The Radio Equalizer: Brian Maloney

30 October 2005

Weekend Latest

UN-PC RADIO SHUTDOWN?

Radicals Target Stations, Schultz vs. Armed Forces Radio





Need more proof appeasement doesn't work?

As Clear Channel's learning the hard way, placing low-rated Air America programming on several dozen AM stations nationwide has failed to placate left-wing activists.

They've long accused the company of being radio's Wal-Mart, with a right-wing programming bent, to boot.

Until conservative shows are removed from KNEW-AM, the Bay Area's Youth Media Council says it won't ease up. According to indybay.org, FCC broadcast license challenges are being filed against all of their area stations, except Air America outlet KQKE-AM.

That includes several apolitical FM music stations.

Is the youth organization alone in this effort? Fringe radical group Not In Our Name is apparently involved. And in one photo, a protestor is wearing a SEIU union cap. Could they also have a role?

While chances of success in this effort are zilch, previous license revocation demands have created renewal-time headaches. When a Seattle station was subject to such a campaign, initiated by violent radical activists, it led to FCC paperwork and red tape.


Friday, the group and its supporters held a rally outside of Clear Channel San Francisco's headquarters.

How many were there? Organizers say 60 and photos show at least a few dozen.

Especially ironic: while Clear Channel pays Michael Savage's syndicator at least $1 million per year to run on KNEW, Air America has the opposite arrangement, spending a staggering sum to place its programming on San Francisco's KQKE-AM and KTLK-AM in Los Angeles. That's a result of market forces, an increasingly foreign concept in the Bay Area.

These radicals have a very selective sense of censorship, where it's okay when Air America calls for presidential executions, or rips off inner-city youth organizations to the tune of $875,000, causing afterschool program closures.

When conservatives make comments with which they disagree, however, it's time to pull the station's plug.

That makes these protest photos especially ironic, given the young age of the participants. Were they from the Bronx, rather than Oakland, Union City or Hayward, they'd be affected by the Gloria Wise funding diversion scandal.

And did they actually make these on-air remarks? While Bill Bennett's words have been taken wildly out of context, local host Jeff Katz did make the comment about illegal aliens, many years ago in Sacramento and was fired after a public outcry.

Michael Savage's insult was actually directed toward an individual, he lost his cable talk show immediately thereafter. As for Bill O'Reilly, one can only imagine how his comments have likely been twisted.

While conservative hosts have been held accountable for their missteps, "progressives" such as Randi Rhodes, Al Franken and others at Air America have not.

When Bay Area fringe radicals keep kids in the dark, they're easy prey for this sad exercise in intellectual dishonesty.


From their release:




PROTESTERS LAUNCH LEGAL CHALLENGE TO REVOKE CLEAR CHANNEL LICENSES

Radio listeners stage Halloween Action to Unmask hateful talk radio of Bill Bennett and Michael Savage

[FRIDAY October 28, San Francisco]

One month after Bill Bennett aired a racist remark about aborting black babies, Bay Area protestors will conduct a Halloween themed direct action to revoke the broadcast license of host station 910 KNEW.

The protest is in direct response to KNEW host Bill Bennett’s racist remarks on his “Morning in America” show, which airs from 3-5AM on Clear-Channel owned 910am KNEW. Bennett remarked: “If you wanted to reduce crime, you could – if that were your sole purpose, you could abort every black baby in this country, and your crime rate would go down.”

This is just one example of reprehensible statements made by KNEW talk show hosts. Michael Savage, who was fired from MSNBC for telling a caller to “get AIDS and die” but who was promptly hired by Clear Channel, routinely calls immigrants “vermin” who are “raping, stealing, murdering and defecating on our lawns”.

Jeff Katz, a “local host” rarely mentions local issues and instead advocates violent solutions to “Islam”, stating we should “torture, kill, pull their fingernails out and crack their skulls.”

Protesters say this content is grounds for revoking KNEW’s broadcast license.

”The Federal Communications Commission has a responsibility to regulate the airwaves in the public interest,” says Taishi Duchicela, organizer for the Youth Media Council.

“KNEW violates the public interest by broadcasting inflammatory content that incites fear and violence. We’ve petitioned the FCC to revoke KNEW’s license because Clear Channel should not be given a license to hate.”




Stay tuned for updates as this hypocritical censorship effort moves forward.



A nameless Dallas-Fort Worth talk show host, from "out of state" (aren't they all?) is in hot water with Fort Worth Star-Telegram columnist Bud Kennedy.

Why? For slamming a fizzy drink, not just any, but one with sacred Texas ties: Dr. Pepper.

Of all the things to get worked up about, a (tonic, soda, pop, pick your regional term) drink?

A tip: if you really want to tick off Texans (and make them think you're nuts), go after Blue Bell ice cream. You really would be crackers, though, because it's incredible stuff.

Why isn't it sold nationwide? It would wipe out the competition virtually overnight.



Democrats are still
screaming about the liberal Ed Schultz Show's non-appearance on Armed Forces Radio, even pushing for a full investigation into the matter.

Did Schultz ever have a real agreement with the network, however? That's never been resolved.

Syndicated talk host Rusty Humphries tells the Radio Equalizer he thinks it's a pointless debate.

Why? He doesn't believe many soldiers still tune in, with ready Internet broadcast access available. While interviewing troops in Iraq, Humphries says he repeatedly asked, but didn't come across any regular listeners.


