So there is a shred of ethics in Washington!

Have to give respect where it's due. Yesterday, when CBS Radio's world news roundup at 8 a.m. was leading with Howard Stern's radio show being pulled off of Clear Channel stations, WTOP news refused to run it:

"The news value is not that Stern was yanked from the airwaves by six stations in other markets. It is the context of more controversial hearings on Capitol Hill today. In that context, there was news value but that's not the way CBS Radio News handled the story this morning. It was a patent shill for Stern without any disclosure that Infinity, which syndicates Stern, is owned by Viacom just as CBS Radio is owned by Viacom. There was a very real perception of bias, if not actual bias." (Quote from story on DCRTV)

One of the reasons I decided to shy away from pursuing a career in journalism was that I was concerned about where news coverage was going. As more big corporations snapped up news outlets and merged them together, I felt the emphasis in coverage was going to shift from public service to profiteering and self-promotion.

Which is pretty much what has happened to varying degrees. (Like, who can even take TV news seriously these days? After they essentially covered up a movement in the FCC to further deregulate the broadcast networks last year, I stopped paying any attention at all.)

Instead, this is a great move by WTOP, and flies in the face of my perpetual cynicism. After the out-of-control ownership consolidation that has gone on over the past decade, WTOP is the only local radio news presence in Washington, D.C. (which, when you think about it, is absoludicrous). To me, seeing the station stick to its ethical guns is encouraging.