I had no idea I could learn anything from primetime TV. I just thought I was just wasting my time and killing brain cells, but I think that tonight I learned something. Studio 60 is fun, too. Okay, all of a sudden I've started plugging, which I didn't mean to do in this post, back to the facts.

They staged a conversation tonight about government control of broadcasting. I haven't been living in a closet for the past ten years (who could miss Nipplegate at the superbowl) so I knw that the FCC exists and I know they censor stuff, but I didn't know how easily a broadcasting network/station could have its license pulled for indecency. The fictional storyline involves a live news cast in which an RPG explodes over the correspondent's head and then he curses, not just any curse but the f-bomb. So the FCC levies a lawsuit against the network that would essentially be impossible to pay for, and threaten to revoke broadcasting rights. The government also obviously controls the flow of much of the information, especially about governmental related news (i.e. the war). They could easily shut a network or broadcasting service out of these stories. I'm just realizing that I should know a lot more about the news, how it is produced, and government involvement. And you have to work a lot harder than I realized to find truly independent sources. Any recommendations?