Free Republic

CURSES FOILED AGAIN FOR STERN By DON KAPLAN Howard Stern may be coming down with a Sirius case of the bleeps. High-level executives of the satellite broadcaster are developing an internal standards-and-practices document that will set boundaries for Stern and other shock jocks, The Post has learned. “It’s something that’s being taken very seriously," a Sirius source said. Stern's new show also is being broadcast on a time-delay, giving him the opportunity to censor the program which he already has done.

This morning, Don Imus interviewed Jay Severin. Just wondering how many of you heard it and what you thought.

Listeners are poised to flee terrestrial stations that currently air Howard Stern, once the high-profile morning jock heads to Sirius Satellite in January 2006. That’s the word, according to a new study by Bridge Ratings. A mere 5% of current Howard Stern listeners said that they intend to stick with their current Stern outlet; 41% listen only because of Stern and intend to seek other radio stations for their morning listening. “It’s clear by this study and it is no surprise that Stern’s fans do not intend to stick around once he leaves his current station address,” said Bridge Ratings...

Howard's end? The shock jock is almost dead on the public airwaves: One more indecency blunder and Stern is off. NEW YORK (CNN/Money) - The shock jock died Thursday on public radio. On Dec. 23, a portentous deal reached last month between Viacom, the owner of the country's second-largest radio station operator, and federal anti-indecency watchdogs went into effect. On top of paying $3.5 million to end several ongoing investigations of on-air public broadcasts, Viacom agreed to additional measures aimed at preventing future material deemed obscene, profane or indecent. If Viacom has lived up to settlement terms, Howard Stern has...

DJs Fired After Playing Beheading Tape For Laughs Portland DJs Played Audio Tape Of Incident Two Portland disc jockeys were fired from a local radio station after playing an audiotape of the beheading of Pennsylvania native Nick Berg by Iraqi militants, and cracking jokes about the grisly death. Slideshow: Images Of Portland DJs At Work The DJs, known as Marconi and Tiny, were fired Thursday afternoon from their morning show perch at KNRK-FM, which is owned by Bala Cynwyd, Pa.-based Entercom Communications Corp. On Wednesday morning on the popular "Marconi" morning show, listeners couldn't believe what they heard: the audio...

Clean Up Airwaves Years ago, a guy who ran a pornography shop came to see me. He had been busted by the cops. He wanted me to write a story defending his free-speech rights. "If they can arrest me, they can arrest somebody for selling Shakespeare," he said, dragging out the old slippery-slope argument. "Well, if you start selling Shakespeare and somebody arrests you for selling Shakespeare, come see me," I said. "In the meantime, get out of my office." The First Amendment was not written, designed or intended to protect obscenity, vulgarity, pornography and indecency — or dancing nude...

Lines of indecency are blurred in life after Super Bowl Janet Jackson's Super Bowl "wardrobe malfunction" jump-started the debate about what should be seen and heard on the public airwaves. Now, the decision by Clear Channel Communications to boot nationally syndicated shock jock Howard Stern's show from six of its stations has sent the discussion into overdrive. "We're at a crossroads," said Michael Harrison, publisher of Talkers magazine, the industry's leading trade journal. "What do we do about the coarsening of America? That really is the issue." Balancing free speech and public sensibilities has always been tricky. But fearing a...

Anita and Sheldon Drobny are generous Chicagoans who have deployed their fortune on behalf of musical theater, abused children, Jewish studies programs, and the campaigns of William Jefferson Clinton. Now, they've decided that the best use of 10 million of their dollars is a grand effort to rid America of the curse of one-sided talk radio. Like many liberals, the Drobnys are puzzled: How can it be that in this great land where Lincoln and Douglas debated the future of the Union, the radio emits only the right-wing ravings of conservative loudmouths such as Rush Limbaugh, Glenn Beck, Sean Hannity,...

Glaucoma is a disease that slowly takes away your eyesight without you noticing until it's too late. That's what is happening to the moral fiber in America. Opie and Anthony, a couple of "Shock Jocks" out of New York, pushed the envelope to the limit. As part of a "Contest" they broadcast a couple having sex at St. Patrick's Cathedral...during Mass. Soon after, they were taken off the air. How did the duo wind up in New York to begin with? They were fired from a Boston station for pulling a different stunt. The two made a false claim on-air...

<p>Another shock jock went too far and is no longer on South Bay radio station KSJO-FM, thanks to the dogged efforts of his critics.</p> <p>The ouster of Mikey Esparza -- who offered, on the air, kidnapping tips and satirical songs glorifying sex with children -- may presage tough times for other shock jocks in the stable of radio giant Clear Channel Communications.</p>

Opie and Anthony are over and out. The New York-based shock jocks, criticized by Catholic groups for broadcasting a live account of a couple allegedly having sex in St. Patrick's Cathedral, had their nationally syndicated show canceled Thursday. The station, owned by Infinity Broadcasting, offered no further comment. The pair had been pulled off the airwaves Monday, three days after the stunt was aired. The cancellation was announced shortly after Federal Communications Commission Chairman Michael Powell directed the agency's enforcement bureau to investigate the broadcast. The FCC had been flooded with hundreds of complaints about the show. The rest of...

NEW YORK –– In the almost-anything-goes world of radio, home to Howard Stern and Don Imus, a pair of New York shock jocks discovered what goes too far: sex inside St. Patrick's Cathedral. Opie and Anthony, co-hosts of WNEW-FM's popular afternoon drive-time program, remained off the air for a second day Tuesday while a 350,000-member Catholic group pushed for their station to get its license revoked. The pair allegedly broadcast a live, eyewitness account of a couple having sex in the landmark Manhattan church. "Nothing would make us happier than for WNEW's license to be revoked," said William Donohue, head...