Censorship and CAIR: Radio Host Michael Graham Still Needs Your Help
Washington, D. C. morning talk show host, Michael Graham of WMAL AM, was suspended without pay on July 28 because he accused Islamic leadership of tacitly supporting terrorism by not taking a strong public stand against it. The station management originally stood by Graham. After receiving pressure from CAIR, WMAL suspended Graham, (For a more detailed account, see my previous post). He was expected to return to the airwaves on Monday, August 8, but remains on suspension.
Talk radio and the internet are the main forums for those who don’t toe the “politically correct,” liberal line. If this type of censorship by special interest groups becomes widespread, talk radio could be lost as a forum for conservative, libertarian and other views that aren’t presented by the mainstream media. The reason talk radio became popular is that it presented views, including controversial ones, other than those seen on the major television networks.
Plenty of money has been spent to get liberal talk radio on the airwaves, but it never got the ratings conservative talk received. Conservative talk radio was fueled by listenership that led to ratings. One of the things that interests listeners is controversy. Now it seems the media corporations, (ABC/Disney in WMAL’s case), would prefer to forgo ratings in order to please special interest groups. Are media corporations overestimating the power of these groups? If the media caves whenever a host says something that offends special interest groups, we may end up with nothing but shows featuring gardening advice and household hints. Even entertainment shows such as Howard Stern’s are offensive to some groups.
If WMAL does not reinstate Graham, it will inspire CAIR and other groups to pressure the media for more censorship whenever anything offends them. As of Sunday, August 7, WMAL had received over 10,000 emails supporting Graham, yet continued his suspension. That shows how much intimidation power groups such as CAIR have. If you want to counter CAIR’s efforts to censor commercial talk radio, go to the “Contact Us” link on http//www.wmal.com and send an email to the general manager. A list of WMAL’s advertisers appears below the previous post on this blog.
This is not just about one talk radio host: It is about censorship. Preventing the expression of controversial and/or “politically incorrect” views stops dialogue and prevents the exchange of ideas. Censorship does not change hearts or minds: It simply shuts people up. Those who disagree with Graham’s views should still care about this matter. The next idea to be censored may be that illegal immigration causes problems, that gun control doesn’t stop crime, that abortion isn’t a good thing, etc. If that happens, which talk show or host will be the next one to go off the air?
Copyright Eva Ellsworth, 08/14/05, all rights reserved
Talk radio and the internet are the main forums for those who don’t toe the “politically correct,” liberal line. If this type of censorship by special interest groups becomes widespread, talk radio could be lost as a forum for conservative, libertarian and other views that aren’t presented by the mainstream media. The reason talk radio became popular is that it presented views, including controversial ones, other than those seen on the major television networks.
Plenty of money has been spent to get liberal talk radio on the airwaves, but it never got the ratings conservative talk received. Conservative talk radio was fueled by listenership that led to ratings. One of the things that interests listeners is controversy. Now it seems the media corporations, (ABC/Disney in WMAL’s case), would prefer to forgo ratings in order to please special interest groups. Are media corporations overestimating the power of these groups? If the media caves whenever a host says something that offends special interest groups, we may end up with nothing but shows featuring gardening advice and household hints. Even entertainment shows such as Howard Stern’s are offensive to some groups.
If WMAL does not reinstate Graham, it will inspire CAIR and other groups to pressure the media for more censorship whenever anything offends them. As of Sunday, August 7, WMAL had received over 10,000 emails supporting Graham, yet continued his suspension. That shows how much intimidation power groups such as CAIR have. If you want to counter CAIR’s efforts to censor commercial talk radio, go to the “Contact Us” link on http//www.wmal.com and send an email to the general manager. A list of WMAL’s advertisers appears below the previous post on this blog.
This is not just about one talk radio host: It is about censorship. Preventing the expression of controversial and/or “politically incorrect” views stops dialogue and prevents the exchange of ideas. Censorship does not change hearts or minds: It simply shuts people up. Those who disagree with Graham’s views should still care about this matter. The next idea to be censored may be that illegal immigration causes problems, that gun control doesn’t stop crime, that abortion isn’t a good thing, etc. If that happens, which talk show or host will be the next one to go off the air?
Copyright Eva Ellsworth, 08/14/05, all rights reserved
3 Comments:
It appears that as of this morning, 8/22/05, Kevin Wall is the replacement for Michael Graham on WMAL radio in DC. The station's web page has removed Michael's name from their web page and Kevin no longer refers to The Michael Graham show.
It's very, very sad that an organization such as CAIR can play their hand to contribute to Michael's removal.
Sadly, I can no longer listen to WMAL radio because of this.
JM
This man persistently labelled Islam, with a following of about 1.5 billion, as a terrorist organisation. This is totally unnaceptable, it is like calling all Americans terrorists. It was right to remove him, as he did not take back his words of hatred against Islam and its followers.
I am saddended at this decision. CAIR has indeed made statements that support Islam as a terrorist religion, yet, that is ok to say. As long as its anti-American, it can be said. But defend our great country, and you are fired.
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