Lloyd: I'm Not Out To Get Limbaugh Or Beck

Federal Communications Commission Chief Diversity Officer Mark Lloyd says that he has gotten hate mail and death threats after what he calls an "incredible right-wing smear campaign." According to a copy of his speech to the Media Access Project at a conference Monday on the future of journalism, Lloyd said his mission at the FCC was not to restore the fairness doctrine or to banish conservative talkers from the airwaves. "Allow me to clear away some mud," he said, pointing out that MAP President Andrew Schwartzman first warned him of the possible right-wing backlash. "I am not at the FCC to restore the Fairness Doctrine through the front door or the back door, or to carry out a secret plot funded by George Soros to get rid of Rush Limbaugh, Glenn Beck or any other conservative talk show host. I am not at the FCC to remove anybody, whatever their color, from power. I am not a supporter of Hugo Chavez." Instead, he said: "I am an Associate General Counsel and the Chief Diversity Officer, I operate under the direction of the General Counsel to provide legal advice to the Commission. As with the General Counsel's Office generally, my portfolio cuts across the other offices and bureaus at the FCC, but with a focus on diversity." He also points out that, like most others at the commission, he has been focused on broadband.