Can somebody just flush Stern, please?
Posted on 10/26/2004 4:12:59 PM PDT by crushelits
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Radio shock jock Howard Stern, who is moving to satellite radio to avoid broadcast decency rules, traded verbal jabs on air with Federal Communications Commission (news - web sites) Chairman Michael Powell on Tuesday, charging him with nepotism and undermining free speech.
"It is apparent to most of us in broadcasting that your father got you your job," said Stern, who called in while Powell was being interviewed on San Francisco's KGO-AM 810.
Powell shot back that his father, Secretary of State Colin Powell (news - web sites), had nothing to do with his appointment. The FCC (news - web sites) chief was nominated to the commission by then-President Bill Clinton (news - web sites) and elevated to chairman by President Bush (news - web sites).
"You can look at my resume if you want, Howard, I'm not ashamed of it, I think it justifies my existence," he said.
The FCC has proposed fining stations a total of about $2.5 million for airing incidents on Stern's show, including a $495,000 fine against Clear Channel Communications Inc. stations for an incident that led the company to drop him from six stations, according to the Center for Public Integrity.
Regulations bar broadcast television and radio stations from airing indecent material -- typically explicit sexual talk, profanity, or nudity -- when children are likely to be listening, usually from 6 a.m. to 10 p.m.
The two jousted for more than 10 minutes. The FCC chief initially resisted taking calls from audience listeners but relented and Stern pounced after getting word of the show.
"I don't think that you personally hate me ... I think what you've been doing is dangerous to free speech," Stern said. "I think things have gotten way out of control."
The radio personality has signed a deal to take his show in 2006 to Sirius Satellite Radio Inc., a subscription service to which decency rules do not apply.
Stern accused Powell and the FCC of preventing Viacom Inc., which presently syndicates Stern's show, from going to court to challenge fines and blocking them from acquiring more stations because of tussles over decency violations.
"That's flatly false ... there's no reason why Viacom or any other company who feels that they have been wrongly fined can't sue us in court," Powell said.
Mark Silverman, the producer of Ronn Owens' show on which the two appeared, said Powell was caught by surprise and appeared to be tense, and his staff was angry.
"The chairman handled himself quite well even though he wasn't prepared," Silverman told Reuters.
Powell denied on the show that he was nervous being confronted by Stern
Can somebody just flush Stern, please?
stern suffers from penus envy. always has.
Can't find anything to disagree with in that statement.
Good. Let the FCC take Stern flak instead of the President.
Sterns and Owens - 2 tired old radio jocks who haven't had a fresh idea in 20 years.
Is that anything like penis envy? ;^)
its real close to that...:)
I have no idea who Owens is, but Stern, new ideas or not, currently has the highest ratings of his career.
An obvious "dirty trick" by the radio station. Larry King did this to GHW Bush on a call in show when they put G Stephanopolis(he was working for Clintoon's election at the time) through as a caller, Bush was outrage and justifiably so, that was also a "dirty trick".
No one ever said their is not a market for filth but that doesn't make it new or creative.In fact just the opposite.Ron Owens was one of the origional dumb liberals in talk radio in the late 60's.Moved to the West Coast in mid 70"s.( only place he could survive on radio)
It's not accurate to say it's actually true, but it's apparent.
Another Freeper said that moving to a subscription based network will be his downfall, simply because there is no envelope to push where he's going and that's all he does. He was fined far more in the 90's by the previous admin.
BS, the producers called Stern. This is like when GHWBush was on Larry King and Dem operatives just happened to get on the line. Who was it, Stephanopolous?
Wow! I thought I was the only one with a 12-year memory.
His move to satellite is an act of self flushing!!!Good riddance...
Let's be real here. Nepotism is alive and well in Washington D.C.
This case is a fine call for it, but the younger Powell has a fine education as a lawyer and has been in various different places in our government for the last almost 20 years since he graduated in '85, and he has certainly earned much of his own merit.
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