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(ThinkStock) After much criticism from conservative quarters, the Federal Communications Commission has... A key advocate of the project to assess whether news organizations are meeting government-defined... Many liberals seemingly attempt to prevent criticism by restricting speech. (Thinkstock) View 5 More Photos

Democrats on the Federal Communications Commission say they have absolutely no plans to censor the press.

"The commission has no intention of regulating political or other speech of journalists or broadcasters," FCC chairman Tom Wheeler wrote to a group of House Republicans on Feb. 14, after controversy erupted over an FCC project to question journalists to determine whether their articles, commentaries, and newscasts meet government-determined "critical information needs."

Likewise, FCC commissioner Mignon Clyburn, a key backer of the project, said during her Senate confirmation hearing back in 2009 that the FCC "is not in the business of censoring speech or content on the basis of political views and opinions."

They no doubt believe what they say. So what explains the FCC's -- or at least the Democratic side of the FCC's -- willingness to embark on an effort that many journalists felt infringed on some of the nation's most cherished First Amendment protections?

The answer lies in the firm belief among many on the Left, and that includes some in the FCC, that the media is in dire need of "reform."

Angry and troubled by the continued success of Rush Limbaugh, Fox News, and other conservative programs and personalities, media reformers say the press is under such tight corporate control that "independent" voices have been drowned out and many Americans receive a dangerously one-sided diet of information.

The answer, those reformers believe, is strong government action to create more "diversity" in the media. If more women and minorities, in particular, own and control media outlets, the idea goes, the less influence Limbaugh, Fox, et al will have.

In 2011, Commissioner Clyburn appeared at an event called the National Conference for Media Reform, staged annually by a left-leaning media activist organization called Free Press. From the audience came a question: "I understand the Fairness Doctrine is not coming back, but why has the FCC sat by and allowed angry, hateful, often racist talk show hosts, 95 percent of whom are conservative, to poison the supposedly public airwaves?"

The crowd erupted in applause. Clyburn began her answer by suggesting her heart was with the questioner. "This is when the personal side of Mignon and the professional side of Mignon are at constant war," she said. On the one hand, America has free speech for all, "and when we talk about those freedoms of expression, that sometimes mean expressions which we don't agree with."

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Media 'reform' schemes business as usual for some on FCC

PCs can make great home entertainment systems, at least in theory. But in practice, having to control everything from a mouse (or keyboard) is a major disadvantage.

QRemoteControl can help out by controlling your desktop (PC, Mac or Linux) from a mobile device -- Android, BlackBerry, MeeGo, Symbian or Sailfish -- via Wi-Fi. You can operate a media centre, launch programs, control the mouse, keyboard and more, even if youre in a different room.

Setup is generally very straightforward. We launched the server component on our Windows 8.1 PC (its portable, so no installation required), then installed and ran the Android client. Clicking "Search servers" on our phone ran a quick network scan, listing the PCs IP address, and after clicking this we were connected.

The standard control layout is uninspired, but experiment for a moment and youll soon figure out how everything works. There are cursor keys, an "Enter", backspace and a "Close" button. You can zoom in and out, simulate Alt+Tab, and control media playback in various ways (Play/ Pause, Back, Next, Volume up/ down, Mute, more).

If this isnt enough, your remote control can also act as a touchpad, and a keyboard.

A "User Commands" section provides custom buttons which can be tweaked to launch whatever program or shortcuts you need.

Best of all, there are a host of configuration options. These start at a simple user level, with the ability to set a custom icon for each User Command button, or apply some basic skin tweaks. Youre also able to replace the standard buttons with your preferred keyboard shortcuts. And low-level settings covering network communications, cursor acceleration, scroll speeds and more are very helpful in making sure the program works just as youd like.

We had a few issues with the program. The touchpad would occasionally stop responding; if we took our finger off the screen for a moment, we could put it back and carry on. For some reason, the Alt+Tab button didnt work at all.

QRemoteControlis also easy to set up, simple to use and very configurable, though: if you need a PC remote control then its definitely worth a try.

