Salon: The Passion of Howard Stern

[kskiska]

The shock jock says radio colossus Clear Channel fired him because he criticized George Bush -- and he's sure as hell not going to go quietly.

From the moment last week when Clear Channel Communications suspended Howard Stern's syndicated morning show from the company's radio stations, denouncing it as "vulgar, offensive and insulting," speculation erupted that the move had more to do with Stern's politics than his raunchy shock-jock shtick.

Stern's loyal listeners, Clear Channel foes and many Bush administration critics immediately reached the same conclusion: The notorious jock was yanked off the air because he had recently begun trashing Bush, and Bush-friendly Clear Channel used the guise of "indecency" to shut him up. That the content of Stern's crude show hadn't suddenly changed, but his stance on Bush had, gave the theory more heft. That, plus his being pulled off the air in key electoral swing states such as Florida and Pennsylvania.

This week, Stern himself went on the warpath, weaving in among his familiar monologues about breasts and porn actresses accusations that Texas-based Clear Channel -- whose Republican CEO, Lowry Mays, is extremely close to both George W. Bush and Bush's father -- canned him because he deviated from the company's pro-Bush line. "I gotta tell you something," Stern told his listeners. "There's a lot of people saying that the second that I started saying, 'I think we gotta get Bush out of the presidency,' that's when Clear Channel banged my ass outta here. Then I find out that Clear Channel is such a big contributor to President Bush, and in bed with the whole Bush administration, I'm going, 'Maybe that's why I was thrown off: because I don't like the way the country is leaning too much to the religious right.' And then, bam! Let's get rid of Stern. I used to think, 'Oh, I can't believe that.' But that's it! That's what's going on here! I know it! I know it!"

(snip)

If Clear Channel did fire Stern at least partly to prop up Bush, the move may backfire -- especially if Stern's rage against Clear Channel feeds his newfound distaste for the president. Stern's audience contains many independents and potential swing voters.

At least one radio pro suggests Stern's sudden turn against Bush could prove costly to the administration during this election year. "Absolutely it should be of concern for the White House," says Michael Harrison, the publisher of Talkers magazine, a nonpartisan trade magazine serving talk radio. "Howard Stern will be an influential force for the public and for other talk show hosts during the election. Despite the shock jock thing, Stern has credibility. He's looked upon as an honest person.

(snip)

If Stern keeps up the Bush bashing, he might fit right in on Air America's roster.

more…
http://salon.com/news/feature/2004/03/04/stern/index.html

[Raster]

1. I never was a big Howard fan...but now that he's seeing the light...

...maybe the tractor-pull crowd will wake up and smell the java.

On edit: my two fave paragraphs--

"FCC chairman Michael Powell, appointed by the current president, has been pushing a strong pro-big-business, deregulation agenda, which makes Mays happy. But Texas investment banker Hicks may have an even closer relationship to Bush. Hicks, a major Bush donor, sits on the Clear Channel board. The two men helped make each other very wealthy during the 1990s. When Bush was governor of Texas he privatized the financial assets of the University of Texas, all $13 billion worth, rolled them into a single entity, and placed it under the control of Hicks, who, behind closed doors, doled out investment deals to longtime Bush family political contributors. In 1998, Hicks turned around and bought the Texas Rangers from a group of investors that included Bush; Bush pocketed $15 million off his initial investment of $605,000, most of which was borrowed.

"During the 2000 campaign, Hicks announced on a conference call among Clear Channel's senior radio executives that the company was supporting Bush's presidential run, that everyone was encouraged to make donations, and that the legal department would be in contact with donors in order to maintain a proper roster. "Some people took out their checkbooks, but lots of people felt it was staged like a shakedown," Salon was told last year by one knowledgeable source, who spoke on the condition of anonymity. "To be fair, Hicks told everyone they were free to vote for whoever they wanted. But some senior people felt there was an implied pressure there, especially with the mention of the law department maintaining a roster of donors."

[JPZenger]

2. More on Clear Channel

The following might be a little outdated:

"Clear Channel owns over 1,200 radio stations and 37 television stations, with investments in 240 radio stations globally, and Clear Channel Entertainment (aka SFX, one of their more well-known subsidiaries) owns and operates over 200 venues nationwide. They are in 248 of the top 250 radio markets, controlling 60% of all rock programming. They outright own the tours of musicians like Janet Jackson, Aerosmith, Pearl Jam, Madonna and N'Sync. They own the network which airs Rush Limbaugh, Dr. Laura, Casey Kasem, and the Fox Sports Radio Network."

Their monopoly has great control over the entire music industry. They have exclusive agreements to handle concert promotions and ticket sales with most large concert arenas in the U.S.

For more visit:

http://www.csudh.edu/dearhabermas/clearchanbk01.htm

[JPZenger]

3. Even More on Clear Channel

If you wonder why concert tickets are so expensive, ask Clear Channel. They own Ticketmaster, which swallowed up all of its competitors.

http://www.reclaimdemocracy.org/weekly_article/clear_channel_backlash.html

[Raster]

4. as soon as the criminals in DC are turned out in the street....

...unclear channel and its ilk should be investigated up one side and down the other. Along with michael powell. consolidation of media is NEVER, NEVER, NEVER a good idea. Our worst nightmare has been allowed to come to fruition in unclear channel.

[JPZenger]

5. Salon's Complete Guide to Clear Channel's Evil Genius

Here is a comprehensive guide to the evil of Clear Channel, with links to multiple articles:

http://www.salon.com/ent/clear_channel/

I don't like Stern personally - but Clear Channel didn't go after him AFTER he started criticizing Bush. They also reportedly fired two DJs who criticized the war in Iraq.

[JPZenger]

6. Correction - Sorry

Sorry, here's a correction. Clear Channel does not own Ticketmaster. However, Clear Channel engages in alleged monopolistic collusion with Ticketmaster, because Clear Channel has exclusive rights to book most of the large arenas.

Here's a quote from Dave Marsh of Rolling Stone: "Fans cannot turn to alternative ticket providers. Ticketmaster drove them all out of business. Artists cannot turn to alternative venues and promoters because as part of its fanatic "free market" philosophy, the Bush-Clinton-Bush administration decided not to enforce those. The result is one company, Clear Channel, controlling virtually all American venues and promoters. Fans can't count on using the publicly-owned airwaves to express their discontent with being inconvenienced because Clear Channel also owns virtually all the radio stations.

Incidentally, guess who owns Ticketmaster? Barry Diller's U.S.A. Networks. Which were just sold to Vivendi. Which just happens to own Universal, the record company that controls 40 percent of the U.S. market and belongs to what the Federal Trade Commission calls a major label cartel."