Blogger Killed the Radio Clowns

It's not all about dance shows, day drinking and brownies, folks. Serious posts! I write them sometimes.

Or rather, I usually list the bare-bones facts coupled with ample links to better articles by better writers in better places.

Case in point: the recent controversy surrounding local radio station 98 Rock. I know. Radio station. What's that? You may recall a time when you used to listen to this ancient form of broadcast. Before iTunes, before Sirius, before the internet became the most popular girl in school with her digital podcasts and that tempting, lady-in-waiting Pandora.

But there remain a few anemic faithful who still turn the FM dial every now and then like some tattered, yawning homage to the old days. Like me! In my car. That saucy 1990 Toyota Celica without a CD player. And like me, those upset over the recent demise of KWOD 106.5 may have turned to 98 Rock as an old standby for alternative tunes. In fact, I've listened off and on to 98 Rock for about a decade now.

Well, no more.

The station, you may or may not know, still plays host to that most loathsome entity known as the "shock jock." Two of them, in fact! Their names are Rob and Arnie. There's also a girl named Dawn who is often relegated to the role of the nagging, "sensitive" lady-voice. I don't really take issue here with her Alan Colmes-like complacency. My pity goes out to these two dying shells of men who exist in a strange, dust-riddled landscape on the airwaves--sad, wandering coattailers from the mid-90s, translucent in their obsoleteness, nearly forgotten by time. Their braying antics? Fading, echoing cries, really. Ululations dipped in ignorance and various "-isms" that masquerade as "keeping it real;" their only aim is to be incendiary and offensive.

Last week they did just that on a May 28th broadcast where they graced the sensitive topic of transgender youth. Using the story of a couple in Omaha who support their daughter's decision to transition from male to female, both men springboarded into a 30-minute diatribe heard here (starts about 5 minutes in, if you can stomach it).

Because my time and writing prowess is nowhere near that of a real blogger or journalist, please take a moment to read through Michael Rowe's response at The Huffington Post. A taste of the fury:

By no objective standard are dumbed-down, Wal-Mart versions of O'Reilly like [Arnie] States and [Rob] Williams journalists. Nor are they really experts on anything other than plunging the overflowing toilets of their listeners' psyches and selling the sewage back to them, repackaged as "insight," "common sense" and "plain talk" from fake-macho blowhards hiding behind radio microphones.

I couldn't have said it better myself. Seriously, I can't write that well.

• My buddy Jeff who works for Instinct in LA also blogged about it on the magazine's site here. By the end of the day, he even got Chipotle to pull their advertising from the station!

• KCRA 3 and FOX 40 both covered it.

• The Bee.
  

• Gillian at Sacramento Executive will be chiming in soon.

• And even GLAAD issued a statement condemning the "highly derogatory" comments made.

I don't have a radio or speakers on my computer at work, so I'm unable to listen to the DJs' planned response this morning. But if various Facebook status updates are any indication, the duo are defending their remarks wholeheartedly.

So if you feel like taking action, here is some contact information:

John Geary
Vice President & General Manager
KRXQ-FM
(916) 339-4209
jgeary@entercom.com

Note: I echo the advice given by GLAAD, that "when contacting KRXQ , please ensure that your emails and phone calls are civil and respectful and do not engage in the kind of name-calling or abusive behavior that we are expressing our concerns about." This means you, B.

Here's the letter I sent yesterday:

Mr. Geary,

I am shocked and deeply offended by the recent broadcast of the Rob, Arnie & Dawn morning show on the topic of transgendered youth; specifically, Rob an Arnie's vile and hurtful hate speech about a sensitive topic on which neither of them has any formal education or understanding. I have been a long-time fan of 98 Rock (more so lately with the demise of KWOD 106.5). But no more.

I will no longer listen to your radio station as long as these two are allowed to remain on the air. I will also be contacting several of your advertisers, urging them to pull their support from your station as long as Rob and Arnie remain employed.

I'm not even sure a public apology will mollify this situation.

Their views are terrifyingly uninformed and have drawn a negative spotlight not only on your radio station, but on the Sacramento region as a whole. It pains me to think that our progressive, diverse and wonderful community will be associated with this disgusting display of ignorance.

Again, I've listened to your station for close to a decade now. It's sad that in an age of iTunes, Sirius and internet radio--when stations are folding left and right due to lack of ad dollars and listeners--that 98 Rock would further alienate itself by allowing this sort of behavior.

The next move is yours, Mr. Geary.

And if you feel like going a step further (you do!), here are a list of the station's advertisers. Feel free to contact them as well, voicing your concern as a consumer over their support of a station that would promote such hate speech. Especially toward marginalized, at-risk young people whose national suicide rate is already sky-high.

Snapple
Sonic
Griffin & Reed Eyecare
Chipotle
Carl's Jr.
Albertson's
Nissan
Wells Fargo
Red Bull
Roseville Auto Mall
Bank of America
Verizon
ATT
UC Davis Health System
Lennar Homes

Guitar Center
Pro City Mortgage
State Farm Insurance
Jared, The Galleria of Jewelers

Obviously I'm all for free speech. I blog.

So when your comments and views are dehumanizing, uneducated, hateful and inflammatory--exactly what this decaying breed of DJs aim to project--you get to hear from me. And my friends.

Ed Note: thought about posting a picture of the clowns, but they've both got faces for, you know, radio.

UPDATE: "Anonymous" in the comments informs me that after sending a letter to Snapple, one of the station's advertisers, s/he received the following response from Carmen J. Caccavale, the company's director of consumer relations:

"Thank you for your writing. We recently heard about The Huffington Post story regarding KRXQ. We found the segment to be offensive as well, and as a result, we are pulling our Snapple advertising from the station. Thanks again for bringing this to our attention."

Grass roots efforts for change! Well done, Anonymous.

6/4 UPDATE: Commenter "Katie" got the word from Sonic that they're pulling!

"Sonic in no way condones violence toward children and does not wish to be associated with media content that condones or promotes such activity in any way. We have decided to immediately withdraw advertising from this station and have notified the station of our decision."

Shots!

6/4 UPDATE: Can barely keep up! Liv Moe of Midtown Monthly informs the blogosphere via Heckasac that Guitar Center will peace out, too.

6/5 UPDATE: Jeff Katz of Instinct says B of A gave KRXQ the big FU this morning.

6/5 UPDATE: Instinct reports that Carl's Jr. hates hate speech, too! A statement from their parent company reads: 

"We have pulled all of our ads from KXRQ. We did this as soon as the matter was brought to our attention. We appreciate your concern and thank you for contacting CKE Restaurants on this matter."

6/5 UPDATE: GLAAD reports that Wells Fargo and Verizon are out as well.