This should be of interest for those who are concerned about the use of the FCC as an instrument of Christian extremism. From the Mises Institute: The rationale Roosevelt and his acolytes employed to justify the creation of the FCC has been reiterated for decades. According to the boosters of the 1934 Federal Communications Act, the radio spectrum was a limited resource. It also crossed state borders. As such, it was necessary and appropriate that the federal government own the airwaves. As argued by the Roosevelt Administration, the broadcast spectrum was, by its nature, a public good, and it was in the public interest that Washington regulate its use, thus avoiding potential private business conflicts. In 1938, for example, the FCC revoked the license of the Yankee Radio Network, a conservative broadcaster that often editorialized against FDR’s policies. The FCC announced: “Radio can serve as an instrument of democracy only when devoted to the communication of information and exchange of ideas fairly and objectively presented . . . It cannot be devoted to the support of principles he [the broadcaster] happens to regard most favorably . . .”
First, note who established the FCC. None other than that most left-wing of presidents, the man who socialized the American economy, FDR. Second, note how it was being used 66 years ago. The modern equivalent would be the Bush administration shutting down Air America. (NPR would be a better target, of course, but that’s a legitimate shut-down by government, since NPR is government.)