Shock Jocks Adjust to Increasing Scrutiny
Asked about the cancellation of talk show host Don Imus's radio program, conservative talker Michael Savage insists it couldn't happen to him–he knows the areas that get a host in trouble and avoids them. But when reminded of a 2003 antigay tirade that got him fired from MSNBC, Savage bristles and plays with fire again.
"Why is that the be all and end all of my existence?" he barks. "Is [it] because the gays dominate the media?"
Since Imus lost his show for describing the Rutgers women's basketball team as "nappy-headed ho's," it has been a dangerous time for talk show hosts and shock jocks. As the often crude world of radio adjusts to increasing scrutiny and tries to figure out what the new rules might be, hosts and stations are facing dual pressures to both push the envelope and play it safe.
The hosts of the Opie & Anthony Show became the most recent casualties of the new environment this week, receiving a 30-day suspension after a guest on their satellite radio show joked about sexually assaulting Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and other public figures. During their suspension, the duo will continue hosting a show on terrestrial CBS Radio, which didn't broadcast the original comments.
Last week, New York shock jocks JV and Elvis were pulled from the air after a segment full of Asian stereotypes. Several hip-hop stations also have taken a second look at their playlists since the Imus incident, removing songs with graphic or misogynistic lyrics.
Imus's comments may be driving the recent changes, but experts say the shift has been looming for several years, as YouTube and other sites let controversial comments travel well beyond their intended audience. "Imus has said lots worse than the outburst that got him, but until now it went out of the lips, into the microphone, up in the tower, and into the ether where it was gone," says Holland Cooke, a talk show consultant with McVay Media.
The racial nature of the recent comments is not surprising, says Sean Ross, a radio analyst with Edison Media Research. The Federal Communications Commission is limited to regulating language related to "sexual or excretory acts," and as it has become more aggressive during the Bush administration, hosts have increasingly turned to racial humor to be edgy but safe.
Anthony Cumia and Gregg "Opie" Hughes were supposed to be immune to the FCC's oversight entirely, since the XM Radio show on which their comments were broadcast does not use public airwaves. But XM needs FCC approval for a merger with rival Sirius, which broadcasts Howard Stern, and experts suggest the company couldn't be seen as flouting their freedom from federal regulators. The two apologized after the segment but then complained that people were overreacting, which led to the suspension.
Even by shock jock standards, the comments on Opie & Anthony were unusual, says Michael Harrison, the publisher of Talkers Magazine, who called the Rice segment, "one of the lowest forms of pornography." But Harrison says the suspension is a worrisome step toward censorship and that XM is hypocritical to distance itself from the comments, since the company was aware of the hosts' tasteless tendencies when it hired them. The pair was temporarily fired by CBS Radio in 2002 after airing a call from two listeners having sex in New York's St. Patrick's Cathedral.
Has Imus killed the raunch radio star? Probably not. But Savage says that other hosts will probably have to be more wary of what they say on the air. As for himself, he's fatalistic.
"You have to go forward speaking the truth in the bluntest way that you wish and hope that it doesn't lead to the demise of your career," he says.