8 Comments Add your own

• 1. Roon  |  April 24th, 2007 at 12:51 pm

  If they’re going to fire Imus for his dumb, off-hand comment, then they really need to can these guys for building a whole bit around racial insults — and playing twice!

• 2. Can'tSaySquat  |  April 24th, 2007 at 5:37 pm

  pretty soon CBS Radio will be holding open casting calls for robots to host their radio shows. Anyone that is deemed “politically incorrect” is doomed.

• 3. ~bc  |  April 24th, 2007 at 6:18 pm

  er, on his “show” not on his “song.” feel free to edit that.

• 4. Mike Escutia  |  April 24th, 2007 at 8:12 pm

  I’m waiting for them to start preemptively suspending their hosts now.

• 5. Helen  |  April 25th, 2007 at 1:37 am

  If Imus is fired, then these 2 should too! Or else, it is not just a double standard for the Asian community but also a double standard for Imus.

  By the way, some people of a different culture maybe more sensitive about jokes or comments, guess we do not want another VT incident!

• 6. Joe  |  April 25th, 2007 at 8:04 am

  @Can’tSaySquat: Oh, so allowing DJs to call third parties (IE, non-listeners) and shout racist insults at them is acceptable, hilarious speech to you?

• 7. Romantic Realist  |  May 1st, 2007 at 10:38 am

  Albert Wang’s suggestions:

  1. Federal Communications Commission has the regulatory authority to investigate CBS RADIO to make a determination of whether the BROADCAST and the REBROADCAST of Dog House’s “Chinese Food” prank call violated INDECENCY regulations. FCC should make the determination of whether CBS RADIO should be sanctioned, e.g., $10,000 for the BROADCAST and $15,000 for the REBROADCAST. If you are upset by the “Chinese Food” prank call, contact the FCC by sending an e-mail to fccinfo@fcc.gov. Ask FCC to protect children from unwanted INDECENT, OBSCENE, PROFANE, and, yes, also VIOLENT, material involuntarily transmitted by TV stations and Radio Stations into our homes, especially during daytime (6:00 a.m. to 10:00 p.m.). We also have the right to privacy in our own homes.

  2. DOG HOUSE hosts should NOT be fired without cause. Don’t bark at the wrong tree. Do you want to go to a comedy show where the comedian is focusing on compliance with each and every imaginable federal, state, local and judge-made law and regulations? Let’s give comedians some artistic licence, and allow them to be funny. If CBS Radio is pressured into firing Dog House hosts without cause, more than 90% of Americans, including myself, would believe that another injustice has been created . We should not commit an INJUSTICE in response to a prior INJUSTICE. Let’s be FORGIVING, and not REVENGEFUL.

  3. Let’s reaffirm our LOYALTY to the UNITED STATES CONSTITUTION. Let’s reaffirm FREEDOM OF SPEECH under the FIRST AMENDMENT. Let me be blunt: I am ethnic Chinese and a naturalized American citizen, and came here and choose to live here because I like it here and respects our LEGAL SYSTEM. If you don’t like our CONSTITUTION and have no respect for our LEGA SYSTEM, you can vote in the next election and try to make a difference through the electoral process, petition your Senators, House Representatives, State Assemblymen or Assemblywomen, City Councilmen or Councilwomen, or, if nothing works through the LEGAL PROCESS, you can exercise your CONSTITUTIONAL right to travel by moving to Canada, Mexico, Cuba, China or any other country of your choice.

  WE CHOSE AMERICA. LET’S BE AMERICAN. GOD BLESS AMERICA.

  Albert Wang………..a Romantic Realist
  aspiring to be a valiant seeker of TRUTH, LIBERTY and JUSTICE
  (a/k/a the lawyer who got some impartial justice for the First Baby of the Year)

  p.s. If you like what I just said, or if you are upset by what I just said, before you make any comment, or criticism, educate yourself on these “Freedom Of Speech?,” “Indecency?” “Social Responsibility?” “Racism?” issues instead of making a lot of irrelevant and/or irreverent “Ben Ben” noises. Get educated first. If you like to get educated by me, go to my Blog, “BenBenXiong” ( i.e., “Stupid Foolish Bear”) at Wenxuecity.com.

  P.P.S. I am not the BenBen one, i.e., I am neither Stupid or Foolish. Draw your own conclusion as to whether anyone is Stupid or Foolish.

  ———- Forwarded message ———-
  From: Albert Wang

  Date: May 1, 2007 6:00 AM
  Subject: Radio ’shock jocks’ make waves - Controversial hosts fired after national response - By: Elyssa Thome
  To: albertwang221@hotmail.com

  Radio ’shock jocks’ make waves
  Controversial hosts fired after national response
  By: Elyssa Thome
  Posted: 5/1/07
  Shock jocks have gotten attention beyond their usual frequencies with the most recent wave of radio controversies. Television, newspapers and Internet media have since weighed in on the comments and actions of the controversial radio hosts, raising the question of what kind of behavior is acceptable on air.

  The term “shock jock” refers to a radio broadcaster who relies on humor that a significant portion of the population may find offensive. For example: Howard Stern.

