Tuesday, March 09, 2004
Howard's End?
A guest editorial from a Poor Reader:
"It's the end of the world as we know it and I feel fine" - Michael Stipe
I don't know if any of you listen to the Howard Stern show, but I've been listening pretty religiously for about 3 years, on and off for about 8 years. Maybe you don't like the show, which I can understand, what with the variety of material they present on a daily basis. But, if you can get past the strippers and lesbians and racist guests and what-have-you, you'll find that Howard is an extremely talented interviewer and an astute observer of human nature -- he's dumb like a fox, one might say.
Well, like him or not, these might be the last days of the Howard Stern Show. Why, you might ask? What has changed? What obscene, vile act did he perform on his show this time?
He dared to bash Bush.
Why is this interesting, you might ask? Why should I care? A little background might help.
Since the 9/11 attacks, Howard has become quite the war-monger. No surprise to you, perhaps, but it steadily got worse as the months wore on. By the time we invaded Iraq, Howard was a full-on Bush supporter--the more s*** we blow up the better, he'd say. It got to the point where at times I wanted to turn him off. I tell you, all of a sudden the guy was Rush Savage. Bush could do no wrong.
It surprised me, because there was no denting his belief in Bush. People would call in with opposing views, he would shoot them down without a second thought. He was steadfast in his belief that George W. Bush was doing the right thing as far as these terrorists were concerned, and that was enough for him. He would make fun of Al Franken and Al Gore and anyone else who didn't support George. I was more than a little disappointed; I always thought that deep down Howard was a smart guy who took the time to form his own opinion. But it got to the point where the conspiracy theorist in me wondered if he had become a shill for the White House--somehow, maybe his broadcaster Clear Channel had gotten to him and made him their patsy. I listened on, though; like I said--if you can get through the bulls*** it's a great show.
Fast-forward to February; the FCC is in an uproar over Janet's boob and the damage caused to our poor children. Within weeks, a congressional hearing is called to investigate (it took over a year, meanwhile, to organize any hearings or investigation into the 9/11 attacks, you may recall). Media moguls are called in to testify. The politicians start wailing, the choke hold is placed, the gauntlet thrown down, and the moguls fall right into step-- bigger fines for everyone, and if you get fined once, you and your boss get fired!
Howard comes back from vacation the week after President's Day, meanwhile, and to my surprise one of the first things he says is that he read Al Franken's book, about the Lying Liars or something, and if you read this book you will never vote for George W. Bush. What a great, well-researched book, he says. I was shocked but pleased--he actually read an opposing viewpoint. Now, there was the "thinking man" I'd come to know! He went on to say how disenchanted he was with the whole Bush administration; the stem-cell research issue, ignoring environmental issues, gay marriage, the FCC coming down hard, and Bush's alignment with the religious right. He talked for an hour about all the things Bush has been doing that make him crazy. The next day, he kicked it up a notch--"I don't know about Kerry, but I think I'm an Anybody But Bush guy right now," he said. "Bush must go."
Two days later, Howard was gone.
Clear Channel pulled the Howard Stern show off the 6 of their stations that broadcast the show; two of them are in Florida, one in Pennsylvania. That same day, the head of Clear Channel, big Bush contributor Lowry Mays, was to appear before the congressional committee investigating the Janet Jackson fiasco. It seems that suddenly Stern's long-running show is "vulgar, offensive and insulting." I heard the "real" reason is because someone used the N-word and talked about anal sex on Stern's Tuesday show--which is funny, because those subjects come up on just about every show.
This morning, the AP released this report:Fri Mar 5, 4:05 am ETThis news was released too late (why 4 am?) to make the Friday papers, so it'll fly under the radar nicely. You'll never know that the complaint that triggered this latest fine is from 3 years ago. Did you know that the new law (awaiting Senate approval) would have raised fines from $27,500 to $275,000-- but a Congressional committee voted 49-1 to change that to $500,000?
NEW YORK -- Amid a widening and increasingly politicized campaign to clean up the nation's airwaves, regulators are proposing fines against many of the nation's major radio companies for carrying well-known "shock jocks," Federal Communications Commission officials told The Wall Street Journal.
About a dozen cases are being finalized, these officials said, and one target is Howard Stern, one of the nation's most popular and controversial radio hosts. The FCC is deciding on penalties against his employer, Viacom Inc.'s Infinity Broadcasting.
Howard today said his goodbyes to his audience, saying he feels the end is near. He doesn't see any way Viacom can stand up to the FCC and still run a business. He's thinking of going to satellite radio, but it turns out Clear Channel owns 30% of XM radio. He has some TV shows coming out, but if the FCC deregulates TV like they did radio, guess who will be buying up all the stations?
I'll miss listening to him; if this is any indication of the future of the airwaves, it's certainly the end of a big part of my world as I know it. He has decided, though, to make his message clear to all his faithful, loyal followers in the time he has left on radio--the only thing we can do is vote Bush out of office.
So I feel fine.
- angryjr
