San Francisco Supes Seek To Censor Bill O'Reilly

SF'S O'REILLY REVENGE

Supervisors Want Local Station Shut, Union Square Protest







Pleasing activist groups bent on revenge, San Francisco's Board Of Supervisors is now lobbying the Federal Communications Commission to pull the license of Bill O'Reilly's San Francisco affiliate KNEW-AM, according to Bay Area radio columnist Brad Kava.

The move, in the form of an official city resolution, comes after the FOX News Channel host's recent controversial comments about San Francisco's increasingly extreme stances on issues such as military recruitment.

Last month, East Bay-based protestors from a group called the Youth Media Council picketed Clear Channel Radio's (KNEW's owner) San Francisco studios, demanding conservative shows be removed from the airwaves.

Sure enough, they had nothing to say about the corporate sleaze emanating from Air America Radio, heard on sister station KQKE.

Nor have San Francisco Supervisors expressed any concern about the sleazy taxpayer funds transfer from a Bronx-based Boys & Girls Club to the liberal radio network. It's a real case of selective outrage.

What kind of message does their anti-O'Reilly action send to young people, that differing viewpoints must be silenced?

The Radio Equalizer previously reported on the Youth Media Council's activities here.


From (San Jose [Calif.] Mercury columnist) Kava's report:

"[I]f Al Qaeda comes in here and blows you up, we're not going to do anything about it. We're going to say, look, every other place in America is off-limits to you, except San Francisco," said the Fox News and syndicated radio host, in response to a San Francisco ballot measure that banned military recruiting on public high schools and colleges.

The San Francisco Board fired back unanimously against the host and his station, which airs a lineup of neo-conservative talk hosts, many of whom step over some people's boundaries of taste and decency, to get a reaction.

The station has been picketed by organizations after host Bill Bennett said that if "black babies were aborted" the crime rate would go down.

Jen Soriano, of the Youth Media Council, was thrilled with the supervisors' action.

"I think it was something San Francisco had to do to be able to defend its public airwaves against this attack. Although somewhat juvenile, it's also threatening and adds to the climate of fear in the city. I think it's an important step in local government taking action to hold media corporations accountable to meeting local residents interests." she said.

The Youth Media Council is a training center for youth interested in learning media skills and helped organize protests against the staton, which is owned by Clear Channel Communications, of San Antonio, Texas.

In addition, there's a discussion on the subject here.

What they may not realize is that Bill Bennett is no longer heard on KNEW, having recently moved to another area station.

UPDATE:

A new anti-O'Reilly protest hit Union Square yesterday, apparently led by a group called the "Ronald Reagan Home For The Criminally Insane", with at least one person dressed as "Osama bin O'Reilly".

The Oakland Tribune's Josh Richman has the details, including the fact that KNEW's license is set to expire on the 1st of December:

SAN FRANCISCO — Activists jabbed back at Bill O'Reilly on Friday, dressing one of their number in a turbaned and bearded "Osama bin O'Reilly" mask to decry the conservative talk-show host's "fatwa" against the city.

"Code red, terrorist alert," protest organizer Jeff Grubler cried as he handed out leaflets to Union Square shoppers and tourists who stopped to see the masked performer and listen to a boom box playing the now-infamous O'Reilly radio clip.

KNEW's license, which needs renewal every eight years, is set to expire Dec. 1.

Media Alliance and the Youth Media Council on Nov. 1 petitioned the Federal Communications Commission to deny the station's license renewal, claiming it fails to air programming meeting the region's needs and has permitted "hate speech" from on-air personalities such as Michael Savage and Jeffrey Katz.

The leaflets Grubler and his cohorts handed out Friday called upon people to contact Fox News; Westwood One; U.S. Sen. Barbara Boxer, D-Calif.; and House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, D-San Francisco, to turn up the heat on O'Reilly. It also urged people to sign an online petition asking the FCC to deny KNEW's renewal application, and to contact the FCC with complaints about O'Reilly's on-air "obscenity."

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Osama/child photo: Brian Frank, ANG Newspapers/ Oakland Tribune