No Age's Obama shirt gets 'Big Brother' treatment from CBS

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No Age's Obama shirt gets 'Big Brother' treatment from CBS

October 8, 2008 4:45 p.m. by Matthew Richardson

Yesterday when No Age showed up at CBS to tape a performance on Late Late Night With Craig Ferguson, the show's producers took issue with some Obama apparel that guitarist Randy Randall was wearing.

Randall said of the incident, "After the rehearsals, the people from CBS said I couldn't wear the shirt. I threatened to walk off the set and not do the show. They would not budge. They said that it was because they had to give equal time. I told them to put up a Mccain t-shirt, or anything else they wanted, but they wouldn't do anything. Dean and I talked and we came to the conclusion that it was better to do the show and make a statement on national TV than just walk away. So I turned the shirt inside out and wrote free healthcare on it."

The folks at CBS informed No Age that Randall's shirt violated the Fairness Doctrine enforced by the FCC, which required organizations with broadcasting license to give equal airtime to opposing sides of an issue. The curious thing is that the FCC abolished the doctrine in 1987 with a 4-0 vote. CBS in the tank for McCain/against Obama shirts? The No Age episode of Late Late Night with Craig Ferguson is scheduled to air on October 27th.

[Stereogum]

Posted in: NO AGE

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7 Responses

October 8, 2008 at 5:09 p.m.

Voyno

No Age are very good. It's too bad they didn't walk off the set. They don't need Craig Ferguson as much as he needs them.
-Voyno
NewRockstarPhilosophy.com

October 8, 2008 at 6:20 p.m.

WeakAge

CBS has been in the tank for McCain forever. They edited an interview to forgive McCain of frequent public errors:

http://mediamatters.org/items/200807230001

And check out Alterman for any other indication, if you need it, that the media is terrified of the Right. Let's not forget, NBC gets a phone call from the Right and they pull Olbermann from preceding over live political events.

http://www.thenation.com/doc/20080707/alterman

The FCC doesn't dictate Craig Ferguson's production decisions, the Republican Party does. News, it isn't. No Age should've refused to play.

October 8, 2008 at 6:44 p.m.

Johnmel

I agree with Voyno that No Age doesn't need Craig Ferguson as much as he needs them, but I think that it was still a good thing for No Age to stay on the show and tweak the message a little bit--who thinks "McCain" when you say the word "healthcare" (even without "free" in front of it)? People will get the message (which is actually better, even, because it's more specific.) You can't give up a national stage in exchange for some kind of principled silence. Then all you're doing is allowing the forces of evil and censorship to win and say, "It was their choice."

October 9, 2008 at 1:20 p.m.

Denise

It has nothing to do with Craig Ferguson. It's what the lawyers and producers at CBS probably suggested. If you ever watch the show, you would know that they censor him ALL the time and he keeps bucking the system whenever he can.

October 10, 2008 at 5:09 a.m.

jake

I can't believe how some people just pick up a story from a blog and copy it without even thinking it may be COMPLETELY WRONG WRONG WRONG. This false story has spread across the blogosphere like wildfire. You are confusing the Fairness Doctrine on controversial issues in broadcasting which is no longer in use, with the Equal Time rule for political candidates which is. The result of enforcing that rule would be that McCain would be entitled to equal time on the show - but judging from Ferguson's frequent anti-McCain and Palin meltdowns on camera, McCain would not agree to appear on his show. The band - BTW were absolutely unlistenable - maybe this was their method of protest.

October 10, 2008 at 5:12 a.m.