Can you all say ANYTHING on the radio anymore???

(Boston talk radio host John DePetro, formerly of Providence, was taken off the air for 2 days for calling Big Dig head honcho Matt Amorello a "fag")

When I heard the tape of Depetro using (calling) the Mass dig man a F.A.G. , I realized why Satelite radio is here and will stay here. Take Depetro out of this..... Any of you'Air' people; is this not the gun pointed to your head?

When those 'HATE SPEECH' laws came around in the 90s , I knew the 1 st Amendment and Media were under attack. Now you can be a Black and call another Black the 'N' word and thats COOL and VERY LEGAL.

You can be a Homo Sexual and call another a f.a.g. and its 'family, loving'. If you're not the right 'type' and you use those terms, you can be suppended(sic), fired , arrested, jailed. I happen to be Irish, if some Japanese man were to call me a 'mick' on air, what should happen to him? I say , for the sake of Free Speech , NOTHING.

I know we are governed by rules, (FCC) among others. But I see people jobs, reputations, even lives being destroyed be this p.c. censorship. From the OJ Simpon trail to Savage on Msnbc, to DR Laura, to now Depetro. Radio gets 'heated' gets 'crazy' gets 'funny' gets 'passionate '. That all makes us a great thing. Censorship, this BROARD, makes us weak, handcuffed, and muzzled.

Cenorship is Sirius and XMs Bread and Butter. We should defend our rights, even when their in bad taste. 'Somebodies' bad taste, that is!

interesting--I try to NOT be PC though some things might cross the line. You're right, we should be able to say what we want though the FCC feels it's part of their responsibility to protect the public from profanity, "hate speech", etc. The old "should you be able to shout fire in a crowded theater?" argument comes out. Should a talk host be allowed to say they"d like to kill a certain politician? Does that cross the line?

It is indeed interesting that if you belong to a certain group, using a taboo word is OK. Many little people/ dwarfs find "midget" offensive (probably due to the use of that word by circus sideshow/freak show owners), yet there are some dwarves who call themselves Midget Wrestlers and are proud of it. I also found it interesting that while blacks objected to "Colored people", "people of color" is fine. I'm colored, myself. Kind of light pink-ish (Caucasian). I'm also a Native American. That doesn't mean that I have Indian blood in me; it means I was born in Massachusetts, part of America, therefore I'm a Native American...

Censorship is when the government prohibits something from being said, but there's also boycotts/ advertiser pressure. A Madonna ad campaign using "Like A Prayer" was squashed after complaints from religious groups. By the same token, a campaign by some against the TV show "Married...With Children", saying it was crude and vulgar, kind of backfired and it became a big hit. The movie The Last Temptation of Christ (Martin Scorcese) was criticized as blasphemy (not sure if these people had seen it) because it dared to fantasize, what if Jesus had abandoned his ministry, got married, etc.? People who held deep beliefs about Him had every right to not see it, and to urge others not to see it. Now, should the government have stepped in and prevented the film from being shown?

How would devout Christians feel if someone complained about The Passion of the Christ and demanded it be withdrawn from theaters--demand the GOVERNMENT pull it. (They could, I guess, go to the theater owners and threaten to boycott that film...which would mean the devout Christians who wanted to see that movie would be out of luck. Hmm.)

Muslims go so far as to believe that even a cartoon of the Prophet Muhammad is blasphemy (and we know what became of that). Imagine if a government, a theocracy, were to punish someone who dared draw or publish such a thing...

There are on/off and volume controls on TV sets and radios,and people have the right to not watch/not listen. Although I think that during certain hours, adult language/etc. maybe shouldn't be on...or maybe we can let the advertisers step in: people complain to the advertiser, who threatens to pull their spots.

I should add that the government/FCC did not technically step in and suspend J.D. for 2 days, it was 'RKO's decision. They don't want their listeners--and advertisers--to be upset.
But also they don't want people complaining to the FCC,
which could result in their license getting pulled or
not renewed.

The FCC actually DID step in and fine Infinity (now known
as CBS Radio) for some of Howard Stern's controversial
acts. Ultimately it led Stern to take his show to satellite
radio where he could have more "freedom" (it also gave
Stern plenty of reasons to criticize Bush/government).
Though I've also heard that Sirius laid down some
"standards and practices"....but overall I think he still has a lot more leeway at sat-radio than broadcast.

The double-standard is what gets me, and not just on radio. For instance, the "n" word should be either okay to use by EVERYBODY, or NOT okay to be used by ANYBODY. (The "fag" word should just be okay! ;^) It is blatant racism, favoritism, and discrimination so say that people of one color or declared sexual proclivity can use a term, while the rest of us can't. That's completely insane.

I HATE the 'n' word, truly hate that ugly, ugly word, but laws against it are not the answer. The answer is for society as a whole to reject it by ostracizing those who insist on using it.

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