Dr. Laura’s hugely successful (8 million listeners nationally) radio show will sign off conventional radio on Friday, Dec. 31st at 3 p.m. Pacific Time. But she will be right back the next Monday at 11:00 a.m. PST via satellite radio for her usual 3 hours.
Her move to satellite radio is the brain-wave of Mel Karmazin, the radio genius who now heads XM and Sirius. When he heard Dr. Laura was leaving radio, owing to constant harassment by censorship groups, he offered her a new post – and she gladly accepted.
Since satellite radio is not regulated by the FCC, and her new sponsors are unimpressed by self-appointed censors, Dr. Laura will be free to speak her mind.
Why all the fuss? Dr. Laura explains: “When I talk about married couples staying together for the sake of the children, somebody’s offended,” she said. “When I talk about mothers staying home with their babies, feminists are offended.”
More good news for Dr. Laura fans… she will now have 48 minutes of ‘programnimg time’ each hour, up from the current 34 minutes. She will also branch out into interviews and special features.
Laura Schlessinger was once heard on a single radio station, KFI in Los Angeles during the early 1990s, but rapidly expanded to hundreds more nationwide. The Big 3 radio talk success stories have been Rush Limbaugh, Sean Hannity and Dr. Laura. She found a massive audience eager to hear traditional values vocally defended by an advocate who always puts the needs of minor children first.
Fatigued by years of petty sniping, she considered retirement, but now she had gained a second wind. She made that clear last week with this blast, appropriately titled, “I will Not be Silenced”.
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Something very scary is starting in this country – in the land of the free that you and I all love – so you need to pay attention.
Four months ago, I said I was ending my terrestrial radio show at the end of the year because I wanted to regain my First Amendment rights. A lot of intellectuals snickered and said I didn’t know what I was talking about – only the government can take away First Amendment rights. I was only being threatened by non-government organizations…..
Well, where do you think fascism and censorship start?
They start when one person or one group of people demands another person or another group of people be silenced.
On Monday, I did a lot of interviews. In every interview, I talked about how free speech on radio is in jeopardy, in danger of being regulated – censored – by people who are offended – personally and politically offended – by opinions
with which they do not agree. Rather than debate the issues, certain people in this country are suggesting the opinions which offend them should simply be silenced.
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Don’t know about You, sports fans, but I’m going to be tuned to XM 155 on Monday Jan. 3rd at 11:00 a.m. to hear what Dr. Laura has to say next. It sounds like she is only just warming up!
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Jim Sills is a San Diego political consultant. If you have questions about your future in San Diego and California elections, you can contact Jim at this e-mail address: YourElectionVictory@hotmail.com
Jim has aided the campaigns of Rep. Darrell Issa, Assemblywoman Shirley Horton, Senators Joel Anderson and Tony Strickland, Rep. Devin Nunes, and Assessor/ Recorder Greg Smith, among others.