LETTERS TO CFB

Citizens should decide
how airwaves are used

    Regarding the recent Sunday Business report on forcing broadcasters to carve out time for political candidates: It is interesting that the two segments of society most opposed to free air time for candidates are the broadcasters themselves and the incumbents in Congress.
    First, we have the broadcast companies decrying a loss of their First Amendment rights, when it is the citizens whose rights are violated by the present system. The airwaves belong to the people and not the broadcasters, who are beginning to sound like the guy who borrows your lawn mower for so long that he's come to believe it's his.
    Second, it is clear that an attempt to reform campaigning laws is anathema to those who have profited mightily from the status quo. Incumbents in Congress don't want a system that is fairer and more accessible to challengers.
    It's time for the American people to speak up and decide what they want to do with their broadcast spectrum and not leave the choices up to those who would merely use the airwaves for their own profit.

Al Krulick
ORLANDO

Orlando Sentinel