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Dear Mr. President,
Like most Americans this past election, I voted for you in hopes of restoring order and faith to the American people. These past four years had been tough for me and millions of other Americans who saw this nation go in reverse. I, like so many people, was extremely saddened and upset by the January 6th insurrection.
I feel that the main reason why events like the insurrection occurred was due to our nation being bombarded with misinformation. As we all know, the insurrectionists all held a false belief that the person whom you replaced won the election when the numbers didn't lie. These people were addicted to right wing AM talk radio and cable channels designed to spread false information. In the end, what these conspiracy theorists did hurt the country and our nation's capitol.
Last year marked the 100th anniversary of the birth of America's first commercially-licensed radio station, Pittsburgh's KDKA. Since their sign-on, radio has evolved in both good and bad. Over the years, we discovered that music sounded better on FM and that AM was best for talk radio. We've moved on from playing music from scratchy vinyl and hissy tapes to CDs and MP3s from automation systems. Unfortunately, the same technology that made listening to one's favorite radio station better has also cost a lot of radio station employees their jobs through voicetracking and cyberjocking.
Granted, many Americans now listen to digital media as opposed to traditional radio. They want to control the next song or they simply don't want to hear a bombardment of commercials. But, local radio can still thrive with things that satellite and internet radio can't give, like local news, weather and community information that brings people together. But, it's heartbreaking knowing that many of these stations do not have local talent behind their microphones. Here in my hometown of Grand Rapids, MI, our most-popular top 40 station, WSNX only has TWO local jocks! Plus, it's owned by iHeartMedia, formerly known as Clear Channel.
In the past several decades, I have seen television and radio stations go from important hubs of local information to being corporate-owned shells of their former selves. I'm originally from northern Michigan, where the owners of the local NBC and CBS affiliates have created shell companies so the NBC station runs the ABC station and the CBS affiliate controls the local Fox station. To make matters worse, the NBC and ABC stations are owned by Sinclair and like their sister stations, they use their newscasts to promote their political propaganda.
Without a doubt, thanks to the elimination of the Fairness Doctrine and ownership caps for TV and radio stations in America, this is what we get. They did not create jobs, they eliminated them. Not only that, it's bothersome knowing that the insurrectionists who stormed the capitol were brainwashed by the likes of Sean Hannity, Michael Savage, Alex Jones and the now-departed Rush Limbaugh.
One of your responsibilities as President of the United States is to hand out the Presidential Medal of Freedom, a very prestigious honor that only a selected few receive in their lives who have made other peoples' lives better. It's been awarded to everybody from astronauts to authors to entertainers. I've seen it handed to Mother Teresa, Oprah, Rosa Parks, Mr. Rogers, Muhammad Ali and even yourself with Distinction. However, only THREE(!!!) radio personalities have been given this honor. Edward R. Murrow deserved it for his groundbreaking news reports for CBS. Paul Harvey got his for his thought-provoking and folksy newscasts for ABC.
However, like millions of Americans, I was distraught when last year, the previous president awarded this distinctive honor to Rush Limbaugh. Granted, he had 15 million listeners and helped to reinvent the faltering AM band in the 1980s. However, he did it all in the name of bigotry and lies. As a matter of fact, he even called for Martin Luther King's assassin to receive the Medal himself. Plus, don't get me started on his treatment of women by calling them "sluts" and "feminazis", his hypocrisy regarding drug use which caused his deafness and the fact that he was a supporter of the tobacco industry, which gave him the lung cancer that ended his life on Wednesday.
Mr. President, I do not expect you to overhaul the media. I do not expect you to bring back the Fairness Doctrine, break up media companies or even eliminate anti-First Amendment edicts in a time and age when the forbidden f-word is more accepted socially than the still-technically-legal-to-say on the air n-word. But, there's one thing you can do as president that would make millions of Americans happy. And that's to hand out the Presidential Medal of Freedom to someone who deserves it more than any other radio personality on the face of the Earth. A man who revolutionized radio and united people of all colors, races, religions and political affiliations. A man who worked hard to be the man he became and still entertains millions to this day.
This is why, Mr. President, you need to bestow the Presidential Medal of Freedom to Howard Stern.
In his nearly-50-year career, Stern has interviewed some of the world's greatest celebrities and dignitaries. He's made us laugh and think about ourselves and made our drives to work better. Most-importantly, he tells the truth and never caused a riot. He also needs to be lauded for his work with the North Shore Animal League along with his wife, Beth.
If you can hand the Presidential Medal of Freedom to Mr. Stern, Mr. President, I, and his millions of listeners will feel grateful. He's a hard worker and deserves this medal more than anyone.
Thank you, Mr. President. Sincerely yours,
King Chuck
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