In the 1950s and 60s, radio stations were cutting NBC coverage of the civil rights movement. It's not just morally dubious; it's actually against the policies of the FCC. Civil rights activists decided to put that to the test by challenging WLBT's license for repeatedly denying them airtime. At first, the FCC dismissed the case, but then the activists sued the FCC, and they won. And eventually, years later, a federal court decided that WLBT could stay on the air, but their license would be transferred to a non-profit, multiracial group of broadcasters.
If you’ve ever flipped through the radio dial — not satellite, not podcasts, but good old-fashioned AM and FM radio — you may have noticed something. Right wing radio talk is everywhere.
But the airwaves weren't always so dominated by such a narrow range of voices. Reporter and friend of the show Katie Thornton has the story of how talk radio has evolved (and perhaps devolved at times) over the past century, and what all of it means for the airwaves today.
The Divided Dial
Hear the rest of the the series from On the Media