Adrian Cronauer Quotes
The concept that you cannot own the airwaves has caused far more harm than good.
Cronauer, Adrian. Interview. Broadcasting & Cable, vol. 129, no. 38, 20 Sept. 1999, p. 25.
This is an incredible quotation by the American political standards of the 21st century. Coolidge was President and the conservative wing of the Republican Party controlled Congress. There were thousands of radio stations operating. The small commercial and amateur, and community radio stations were thriving but they could only afford small transmitters that only reached the local area. The large commercial radio stations wanted by be able to broadcast to the entire country (see {641989})and could afford huge transmitters but if a local station was on the same frequency the small station would dominate in the local area and not the large stations. The large corporations then lobbied the Federal Radio Commission and the Congress and this policy was adopted. Thousands of small radio stations were kicked off the airwaves so that the large corporate stations could have “clear channels” across the country. It turned out that the small entities did not have equal rights and it was a blatant Federal handover to the large corporations. (See {641992}).)Small stations were only able to broadcast with the advent of FM which only became economically feasible in the late 1940s although FM was patented in 1933.
Adrian Joseph Cronauer was a United States Air Force Airman 1st Class and radio personality whose experiences as an innovative disc jockey on American Forces Network during the Vietnam War inspired the 1987 film Good Morning, Vietnam starring Robin Williams as Cronauer.
