Phoenix, Illegal Immigration, KFYI, FCC, Arizona Attorney General

UNDER ATTACK

With Censorship In Mind, Officials Target Talk Radio




(Note: Your help is urgently needed! See below.)


After a fill-in host pushed the envelope during an illegal immigration discussion, some Arizona officials are now working to eliminate conservative talk radio in Phoenix.

Under public pressure, could this seemingly heavy-handed and partisan action against Clear Channel's KFYI-AM backfire?

By demanding severe sanctions against the broadcast outlet, it appears to be a full-scale station shutdown attempt. What is more un-American than that?

Taking a highly unusual action, Democrat Arizona State Attorney General Terry Goddard joined with US Attorney Paul Charleton to demand a federal investigation into March 8 comments made by substitute host Brian James.

To get the point across, their official and very public campaign has been aimed directly at Federal Communications Commission Chairman Kevin Martin.


On the date in question, James allegedly said this, according to KPHO CBS TV-5 in Phoenix:

According to a transcript, during one segment of his show, James suggested a solution to the immigration problem was to randomly pick one night a week to kill anyone coming across the border.

While we've seen no indication of where this transcript may be available for review, using their offices to demand punitive action on the basis of a fill-in host's comment seems unduly severe.

Friday evening, that's exactly what Goddard and Charleton called for, in an after-hours press release (read here, Adobe reader required for viewing).

And here's the actual letter sent to Chairman Martin. An excerpt of their statement:

This type of threatening and inciting speech is dangerous and totally irresponsible for anyone, particularly a licensed body using public airways.

We are deeply concerned that, given the intensifying conflict over immigration in Arizona, this speech may lead to violence. Tempers are short on both sides, and the situation in Arizona is highly volatile.

Why the odd timing? That's what KFYI would like to know:

The letter, dated Friday and distributed to the media after business hours that same afternoon, strongly urged the chairman of the FCC to impose sanctions against the station, but did not make clear what, if any broadcast rules the two prosecutors felt the station had violated.

A spokeswoman for Goddard said he was unavailable to comment on the matter. Attempts to reach Chartleton's office late Friday were unsuccessful.

At issue was a March 8 segment in which evening fill in host Bryan James raised the prospect of selecting one day a week during which anyone crossing the border illegally would be shot. KFYI Program Director Laurie Cantillo said the comment was a satirical characterization of the frustration felt by Americans over the issue of illegal immigration.

KFYI's point is well-taken: why is Goddard's office hiding behind the press release? And why go after this a full month after the broadcast air date? There's something fishy going on here.


And just how far will Goddard and Charleton be willing to take this matter? In order to pander to proponents of illegal immigration lawbreaking, is free speech ready to be sacrificed?

Instead of immediately going after KFYI's license to operate, clearly their goal, what constructive efforts did Goddard and Charleton make to get their own message out over the station's airwaves? No doubt the AM news/talk outlet would welcome them as guests.

Mr Goddard, however, is known to have ongoing political ambitions. Will this help?

In addition, we wonder if they were similarly outraged when Air America Radio (heard at the time on a local radio station) host Randi Rhodes aired a skit suggesting the President be executed 'Sopranos'-style?

We don't recall a press release in that instance.

While we don't believe random fire against illegals is a good idea, there are many situations along the Arizona border where lethal force is becoming increasingly necessary.

Clearly, our current enforcement efforts have been woefully insufficient.


For James, partisan Democrat opponents have allowed an obscure fill-in host to gain a great deal of publicity, good for a short-term career boost.

Since KFYI's early-evening time slot is up for grabs, he may now have the upper-hand.

For the long run, however, we believe James should revisit his rhetoric. To avoid giving partisan hacks free ammunition to use in their efforts to undermine America's justice system, sloppy thinking should be avoided.

Since conservatives will always win the illegal immigration debate, there's no need to feed the pro-lawbreaking camp's fire.


In addition, it's time for KFYI to make a sincere effort to recruit top-notch talk hosts from all over the country. Instead, the station and overall market have a terrible habit of using retreads who work cheap and don't require moving expense reimbursements.

The last early-evening guy lasted less than a few months. Since Phoenix is now one of the nation's biggest markets, that's format-damaging cost-cutting in action, so it's time to get a grip.

Against any form of government intervention into the political content of talk radio, however, The Radio Equalizer stands firmly behind KFYI.

Where authorities would likely welcome their views on media censorship, we also favor sending Goddard and Charleton to Communist China.


URGENT: please write to Chairman Martin to let him know how you feel about media censorship against KFYI. Please alert us to any response from the FCC.

EQUALLY URGENT: Our good friends at Powerline, who have been extremely supportive of the Radio Equalizer's investigative efforts, require your help:

Tomorrow (Monday 10 April), pro-illegal immigration demonstrations are planned to take place in around 60 cities. You can find the schedule of events here. If the past is any guide, conventional news coverage of the demonstrations is likely to be unilluminating. We think this is an opportunity for a bit of citizen journalism.

Anyone with a video camera (or most digital cameras) can attend one of the demonstrations and record what he sees. How many people are participating in the demonstration? What signs are they carrying? What flags? Who seems to be in charge?

We're encouraging our readers, and anyone else who is able, to attend the demonstration in your city and record what you see. Send your videos to us, and we'll put up a cross-section of interesting footage--assuming, of course, that we get some. It will be interesting to compare the first-hand observations of citizens with cameras to news accounts.

Please help Powerline, KFYI and others continue to circumvent the mainstream media.

UPDATE: Joe's Dartblog, affiliated with Powerline, has an interesting take on this story here. And more thoughts from Right Voices.

Thanks for your continued and vital Radio Equalizer support, via Amazon orders that begin with clicks here, regardless of what you ultimately order!

Images: Pete at IHillary for the Radio Equalizer. Photos: Michelle Malkin