Reactions from the electric grass roots.

I don't go there often--it depresses me--but if you want to know what radio's working stiffs think about the Spitzer investigation, you can do no better than AllAccess.com, the original online radio-music trade. Their "Net Talk" section is what you click. Watch out: it's a big, slow and blowzy site that boots your Java engine and uses (ugh) frames, to boot. Not only that, you have to register--but it's free and you don't have to prove you're a radio guy. "Net Talk" is AllAccess's bulletin board, where the cream of America's radio personalities practice their keyboard skills. The boys are chattering about payola these days, when they're not trading, yes, headset stories. Like:

Payola exists in all forms of capitoism. From CEO's that hire on for one year at a 31 million dollar bonus to "incerase the price of our stock for our shareholders" to the local sherriff who make 20 bucks delivering papers to court defendants, (and actually has patrolmen deliver them) it's all payola. If you want good table service in a diner, better have that tip ready.

Time to get real on payola. In a capitalistic society, payola takes on all forms of demons. The demons make things happen. Anything you want to happen. All it takes is a little "grease the palm" and you got it. To have someone publically "Go After" payola simply means to me that they haven't anything else to gain publicity with. Well, boys, it's back to the old standards to investigate, haven't been in the news lately.

My contention here is that we are all guilty of payola practice in one way or another, and if you think a law will stop it, then you are just being nieve.

Gary, here, has a point. Payola's rampant. And that's no excuse. Up near the top of the thread you'll find somebody defending Eliot, and somebody else ridiculing his high-toned prose. Disc jockeys are a fat target, so I won't get gratuitous, here. It'll take more than one ambitious state AG to clean up the American business culture. These are all somebody's sons. Let's not be nieve.