Contemplating Klan Radio
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Right-wing talk radio's hate spew has become an accepted part of the media landscape. In Albuquerque we have 770 KKOB-AM radio - home of Rush Limbaugh, Sean Hannity and Michael Savage for seven hours every weekday.
Consider Michael Savage. We're talking the purest, most unadulterated bigotry imaginable. Even Don Imus at his most vulgar never came anywhere close to the viciousness that is routinely broadcast on the so-called "Talk Monster" every night for two hours (7-9 pm) when KKOB becomes home to the Savage Nation.
Daily KOS had this post about a recent Savage outrage on his Jan. 29 show - Welcome to Klan Radio.
But that was nothing out of the ordinary. The media watchdog, MediaMatters.org, produced this transcript from Savage's Jan. 31 broadcast:
"Look, Obama's not getting the nomination. If he does, I wouldn't -- well, let me just stop right there. Think John F. Kennedy Jr. and the Hyannis -- and the airplane. Think the Mena airport".
In 2003, Savage was hired to host a short-lived one-hour show on MSNBC over the objections of NBC employees like anchor Tom Brokaw, who asked NBC executives, "Is this the sort of man who embodies the values of NBC?"
Four months later Savage was fired for telling a gay caller, "You should only get AIDS and die, you pig."
KKOB put up a false front of "balance" for a time. Before he launched his candidacy for U.S. Senate, KKOB aired the "Mayor Martin Chavez Show" for three years on Saturday afternoons. This 45 minute farce featured top City officials who called in posing as average citizens to praise the Marty and attack his critics.
Of course, it cuts both ways, begging the question as to why Chavez ever supported the station of Limbaugh, Hannity and Savage in the first place.
But back to Savage. As we contemplate these "culture warriors" of the right, one has to pose to KKOB the same question that Tom Brokaw asked: "Is this the sort of man who embodies the values of KKOB-AM?"
Consider Michael Savage. We're talking the purest, most unadulterated bigotry imaginable. Even Don Imus at his most vulgar never came anywhere close to the viciousness that is routinely broadcast on the so-called "Talk Monster" every night for two hours (7-9 pm) when KKOB becomes home to the Savage Nation.
Daily KOS had this post about a recent Savage outrage on his Jan. 29 show - Welcome to Klan Radio.
But that was nothing out of the ordinary. The media watchdog, MediaMatters.org, produced this transcript from Savage's Jan. 31 broadcast:
"Look, Obama's not getting the nomination. If he does, I wouldn't -- well, let me just stop right there. Think John F. Kennedy Jr. and the Hyannis -- and the airplane. Think the Mena airport".
In 2003, Savage was hired to host a short-lived one-hour show on MSNBC over the objections of NBC employees like anchor Tom Brokaw, who asked NBC executives, "Is this the sort of man who embodies the values of NBC?"
Four months later Savage was fired for telling a gay caller, "You should only get AIDS and die, you pig."
KKOB put up a false front of "balance" for a time. Before he launched his candidacy for U.S. Senate, KKOB aired the "Mayor Martin Chavez Show" for three years on Saturday afternoons. This 45 minute farce featured top City officials who called in posing as average citizens to praise the Marty and attack his critics.
Of course, it cuts both ways, begging the question as to why Chavez ever supported the station of Limbaugh, Hannity and Savage in the first place.
But back to Savage. As we contemplate these "culture warriors" of the right, one has to pose to KKOB the same question that Tom Brokaw asked: "Is this the sort of man who embodies the values of KKOB-AM?"
