:cry: :cry: :cry: :cry: :nopity:
from Media Matters:
Morgan: "I've been the target ... of an effort by liberal bloggers to get me fired"
In her January 12 WorldNetDaily column, conservative radio host Melanie Morgan described herself as "the target ... of an effort by liberal bloggers to get me fired for engaging in what these far-left activists are calling 'hate speech.' " Morgan stated that this "move by liberal activists to silence conservative radio hosts comes after the failure of the left-wing Air America radio network." The column follows a brewing controversy involving a cease-and-desist letter apparently sent by ABC Inc. in response to Spocko, a San Francisco-based blogger who last year attempted to spotlight the extremist rhetoric common to Morgan and other hosts on KSFO, the ABC-owned Bay Area radio station that broadcasts her show. Spocko posted audio clips of some of their most inflammatory remarks on his weblog and highlighted these examples in letters to various KSFO advertisers. Media Matters for America has also posted several examples of Morgan's rhetoric, and included Morgan in a petition against "hate merchants" on the airwaves that has garnered more than 33,000 signatures to date.
In her January 12 column, Morgan suggested that these audio clips had been doctored to make her look bad. Referring to an example in which she said of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) "We've got a bull's-eye painted on her big, wide laughing eyes," Morgan claimed that an "anonymous blogger" had "edited" the clip "to make it look like I was calling for the murder of Nancy Pelosi." Media Matters documented Morgan's November 14, 2006, attack on Pelosi, providing both a full audio clip and transcript of the remarks.
Morgan did not address the numerous other examples highlighted by Spocko, including her statement that she "would have no problem" with New York Times executive editor Bill Keller "being sent to the gas chamber" if he "were tried and convicted of treason" and her suggestion that someone "dig ... up" late environmentalist Rachel Carson "and kill her all over again."
Also absent from Morgan's column was any mention of the basis for the current controversy surrounding KSFO and Spocko. Specifically, Morgan ignored the allegations that -- after several major sponsors reportedly pulled their advertisements from the station -- ABC issued a cease-and-desist letter to Spocko that ultimately led his Internet service provider to shut down his blog, as Media Matters documented.
During a special "no-holds-barred" January 12 program at noon PST, Morgan and her fellow KSFO hosts -- Lee Rodgers, Brian Sussman, and Officer Vic -- will supposedly "hit back against those people who are trying to silence us and take away our free speech rights, get us fired, thrown off the air, because they don't like what we have to say." During the January 11 broadcast of the KSFO Morning Show, Morgan announced the special program and invited "the public as well as the media as well as bloggers to participate in this," which she said would last "three hours or however long it takes to answer all the questions." As the blog Halfway There noted, however, Morgan sent an email to her supporters on January 11 imploring them to call in during the program and voice their support:
To respond to growing pressure from these ruthless liberal bloggers and political activists to silence us, we are going to do something unprecedented. We are opening up our airwaves, cancelling our normal programming and having an open forum where the public, news media, bloggers, critics and friends alike can call in and address any issues surrounding this matter.
I am asking you to call in and voice your support!
<...>
The media will be covering this event live, and I want to make sure you are invited to weigh in on this matter.
From Morgan's January 12 column:
I've been the target, as have a number of other conservative talk-radio hosts, of an effort by liberal bloggers to get me fired for engaging in what these far-left activists are calling "hate speech."
The move by liberal activists to silence conservative radio hosts comes after the failure of the left-wing Air America radio network. Given that liberalism couldn't compete and win in the marketplace of ideas, liberals now want to silence conservative radio hosts.
One anonymous online blogger compiled audio clips edited to make it look like I was calling for the murder of Nancy Pelosi, when I did no such thing. (You can listen for yourself and understand how they are now trying to impugn my credibility by misrepresenting my words). ....(more)
The rest is at:
http://mediamatters.org/items/200701120010