A Voice of Reason

So I haven't heard anything about Howard Stern since his movie Private Parts was in theatres. I don't remember how old I was when all the big hype about censoring Howard Stern was going on, what I do know is that for some he shaped the idea of uncensored radio, for others, he was just a crazy man ranting on the radio about who knows what.

For me, Howard Stern was the latter. I never knew much about him, and to be honest, I never really cared. Thinking about it now, I do understand that he had an influence on what radio has become today. He used the radio to not only send out news information, but to communicate with his viewers how he felt, what he thought, and what generally pissed him off. He didn't care who heard or whether people wanted to hear what he had to say, he just turned on the microphone and talked to whomever would listen. Does that make him noteworthy? In a sense, yes. He did what no one else was willing to do--FIGHT. When the radio stations wanted to censor him, he just got louder. When he made the switch to uncensored radio, unfortuneately, I hate to say it, but with this switch he lost his audience. Satellite radio may be uncensored, but unlike AM/FM radio, it is not free and although he may have had many listeners before his move, he lost those who were not willing to pay to hear him rant.

Regardless of what type of radio we are able to hear Howard Stern on today, he opened the way for uncensored radio. So where do you stand; with free CENSORED radio, or UNCENSORED radio that has to be paid for? Me? I'll take my chances with free radio, it may be censored, but what can I say? I'm cheap.