You can go to Huffpo or WSJ to read the story, but here's the part that is so annoying:  Van Jones is called “radical” because, back in the 90's,  “He was involved with the group Standing Together to Organize a Revolutionary Movement (STORM), which sympathized with Maoist-inspired peasant movements throughout the world and was organized to protest police brutality.”  How is it that sympathizing with peasants, and protesting police brutality, is a bad thing?  His other sins: He signed a petition calling for an investigation into our country's own culpability in 9/11 (seems reasonable) and has attacked Republicans on their environmental positions (seems completely reasonable).  This is an obvious, phonied up, smear, which the media are falling for hook, line and sinker because their apparent mission right now is to broadcast nothing but right-wing talking points, the crazier the better.

The conservative right have control of the mass media megaphone, and are able to make the preposterous things put forth by a few extremists, seem like they are ideas held by many. 

Remember these three words, you will hear more of them:

Media. Reform. Now. 

This is the opening leg of the media reform fight, and guess who's starting us off?  None other than our own U.S. Senator, Chuck Grassley.  Yes, that's right.   BFIA and everyone else posted about this already, but in case you missed it, the media interests on the right have apparently gotten Grassley to carry water for them by getting him to write a letter to FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski, saying, among other things, that not only does he [Grassley] oppose the Fairness Doctrine, he opposes anything that would have the same results as the fairness doctrine.   (Nobody was even talking about the Fairness Doctrine. Obama has been saying all along he is opposed to reinstating the Fairness Doctrine).

It is pretty transparent that the right-wing does not want to give up any ground, as far as their ability to dominate the airwaves with conservative propaganda (true, it is all they have left).  They are gearing up now to make media ownership diversity the next big health care reform fight, and Van Jones was the first casualty. 

(2) If they insist that they must air Beck's dangerous nonsense, ask or insist that they air a progressive alternative alongside their conservative programming, and to air programs that represent your diverse community.  (They might say, well, you have NPR.  To which you reply, NPR doesn't
count, because NPR is mainstream media; it is NOT progressive
programming.  It airs both sides of issues – a good thing, but it does not air just the progressive side, as conservative radio carries just the conservative side.  So, the existence of NPR doesn't equal things out – and besides, many believe it too has become way too conservative in the framing of issues). 

(3) Organize a petition; get signatures to present to your local station. 

(4) Go visit your station in person; ask to see their public inspection file.  You'll find loads of delightfully creative complaints there, from people who are dissatisfied just like you, ignored by the station. 

Contact info.