MMMM# 103:  Fresh Air in Mississippi

      Mississippi Public Radio has reportedly cancelled the NPR interview program Fresh Air because of an interview with comedian Louis C.K. (confession: I'm not much of a  stand up comedy fan, so I had never heard of him till I read this story online Sunday Morning. Had you?)
     This decision, of course, hurts only those listeners in Mississippi who like Terry Gross and her somewhat left-leaning interviews.
     Terry herself will wear it as a badge of honor, and as for Louis C.K., my neighbors to the Left (er, West) have just provided him with lots of free publicity and material for his act.
     Banning something usually has the effect of bringing more attention to it that it would otherwise have garnered. And besides, in an era of Internet Radio, just what is the point? Any day now, car radios will be able to pick up any of the zillion stations available online, so banning a program will truly only serve to chase away the audience.
     The decision comes just days after a Federal Appeals Court threw out the FCC's ill-conceived and unconstitutional policy on broadcast "indecency".


[The Monday Morning Media Memo is a regular feature of this blog. Usually on Mondays.]