Not Hearing Voices

by Bruce Schimmel

The man who wrote National Public Radio’s first mission statement, who created All Things Considered and who put Terry Gross on the air is worried about the future of radio in America, and that makes him worry about the future of America.

Bill Siemering is concerned about what he’s not hearing on the dial. Radio, says Siemering, is the "most accessible, democratic and easy to learn of all the media." But radio now in America "has less room at the table for a broad range of views" -- even when compared to radio in emerging democracies, like South Africa or Outer Mongolia.

Siemering ought to know. For a decade, he’s been establishing radio as a bulwark of democracy in such faraway and often un-democratic places -- first as a MacArthur Foundation "genius" and most recently through the Soros Foundation Network.

Siemering, at home for the moment in Wyndmoor, is raising money to help radio in countries where "radio can make more of a difference."

He uses the word "ossified" to describe the state of American democracy, and in part blames that on the deregulation of broadcast media. This is true especially in radio, where a few large corporations control hundreds of stations.

Deregulation of the nation’s airways also brought other ills to the broadcast media.

"There was a real turning point," says Siemering, "when they got rid of the Fairness Doctrine" that mandated balance and inclusiveness in all that was broadcast.

When the FCC got rid of the Fairness Doctrine, "that gave rise to talk radio," which is often inaccurate and one-sided.

Now, by comparison, NPR is "viewed as "liberal,’ and that’s because they still try for balance."

Good radio gives its listeners "a sense of participation in the quality of life of a community," presenting more and diverse voices.

Siemering does see some hope in the community radio movement, as the FCC slowly begins to license new low-power stations. (At the moment there is only one such station -- WPEB 88.1 FM -- in Philadelphia, with scores waiting for approval.)

Though Siemering is now primarily an advocate for voices in distant places, he’s still tossing off ideas to revitalize democracy on the radio here at home.

Look, This Works is the working title of a short feature he’s developing, where a national audience would hear the voices behind local solutions. He cites Philadelphia Cares and the work of Lily Yeh as Philadelphia examples.

For Siemering, hearing these voices talk about what works on a local scale may help get democracy in the nation as a whole working better.