(updated to include Athans info)
A Democratic senator told progressive talker Bill Press this week that she and Senate colleagues are considering hearings into “accountability and standards” in political talk radio in 2009.
Media Syndication Services issued a summary of remarks by Sen. Debbie Stabenow of Michigan, who might have more than a passing interest in the topic; her husband Tom Athans is an executive with liberal talk network Air America and former CEO of Democracy Radio.
“I absolutely think it’s time to be bringing accountability to the airwaves,” said Stabenow, according to the transcript. “…There needs to be accountability and standards put in place.
“When we hear the right-wing conservative talk show hosts who are out there, just trying to make people angry and saying all kinds of things that aren’t true and so on … there has to be voices on the other side,” she said.
“I think it’s absolutely time to pass a standard. Now, whether it’s called the Fairness Standard, whether it’s called something else — I absolutely think it’s time to be bringing accountability to the airwaves. I mean, our new president has talked rightly about accountability and transparency. You know, that we all have to step up and be responsible. And, I think in this case, there needs to be some accountability and standards put in place.”
Press promotes his show as “The Official Morning Show of the Obama Generation.”
