Posted on 05/22/2004 12:22:28 PM PDT by wagglebee
In Portland, Ore., two shock-jock disc jockeys, Marconi and Tiny, were fired by radio station KNRK.
On their May 12 morning show, they played the audio portion of the beheading of American Nick Berg, laughing and joking after hearing Berg's screams, as these crazed Islamic terrorists threw him on the floor and one of them used a large knife to cut off his head.
These two unbelievable creatures repeated the audio several times – as the station was flooded with phone calls and e-mails of understandable rage. At the end of the program, they were fired and apologized for, on the air, by the station management.
Elsewhere in the Let's-Have-Fun-With-Beheadings Department, the Washington Post headlined: "Bad Timing Creates a 'Doonesbury' Dilemma":
Once again, "Doonesbury," the comic strip by Garry Trudeau, is in the midst of a controversy, this time through a coincidence of timing. A strip intended for publication on Sunday, May 23 – but created weeks ago – includes the image of a man being served his own head on a platter, unintentionally evoking the recent beheading in Iraq of American businessman Nick Berg. Universal Press Syndicate of Kansas City, Mo., e-mailed a statement yesterday to newspaper editors alerting them to the issue. About 900 newspapers carry "Doonesbury" on Sundays. The syndicate has offered an old strip as a substitute, but for many newspapers that offer is empty because Sunday comics are usually printed well in advance.
When the comic runs, Trudeau will release a statement on his website saying, "I regret the poor timing and apologize to anyone who was offended by an image that is now clearly inappropriate."
Now clearly inappropriate, Mr. Trudeau?
Why now?
When you drew this joke about beheading, were you unaware of the Islamic terrorist beheading of Wall Street Journal reporter Daniel Pearl – two years ago?
Were you unaware of the Islamic terrorist beheading of our Beirut CIA station chief, William Buckley, in 1986?
How many newspapers will fire Trudeau, like the Portland radio station fired those two other jokers about beheadings?
Lee Salem, editor of Universal Press Syndicate, said that Trudeau's May 23 comic was turned in, edited and sent out to printers four weeks ago, so nobody there realized the problem until a sharp-eyed client called late Thursday. "We probably should have made the connection, but we did not," Salem said. He added that after finding out about it, he called Trudeau. "As soon as I said it, it dawned on him. ... 'Oh my gosh, there's some people who might misconstrue that.'"
The Chicago Tribune, the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, the Newark Star-Ledger, the Los Angeles Times, the Tampa Tribune and The Washington Post said yesterday they had already printed the strip and were planning on or considering running an editor's note.
Some newspaper editors expressed frustration that the syndicate had just alerted them yesterday to the strip's content.
"We really just wish they would stay a little bit more on top of these things," said Kim MacCormack, one of the Tampa Tribune's features editors. "Comics are one of the two things that readers do not hesitate to get up in arms about – that and the TV book."
"We're going to have to publish it because we've already printed," said Elizabeth McIntyre, the features editor for the Cleveland Plain Dealer, who said she wished she'd heard about the issue earlier in the week. "If I'd known on Wednesday, I could have done something about it," she said. Like many editors, McIntyre is thinking of running a note to readers on May 23, explaining that the strip was drawn before Berg's execution and printed before editors realized its potentially inflammatory content.
But editor McIntyre, this Doonesbury strip was not drawn before the beheadings of our fellow Americans Daniel Pearl and William Buckley.
Will Gary Trudeau's making fun of beheading result in anything even approximating what radio station KNRK did to Marconi and Tiny?
Of course not.
And this is an interesting – if very depressing – contrast between the ethics of radio and the ethics of the liberal dominated daily newspapers.
I think intent is a big part of the crime. Obviously, Doonsbury wans't intentionally reffering to any real-life beheadings, and (although i haven't seen the comic) I'm fairly certain he was refering to the idiom "head on a platter". I think "communist manifesto" is an exaggeration, and whoever agrees should try to recall history class. I've never seen Doonsbury advocate the abolishment of private property...
Gosh, your account only lasted 'bout a minute...
ROFL! - Faster than a speeding bullet......
As to Trudeau, he is a dyed-in-the-wool *hack* a la Ted Rall, both of whom are lower than pond-scum.
That is giving both Trudeau and Rall a lot of credit saying that they are lower than pond scum, and insulting pond scum in the same breath. Actually I see trudeau and Rall at about the level of a full septic tank... septic sludge and all
I stand corrected and properly chastised.
Like to grab Trudeau by the collar and shake him till his teeth rattle.
fastest ZOT on record?
there... that's better.
In fact he snubbed a lifetime recognition award which Clinton wished to bestow on him for his achievement, because he considered Clinton to be such a reprehensible person. Schulz died not long after.
Gary Trudeau--- there's a leftist scumbag from the word go.
As another poster pointed out, "Freedom of Speech" is not an issue for a private web site. I offer DU as an example.
I am constantly amazed by how many do not understand the following: 1. the Bill Of Rights is an imposition of limitations on the power of the Federal Gov. over the State Govs and the common citizen, not a cudgel for one citizen to use upon another 2. your civil rights end when you set foot on private property (real or virtual).
Actually you are wrong about Charles Schultz. He was a conservative Christian. His earlier comics reflected that. Even his later ones were not endorsing liberalism.
Trudeau has teeth? I thought his niche was gumming things to death. Course that may explain all the BJs he does for the leftists.
I wonder if he swallows.
When someone says the Constitution is a "living document" - what they really mean is that the Constitution is dead!
No, Schulz was an evangelical Christian, from what I understand. Don't you remember "Merry Christmas Charlie Brown"? Many non Christian American children learned about the Nativity for the first time when Linus reads from the Bible. Schulz' cartoons were always light hearted and often had a clear moral message. Give the man credit.
fastest ZOT on record?I'd say ! Pretty close. I saw JimRob nab one within a minute not too long ago.
Sometimes they can smell 'em before they can read 'em, I think! :^)
Yeah I realized later that it was Dr. Seuss who was the communist and not Schultz. Sorry for the error.
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