Posted on 03/05/2003 9:16:16 PM PST by ConservativeMan55
MSNBC Moving Ahead With Shock Jock Show
By DAVID BAUDER The Associated Press Wednesday, March 5, 2003; 4:57 PM
Before it even debuts this weekend, talk-radio star Michael Savage's new MSNBC show has attracted more attention than anything else the struggling news network has on the air.
Advocacy groups, led by the Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation, have launched a letter-writing campaign to keep Savage off the air. The syndicated radio personality fought back by calling his critics "stinking rats who hide in the sewers."
His show, "The Savage Nation," will air at 5 p.m. EST on Saturday despite the furor, said Alan Winikoff, MSNBC spokesman.
The brash, tough-talking Savage, who broadcasts out of the San Francisco area, is probably the second hottest talk-radio host in the country after Sean Hannity, said Michael Harrison, editor of the trade magazine Talkers.
"He is, in many ways, the quintessential shock jock," Harrison said. "He's a very aggressive, clever, street smart everyman. He flies in the face of political correctness. He's what works on talk radio."
A group Savage formed, the Paul Revere Society, advocates closing borders, deporting illegal immigrants, mandating health tests for immigrants, eliminating entitlement programs and making tax cuts permanent.
GLAAD claimed Savage spews "hateful, defamatory rhetoric" against virtually everyone except white men. He has referred to gays and lesbians as perverts, said Joan Garry, GLAAD's executive director.
"Read what he's written and listen to some of the things he's said and you can't sit idly by," Garry said. "You have to raise concerns. You have to question why a news channel would give this guy a platform."
Winikoff would not comment on why Savage was hired. Savage, rehearsing his debut, was not immediately available to speak.
"What people are forgetting is the show hasn't been on the air yet," Winikoff said. "What Savage says he wants to do on this show is focus on serious issues. Stuff that people are complaining about won't be a focus of the show. Just give the guy a chance before jumping to conclusions."
Liberal talk-show host Phil Donahue, abruptly fired last week by MSNBC, said the network was trying to "out-fox Fox" News Channel, the top-rated cable news network that employs Hannity as a daily talk show host, by appealing to conservatives.
GLAAD organized a tenacious campaign against conservative radio host Laura Schlessinger when her syndicated talk show debuted in September 2000, urging an advertiser boycott. When the show was cancelled after six months, Schlessinger blamed the boycott.
GLAAD hasn't called for a boycott against MSNBC. Garry said she wants to meet with NBC executives before deciding on a next step.
A boycott is less likely to be successful in this case, Harrison said. MSNBC's advertisers are more used to controversy than those sought by Schlessinger, he said. And Savage hasn't been as outspoken against gays as Schlessinger, who several years ago labeled homosexuality "deviant" and "a biological error," he said.
Harrison said Savage also will fight harder, as evidenced by his comments last week on his radio show.
"You stinking rats who hide in sewers!" Savage said. "You think you can go after my income? You think you can kill my advertisers? You think I'm Dr. Laura? You think I'm going to roll over? ... You're wrong!"
He said his show "is about liberty, it's about free speech," and the campaign against him is "liberal fascism."
Savage threatened to launch his own campaign against people who fund groups like GLAAD, perhaps appealing to the U.S. Justice Department to see if his rights have been violated.
"You keep this up and I tell you, until the last breath I breathe, I'll cut your sources of funding off," he said. "You'll be serving muffins in cafes if you're lucky."
Savage's radio commentary "scared me," Garry said. "It felt very threatening."
Garry said she doesn't dispute Savage's free speech rights, but said "MSNBC has a responsibility because there are and should be boundaries to what you can and can't say on television. Savage has a history of crossing those boundaries."
---
On the Net:
http://www.paulreveresociety.com/
http://www.glaad.org
Yep. Rush is still #1. I think what they meant by this was that they are "hot" in that they are have the fastest growing audience.
I like the cut of Savage's jib.
Anyone know anywhere I can listen to him, online? Thanks in advance, B.
These two clone-freak fat slobs were run out of Big D's 97.1 KEGL and ended up in the North. I believe they were kicked off the air for saying something about Brittney Spears & Justin Timberlake being hurt in a car accident - which was a complete fabrication. The result of their "reporting" was a major tie-up of emergency resources (911 service was affected in Cali).
If the station wouldn't have fired them, I'm sure the FCC would have come down hard on the station for not fulfilling their public service role.
Trajan88
BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!!
Typical "red DIAPER doper BABY"!....BWAHAHAHA!!
FMCDH
I've caught parts of Michael's show at time but generally I listen to someone else when he is broadcast (music or Laura Ingram/GG Liddy) if I have the radio on.
I know that Arianna Huffington used the pejoritive "shock jock" to slander Dan Patrick of 700AM KSEV when he got listeners to boycott her pal Bill Maher's tv show "Politically incorrect". I corrected her on the forum on her website that he was a Christian man who does not have any "shock" on the programming on his station. His listeners were considered to be in "too old" of a market. All of his talent came from 950am KPRC where Dan was manager until Clear Channel bought them out, canned the staff and went to more abbrassive hosts (including Michael Savage).
I was much more detailed in my post about Dan but it will suffice for here (I can't even recall all of the details).
Tune into Michael's TV debut on Saturday on MSNBC, or swing by my cabin before 1PM ... we'll have Savage on the tube and meatballs on the barbie.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.