Radio
“If the freedom of speech is taken away then dumb and silent we may be led, like sheep to the slaughter.” This powerful quote declared by the first president of the United States of America, George Washington, beautifully articulates the necessity of this cherished freedom to the well-being of the United States. Without it, America would certainly not consider herself the land of the truly free. The freedom of speech and expression is one that is coveted by all, and in recent times has proven to be one that is neglected by its possessors. Several recent events have sparked an uprising against the moderate restrictions on public radio. Events such as: Don Imus’ racial slurs directed toward the Rutger’s ladies basketball team, the Texas talk-radio ethnic slurs aimed at Hispanics and finally (find other example of radio offensive) The irresponsibility and flat-out immaturity expressed by these radio hosts have caused public outrage, and thus resulting in increased lobbying attempts to get legislation passed to limit speech on the radio. The reasons for these attempts are justified, however the proposed solution is not. America walks on thin ice when the decision is made to start restraining freedoms such as the freedom of unrestricted speech. Although people will choose to be offended over the radio’s decisions on word choices, the continual practice of free speech on the radio in America is imperative in order for all the liberties and freedoms practiced herein to be maintained.
The catalyst for this debate rising to the national level was the infamous verbal attack by Don Imus towards the Ladies Basketball team at Rutger University in early 2007. The result of the attack got Imus kicked off his own radio show for nearly eight months, and a reputation for being insensitive, and offensive. Imus degraded the black community, and offended the entire country. Now, in the aftermath of all this, many people are pushing for even more legislation to get passed that would further prohibit freedom of speech on the radio.
Speech on the radio already has its limits. According to Chris Reed an expert on broadcast radio, “Broadcasters do, indeed, have the same First Amendment rights that you and I do. But, the courts have held over the years, that because of the unique character of the broadcast medium, broadcasters' First Amendment rights are somewhat limited.” What this means is there are limited stations available on the radio to broadcast on, so naturally the government reserves the right to regulate what is broadcasted to the national audience. It is important to note that the radio already is not a completely free stream. Nevertheless, many people now are lobbying for even more restrictions to be placed on the radio. Many avid listeners of every day talk-radio feel that there are too many instances of racial and ethnic slurs occurring on the radio, and that it is time to start making more restrictions, and harsher punishments for those guilty.
In the case of Don Imus, the racist comments he made about the Women’s Basketball team at Rutgers really set the stage for the punishments of letting your tongue slip while on the radio. In addition to being fired for eight months, Imus was humiliated, forced to apologize, and scrutinized for the rest of his career. According to a poll conducted by MSNBC, 54 percent of America thought the punishment was about right, 32 percent said it was too tough and about 8 percent said it was not tough enough (http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/18209464/). This particular case set a precedent of radio cases like these in which the radio-host made a bad mistake, and launched into some kind of offensive diatribe. Another case similar to this occurring after the Don Imus expulsion from talk-radio was a Texas radio morning broadcast called “Todd and Don.” On this particular broadcast, the radio-hosts referred to illegal immigrants as “wetbacks,” thus resulting in no work or pay for two weeks for the convicted rradio-hosts. Many “Hispanic leaders” were not satisfied with this punishment however. Hispanics in the area lobbied to get these radio-hosts permanently removed from the radio air waves, and sited the Imus case as reason for more extreme punishment.
What these cases demonstrate is the public’s reaction to offensive words spoken on national lines. In nearly every case in which there is any sort of harmful rant, a universal feeling of discontent and outrage is expressed by all who hear it. The freedom of speech on the radio is one that can really prove offensive to listeners. When a radio-host has freedom to say what pops into his or her head, it isn’t unreasonable to assume people tuned in have the potential to be offended. Even with the few radio-laws prohibiting it, it still happens.
When freedoms granted in the Constitution begin to be distorted, the result is a gradual tilt away from reason. The liberty declared therein is inspired from God, and should be treated as a precious God-given gift. The very thought of trying to limit speech in America is preposterous, and if the steps are taken to do it by starting first with radio censorship, then the wonderful country known as America has already begun her downfall. Sexist and racist remarks are becoming all too common on the radio, who’s jockey’s delight in “bringing private behavior out into public,” and delivering the listener “the thrill of crossing that line,” this is all according to John Baugh, a professor of linguistics at Washington University in St. Louis.
