What’s good for the Elephant . . .
What’s good for the Elephant might work for the Donkey . . . A couple months back I blogged about how some high profile Big Corporations have redlined advertising on Air America Radio, a liberal talk show. At the time the ABC Memo was leaked, many of the advertisers used the excuse that they avoid all appearance of supporting extreme views, and it shouldn’t be construed as a slam against liberal views.
Well, it will be interesting to see if any of the advertisers who refused to be carried on Air America Radio are on the same list of advertisers who are advertising on the HateMongering and Bigoted Radio Shows on KSFO in the San Francisco Bay area. The Citizen Journalist who brought this story to light, Spocko, had his blog shut down when the parent company of the Radio Station, Disney (yes, that Disney.) sent him and his ISP a Cease and Desist notice for using clips from the show, even though the clips came under the fair use rule. Daily Kos is now helping the Spocko cause, the media outlets are starting to pick up the story, and the Electronic Frontier Foundation has agreed to help defend Spocko in the upcoming legal battle.
The clips in question were used by Spocko on his blog to point to many incidences, for instance one clip is of a KSFO Radio Show Host calling for the execution and torture of the black man followed by the same host then reading AT&T commercials on the air. Spocko wrote a letter to some of the advertisers involved asking them if they really wanted their corporate image associated with “putting the bullseye” on House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, and other vicious and hateful tirades. Radio host Lee Rodgers was recorded saying this about a Black Man during a Sears DieHard commercial; “Now you start with the Sear’s Diehard the battery cables connected to his testi*les and you entertain him with that for awhile and then you blow his bleeping head off. ” (From an Audio link.) Other instances called for torturing Islamic individuals. Spocko was successful at getting some of the advertisers to pull out of sponsoring shows on KSFO, which is when he was slapped with the Cease and Desist from the Disney Legal Department (yes, the DISNEY legal department, not KSFO.)
Unfortunately Spocko’s webhost caved to pressure and took down his blog. It appears that Spocko is up and running again though, which is great, so head over and listen to the clips directly and read his posts that started all this. Donations to his legal fund can be made directly to the Electronic Frontier Foundation.
There are some interesting facts that have come to light in this. First, there are folks at Disney who were made aware of the content of these shows, and they chose to ignore, possibly since ratings are good, but possibly for another, and more ugly reason. Second, the advertisers are usually sold the ads on this show as a “block” of Disney owned Radio advertising, implying that the radio shows involved are wholesome and family safe content. Third, one of the Senior VPs of Disney, Zenia Mucha, described by a commenter in this fashion, “think Karl Rove on steroids with PMS.” was a former hatchetwoman for former R-NY Senator Al D’Amato, and was later handed over to former R-NY Governor Pataki. Third, there is a deal presently in progress whereby ABC Radio is merging with Citadel Corporation, which is a deal that represents a lot of money and additional media power to Disney, and apparently the head of Citadel is a gentleman of Arabic Origin. Fourth, I doubt that the FCC, after making such a big fuss over Janet Jackson’s nipple, can afford to ignore this obvious use of the airwaves to promote racism, bigotry and violence.
Whatever happens, now that FireDogLake, The Daily Kos and others have picked up the story, there will for sure be a certain Mouse with a Black Eye.
Technorati Tags: Spocko, Disney supports Hatemongers, KSFO, San Francisco, Wingnut, Big Media
