- "Turd World" is OK-- "anti-war, anti-Bush"
is not
-
- MSNBC's claim to be championing free speech by hiring
hate-talk radio host Michael Savage is disingenuous in the extreme.
-
- Defending its decision to give a weekly program to a
commentator who specializes in diatribes against various groups, the MSNBC
cable network called hiring Savage-- whose show will premiere on Saturday,
March 8-- "a legitimate attempt to expand the marketplace of ideas"
(Electronic Media, 2/25/03).
-
- This was a response to critics of Savage's record of
racism, misogyny and homophobia, which includes dismissing child victims
of gunfire as "ghetto slime," referring to non-white countries
as "turd world nations," calling homosexuality "perversion"
and asserting that Latinos "breed like rabbits." (For more Savage
quotes, see FAIR action alert, 2/12/03.)
-
- The news channel-- co-owned by Microsoft and General
Electric/NBC-- declared in its formal statement: "By bringing our
viewers a wide range of strong, opinionated voices, MSNBC underscores its
commitment to ensuring that its perspective programming promotes no one
single point of view. We encourage debate and we would neither expect,
nor want, our audience to agree with everything on our channel."
-
- But this enthusiasm for a "wide range of strong,
opinionated voices" rings hollow in the wake of MSNBC's firing of
host Phil Donahue. (FAIR's founder, Jeff Cohen, worked as a senior producer
for Donahue.) His show was cancelled despite having the best ratings on
the network; this occurred, according to published reports, after a study
commissioned by NBC described Donahue as "a tired, left-wing liberal
out of touch with the current marketplace" who would be a "difficult
public face for NBC in a time of war" (All Your TV, 2/25/03). "He
seems to delight in presenting guests who are anti-war, anti-Bush and skeptical
of the administration's motives," the report noted, warning that the
Donahue show could be "a home for the liberal antiwar agenda at the
same time that our competitors are waving the flag at every opportunity."
-
- Network insiders echoed these qualms. In an email leaked
to the website All Your TV (3/5/03), one executive suggested that MSNBC
could take advantage of the "anticipated larger audience who will
tune in during a time of war" to "reinvent itself" and "cross-pollinate
our programming" by linking pundits to war coverage. "It's unlikely
that we can use Phil in this way, particularly given his public stance
on the advisability of the war effort," the email said.
-
- All Your TV's Rick Ellis quoted a network source: "I
personally like Donahue, but our numbers were telling us that viewers thought
he has too combative, and often said things that some respondents considered
almost unpatriotic."
-
- According to published reports, these fears led MSNBC
to "micromanage" the Donahue show. "He was often told what
kinds of subjects to showcase and what kind of guests to have. And he
was often chided for being too tough on some guests," consumer advocate
Ralph Nader wrote (Common Dreams, 3/3/03). "In the past few months,
the corporate 'suits' even told Donahue that he had to have more conservative
or right-wing guests than liberals on the same hour show."
-
- Given this treatment of Donahue's progressive, anti-war
views, it is hypocritical for MSNBC to claim that it is hiring Savage merely
to "expand the marketplace of ideas," provide "a wide range
of strong, opinionated voices" and "encourage debate."
While hatred of "turd world immigrants" is a viewpoint that the
news channel seems comfortable promoting, progressive criticism of a war
with Iraq is too controversial.
-
- Savage, who has called on the government to "arrest
the leaders of the antiwar movement" in case of war (Boston Globe,
3/3/03), is in no position to pose as a free-speech martyr. "I'll
put you in jail!" was his response to critics of his MSNBC hiring,
whom he referred to as "stinking rats who hide in the sewers"
(2/27/03). Noting that "we have a Republican president. We have a
Republican attorney general," Savage suggested he would sic the government
on his enemies:
-
- "I have millions of people who vote. Mr. Bush wants
to get re-elected, and just consider me a politician at that point. I'm
going to ask for a trade in favor. If they keep it up, my favor is going
to be I want these groups investigated. If they're doing nothing illegal,
fine. If they've crossed the line, then put 'em out of business."
-
- When activists in Oregon organized against Savage's show
last year, he issued thinly veiled threats of violence, saying he would
release the names and addresses of these "little hateful nothings"
to his fans (Salon.com, 3/5/03):
-
- "I'm warning you if you try to damage me any further
with lies, be aware of something: That which you stoke shall come to burn
you, the ashes of the fireplace will come and burn your own house down.
Be very careful, you are living in incendiary times. You can't just throw
things at people and walk away thinking that you had a little fun. I warn
you; I'm gonna warn you again, if you harm me and I pray that no harm comes
to you, but I can't guarantee that it won't."
-
- While FAIR does not endorse advertiser boycotts and has
never called on MSNBC to cancel Savage's program, these are clearly legal
political tactics that are protected by the First Amendment. Threatening
violence against groups you dislike, or getting the government to investigate
them as a "favor," are not. It hard to take seriously MSNBC's
claim to want to "expand the marketplace of ideas" when it is
hiring someone with such obvious contempt for freedom of speech.
-
- ACTION: Please ask MSNBC to maintain a single standard
on freedom of speech.
-
- CONTACT
-
- Neal Shapiro, NBC News President mailto:neal.shapiro@nbc.com
-
- Bob Wright, NBC President mailto:bob.wright@nbc.com
-
- Erik Sorenson, MSNBC President mailto:Erik.Sorenson@MSNBC.com
-
- As always, please remember that your comments are taken
more seriously if you maintain a polite tone. Please cc fair@fair.org with
your correspondence.
-
- ---------- Please support FAIR by subscribing to our
bimonthly magazine, Extra! For more information, go to: http://www.fair.org/extra/subscribe.html
. Or call 1-800-847-3993.
|