  In Sacramento earlier this year, a woman died from water intoxication during a radio-sponsored contest. Don Imus drew national attention and was then fired due to racially charged comments about the Rutgers women’s basketball team. The hosts of a New York morning show called “The Dog House with JV and Elvis” were suspended indefinitely after airing a prank call to a Chinese restaurant for the second time Apr. 19. It was first aired the day after the Imus comments, Apr. 5.

  The intense public and media response to all three events includes, most recently, a statement released Apr. 17 by the Organization of Chinese Americans, an advocacy group. The statement specifically calls for the firing of JV and Elvis due to their offensive, anti-Asian prank.

  “Following so closely on the heels of the Don Imus incident, it is unbelievable that another CBS Radio affiliate would air such derogatory and demeaning content,” said Michael Lin, OCA national executive director, in a press release. “The right of free speech is being abused by so-called ’shock jocks’ and their producers to make crass and unnecessary comments at the expense of other peoples’ dignity.”

  However, according to Jesse Drew, director of technocultural studies at UC Davis, the recent controversies are not free speech issues.

  “Being on the radio is not the same as standing on a street corner,” he said. “The radio is a public resource.”

  According to Drew, radio stations obtain licenses for radio frequencies, but they do not own them. Drew said radio stations belong to the public and, therefore, must be used for public good.

  John Theobald, continuing lecturer in the department of communications at UC Davis, said First Amendment rights do not necessarily apply to what one says on the job. In a contractual agreement, an employer can decide what conduct constitutes just cause for firing.

  However, Theobald said the nature of shock jocks makes these situations almost inevitable, which is why people listen in the first place.

  “Part of the idea of being a shock jock is seeing how far you can push the line,” he said. “They are more or less irresponsible. It’s adolescent behavior, which isn’t necessarily bad.”

  According to Theobald, the situations that receive national attention are different because of the public response and not necessarily because of the intensity of the comments.

  “It developed a constituency,” he said. “What I mean by that is there is a small and persistent group of people who will grab a hold and spread it until it resonates with the culture.”

  This response is not necessarily uniform. According to Theobald, the prevalence of racist and sexist comments in other media, such as rap music, is generally excused, despite having a larger following than Don Imus does.

  “I think [the public response] also makes us think about some of the inconsistencies in our culture,” he said. “I think there’s something interesting in the standard we set about who can say what. There are some double standards operating here.”

  Still, according to Drew, the nature of the response is significant, illustrating a resistance to intolerance in America as a whole.

  “People are less willing to put up with [shock jock behavior],” Drew said. “I think there is a change in the people of the United States. People don’t have to bow down to that sort of thing.”

  ELYSSA THOME can be reached at city@californiaaggie.com.
  ——————————————————————————–
  © Copyright 2007 The California Aggie

• 8. Romantic Realist  |  May 1st, 2007 at 10:38 am

  —– Original Message —–
  From: Albert Wang
  To: Vicki Shu
  Cc:
  Sent: Saturday, April 28, 2007 5:42 PM
  Subject: Albert Wang’s position re CBS Radio: Please DO NOT fire Dog House’s hosts

  Albert Wang’s position re CBS Radio: Please DO NOT fire Dog House’s hosts

  As the first reader of Ming Pao Daily News who brought the “Chinese Food” prank call incident to the attention of OCA-NY, and as the first concerned citizen who brought Ming Pao’s news articles to the attention of CBS Radio and engendered the current controversy, I believe that I also have a social responsibility to try to inject some reason and attempt to quickly end this controversy with a “win-win” proposal.

  We should not rectify a mistake by creating another mistake. Based on my personal personal observations in the past week, and after reviewing CBS’s most recent annual Social Responsibility Report and CBS’ statement of Business Conduct, I believe that we should defer to CBS’ internal decision on what disciplinary sanction the Dog House hosts should accept.

  It appears to me that CBS, in good faith, has promptly taken remedial actions against the Dog House hosts, and is probably in the middle of completing its internal investigation. CBS appears to be a socially responsible company and is proactively rectifying this careless (but not harmless) mistake. Therefore, it is inappropriate to use or racial or political pressure to coerce CBS into terminating the employment of the Dog House hosts, if such termination would be effected without cause.

  I believe in the Freedom of Speech guaranteed under our Constitution. Dog House hosts are free to say anything that do not constitute defamation, extortion or other torts. CBS Radio, as their employer, is responsible for editing the content of Dog House talk shows before their broadcast. What happened might be merely and unintended “glitch” in CBS Radio’s quality control system.

  Our collective focus should be how all of us can work constructively to reduce such “glitches” and prevent future harms to Asian Americans, Hispanics, Blacks, gays and lesbians and other minority groups. Firing the Dog House hosts is not the optimal solution. Moreover, such termination might have the adverse effect of creating more divisiveness in our American society.

  As an aspiring seeker of TRUTH, LIBERTY and JUSTICE, I feel compelled to ask everyone concerned to be reasonable and rational, focus on our commonalities, and work together for a better tomorrow.

  Last Saturday, I brought this incident to CBS’ and OCA-NY’s attention, because I sincerely hoped to correct an injustice. Let’s not create another injustice by summarily terminating the Dog House hosts without cause.

  Let’s keep our sense of humor, and play some healthy jokes on each other.

  Albert Wang,

  The lawyer who got some impartial justice for the First Baby of the Year.

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