Popular Culture Review Vol. 17, No. 1, Winter 2006 | Page 99

BOOK REVIEWS 95 The Quieted Voice: The Rise and Demise of Localism in American Radio By Robert L. Hilliard and Michael C. Keith Southern Illinois University Press, 2005 In The Quieted Voice, authors Hilliard and Keith provide a report on the deregulation of radio in the United States, which became nearly complete in the 1990s. The book focuses mainly on the history of radio regulations, which began almost as soon as radio was bom. The Communications Acts of 1927 and 1934 started the process, which by 2005 had resulted in the conglomeration of radio, and television, ownership. “Radio began as a local phenomenon, bringing information, then education, music and the arts, culture and entertainment to the communities in which radio stations were located” (p. 1). Today, the music played on radio stations has a good chance of originating from hundreds of miles away. Playlists have become increasingly short, as the authors point out, despite promises and assertions from big radio companies that major deregulation allowed by the Telecommunication Act of 1996 would result in more diversity on radio. While some companies, such as the oft-mentioned Clear Channel, have included some semblance of diversity in the form of added formats like hip-hop and “alternative,” radio listeners commonly complain about hearing the “same songs,” a sentiment that reflects the continued “homogenization” of radio that began when television came along. Regarding radio content, the authors do not go into musical formats or their history in great depth, nor the effects of broadcasting on popular culture, per se. The critical issue discussed by the authors revolves around censorship and the editorial influence of big business on what radio companies allow or encourage their stations to broadcast. Since it’s cheaper to hire one program director for several stations in an area, rather than one at each station, playlists have become uniform, and rather than hiring a staff to operate each station, automation has replaced the local deejay. Indeed, the authors cite an example of police trying to contact a local radio station to warn listeners of an accident, only to find no one was there to answer the phone. Because the bottom line serves as the raison d'etre of media conglomerates, variety and localism have fallen by the wayside, indeed, have even been methodically eliminated. For example, “Clear Channel is regularly accused of limiting playlists, favoring artists who tour through the company’s concert wing. It denies such favoritism,” contend the authors (p. 142). Additionally, political concerns affect what we now hear on the radio, as the authors assert. The “myth” of liberal media meets the reality of “overwhelmingly conservative” media ownership and control, as companies ban