Some of those shows are conservative in nature. Imagine that, conservative talk shows on the radio, oh the humanity! Broward wants to move their contract from WIOD to another station, so that in a time of crisis, its citizens can search up and down the dial in hopes of possibly finding the emergency information they need in order to not die. That's nice. I don't think they should be allowed to do that. I realize that in a free market system, anybody can take their business anywhere, but I think this is different. I think ditech.com not wanting to advertise on the Don Imus show is fine. But for a government office to take its business someplace where they like the politics better, leans toward socialism. It is not our governments place to chose which views are allowed to be expressed.

The media is a tricky thing, it isn't like other industries, it's 24/7 with 500 channels, and that's not counting the Internet, or countless radio broadcasts. We're still learning of its power and influence. Journalists must retain to ability to report any story that they see fit. If they want to throw in an opinion, as long as it's identified as opinion that's fine too. It's to our benefit, to be reminded that there is more than one viewpoint. It's good to know that smart well-intentioned people will disagree.

No member of the government ought to be allowed to put people in harm's way just because they want to have a tantrum.