The outrage over last week's mini-suspension of radio hosts
Armstrong & Getty provided yet another example of melodrama common in our
society and corrosive to our discourse.
Radio is replete with stories of broadcasters punished for
uttering words that cross swords with management, but given the context of the
insipid video that sparked much of the latest contretemps in the Middle East,
it's understandable why reaction to the suspension was driven by familiar,
albeit misguided missives on free speech, Muslim appeasement and corporate
cowardice – in this case, Clear Channel.
It's common, too, for media of all stripes – radio included
– to reduce stories to single sound bites, further fueling the misinformation
rock pile. Indeed, "molehills into mountains" is the typically
"instant coffee" practice of today's digitized media. Just add water
– provided it satiates our ADD culture – and voilà, controversy!
As a longtime radio broadcaster, I wasn't buying this
suspension. Urging listeners to "bombard" Al-Jazeera, the Arabic news
network, with homemade "anti-Muhammad ads until they grow up"? How
does a company suspend someone over words like that, which are perfectly legal,
given that fellow Clear Channel broadcaster Rush Limbaugh has faced no such
company wrath despite saying far worse?
As the duo explained in their on-air return last Thursday,
the suspension had nothing to do with what was said on the air. Insiders told
me the day before that the suspension involved a support staffer issuing a
press release containing rhetoric from the broadcast. Issued without approval –
a violation of corporate policy – it included Clear Channel's corporate logo,
making matters worse.
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