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Control your desktop from an Android device with QRemoteControl

Ray Hadley Photo: Ben Rushton

Fairfax Media's $200 million radio merger talks with John Singleton's Macquarie Radio Network have collapsed after it became clear that star Macquarie presenters Alan Jones and Ray Hadley were not prepared to be part of the proposed deal.

It is the second breakdown in two years of talks over a combination of Fairfax's top-rated Melbourne station 3AW with Macquarie Radio's 2GB, the home of Jones and Hadley.

The joint venture would have controlled leading talkback stations in all the mainland capital cities except Adelaide, making it a stronger proposition to sell to advertisers, and would have had earnings of $32 million before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation.

Alan Jones

The news follows last week's move by APN News & Media to take control of its radio assets for $246.5 million in a move that creates three clear owners for Australia's main FM stations: APN, Southern Cross Media Austereo, owner of the Today and Triple M networks, and Lachlan Murdoch's DMG, owner of the Nova and Smooth networks.

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It is understood that Jones and Hadley - Macquarie's top talent - could not be persuaded to become part of a joint venture controlled by Fairfax.

Both sides blame the other for failing to secure the support of Jones and Hadley, but there is broad agreement their conservative views were a "difficult fit" with Fairfax's more liberal mastheads, The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age. Hadley and Jones also regularly appear in the news pages of the Herald. It is understood Fairfax had hired investment bank Macquarie to work on the joint venture idea and that both sides saw a strong commercial logic to a potential deal. 2GB dominates talkback in Sydney, where Fairfax's 2UE is weak, but Fairfax's radio stations are better rated elsewhere, led by Melbourne's 3AW and including Brisbane's 4BC and Perth's 6PR.

Analysts said a merged entity could have saved between $5 million and $10 million in costs but that the greatest benefit would have been a national network to sell advertising across the country, with revenue synergies estimated at $15 million or more.

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How Jones, Hadley sank Fairfax merger

Ray Hadley Photo: Ben Rushton

Fairfax Media's $200 million radio merger talks with John Singleton's Macquarie Radio Network have collapsed after it became clear that star Macquarie presenters Alan Jones and Ray Hadley were not prepared to be part of the proposed deal.

It is the second breakdown in two years of talks over a combination of Fairfax's top-rated Melbourne station 3AW with Macquarie Radio's 2GB, the home of Jones and Hadley.

The joint venture would have controlled leading talkback stations in all the mainland capital cities except Adelaide, making it a stronger proposition to sell to advertisers, and would have had earnings of $32 million before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation.

Alan Jones

The news follows last week's move by APN News & Media to take control of its radio assets for $246.5 million in a move that creates three clear owners for Australia's main FM stations: APN, Southern Cross Media Austereo, owner of the Today and Triple M networks, and Lachlan Murdoch's DMG, owner of the Nova and Smooth networks.

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It is understood that Jones and Hadley - Macquarie's top talent - could not be persuaded to become part of a joint venture controlled by Fairfax.

Both sides blame the other for failing to secure the support of Jones and Hadley, but there is broad agreement their conservative views were a "difficult fit" with Fairfax's more liberal mastheads, The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age. Hadley and Jones also regularly appear in the news pages of the Herald. It is understood Fairfax had hired investment bank Macquarie to work on the joint venture idea and that both sides saw a strong commercial logic to a potential deal. 2GB dominates talkback in Sydney, where Fairfax's 2UE is weak, but Fairfax's radio stations are better rated elsewhere, led by Melbourne's 3AW and including Brisbane's 4BC and Perth's 6PR.

Analysts said a merged entity could have saved between $5 million and $10 million in costs but that the greatest benefit would have been a national network to sell advertising across the country, with revenue synergies estimated at $15 million or more.

Read more here:
Fairfax Media's proposed merger with John Singleton's Macquarie off the table

FCC Refuses to Respond to Accusations of Media Control
An FCC Commissioner criticized the FCC #39;s planned study as an intrusion into news operations after seeing the questions and the study. InfoWars called the FCC...

By: TheAlexJonesChannel

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FCC Refuses to Respond to Accusations of Media Control - Video