From Stars And Stripes:


WASHINGTON — Democrats are demanding an investigation into defense officials’ decision to delay a liberal talk show’s debut on American Forces Radio last week. On Thursday, Rep. Steve Israel, D-N.Y., and other House Democrats requested the Defense Department inspector general look into “the Pentagon’s delay in providing balanced programming on AFN Radio.”

In addition, about 90 House Democrats sent a letter to Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld asking for a timetable on when liberal radio programs might start airing on the military’s international network, saying the current offerings lack political balance.

Producers of the Ed Schultz show, broadcast in about 100 markets in the United States, had been told by AFN staff in September that the first hour of the show would be aired for troops overseas starting Oct. 17.

But that morning, defense officials scrapped those plans, telling the talk show host that officials had not sufficiently reviewed the decision. Schultz was in Washington on Thursday to meet with Democratic leaders on the issue, and said he still has not received word when or if the show will air on AFN Radio.

“We did all our homework,” he said. “We provided them with all the demos and notes. They knew exactly what they were getting.

“The timing on this is very suspect.”

A Defense Department spokeswoman said the decision on Schultz’s show is still under consideration, a process that includes a review of all department guidelines for new programs.


Yes, everything with the left these days is a big right-wing conspiracy, isn't it?


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Protest photos were taken by event organizers and slightly cropped (around the edges) to fit this site's formatting needs.


6 Comments:

  • This is The Way It Works people:

    (1) Commercial right-wing radio stations have a relatively easy time making money. With a completely gullible and paternally-driven audience in wingnut listeners, advertisers can sell just about anything. Zombie listeners slurp up the products and the station makes money.

    (2) Commercial progressive radio stations play to a largely sceptical audience. Listeners who enjoy the content tend to tune out the commercials, preferring to make up their own independent mind. In general, advertisers lose out, and the station faces an uphill struggle.

    (3) In news the rule is that liberals will watch the news, and conservatives will watch conservative news. A liberal will watch to see what you think, the conservative will watch to see how much you agree with him. Thus, progressive radio never gets any bleed-over audience from the right-side of the populace. For example, I do listen to the pretentious Hugh Hewitt to get lessons in how to bullrush an argument; an often useful technique in a corporate setting.

    Look closely at Franken's Amazon commercial. He mocks the right-wing by kicking the Amazon "reviewer" in the nuts for admitting "One star. I didn't read the book". That's The Way It Works; Franken's book is at #4 on Amazon because progressives know how to read.

    By Blogger @whut, at 29 October, 2005 21:23  

  • Triumph, the insult comic dog, often appears on Franken's show and The Majority Report.

    Can anyone tell me Triumph's opinion of crapdog?

    By Blogger @whut, at 29 October, 2005 23:25  

  • It amazes me that the Left, to which 95% of Hollywood and 99% of Broadway gladly belong, doesn't understand how to be successful in radio. First, radio is "anti-establishment" and the establishment is Liberal. Everyone (half of us) who are against MSM will get info where we can and since there is no "anti" other than the now barely anti "FOX," the Right dominates radio. In other words they are filling a vaccuum.

    The other point is demographics. Nobody with a job listens to daytime talk radio. This means that the Right Wing audience is exclusively older, more likely to be involved in politics, and most importantly: they have a ton of money. Young people do NOT listen to radio other than to get dirty stuff or stuff considered dirty: Stern, Opie and Anthony etc., fill their minds with what they want to hear, and they don't want to hear about politics; they want to hear about anal sex, oral sex, vaginal sex, toy sex, dirty movies, and so on.

    Most important: NPR is liberal talk radio (tax supported) and they have sucked all the oxygen from the room. All of it.

    By Blogger Howard, at 30 October, 2005 08:38  

  • Yes, Howard, radio is anti-establishment, that is why you can find a progressive (what many call free-form) radio station like WFMU operate out of New Jersey with absolutely NO tax-payer support and never a commercial to be heard. It is entirely supported by listener donations. If you have a day-job like me, you can go and download a podcast of any show you want. Sad how little you understand non-commercial radio.

    Howard said: Most important: NPR is liberal talk radio (tax supported) and they have sucked all the oxygen from the room. All of it.

    That's a good-un. Liberal as in liberally sprinkling something with excessive sound effects.

    Now if what you say is that radio as it now exists is an older person's game, we will see its days numbered. Let's see, we have podcasts, satellite radio (Air America on XM), neighborhood broadcasts, internet streaming, programmable content, etc. You have just relegated yourself to the dinosaur role.

    By Blogger @whut, at 30 October, 2005 10:28  

  • Sailor, I have made a big difference in awareness on my blog. This will likely go way over your head, but I have created a novel stochastic simulation of the effects of oil depletion on current global reserves. It's generating some interest and I foresee lots more to come. What's nice about the blogosphere is that you can get input into subject areas that are a bit removed from your primary area of expertise.

    And how about those "Christian"-types taking away radio licenses from High-Schoolers? If you guys cared to look at the aforementioned WFMU's blog, you would have known the REAL story behind the scenes.

    http://blog.wfmu.org/freeform/2005/10/religious_broad.html

    It's pretty sickening really seeing how these cultists operate.

    By Blogger @whut, at 30 October, 2005 18:57  

  • From Michelle Malkin:

    Comparing Bush and his family to the Corleones of "Godfather" fame, Air America host Randi Rhodes reportedly unleashed this zinger during her Monday night broadcast: "Like Fredo, somebody ought to take him out fishing and phuw."

    Rhodes then imitated the sound of a gunshot.

    In "Godfather II," Fredo Corleone is executed by brother Michael at the end of the film.

    By Blogger pst314, at 31 October, 2005 22:50  

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