John DePetro Termination, Boston Talk Radio

FREEDOM OF SPEECH?

In Boston, 'Fat Lesbian' Firing Controversy Rages







One day after talk host John DePetro's termination from a Boston radio station, controversy is raging over the circumstances behind the move.

Did he step over the line in calling Green - Rainbow Party gubernatorial candidate Grace Ross a "fat lesbian"? And was it fair for his board operator to also get the sack?

One thing's for sure: DePetro hadn't done himself any favors by getting into so many of these flaps. And revelations that the latest incident was planned in advance makes the whole situation seem especially bizarre.

The fact that DePetro has hired a lawyer also shows that this dispute isn't likely to go away anytime soon.

Adding yet another strange element to this mess is the fact that the ultra- leftist Boston Globe ran perhaps the most critical piece on the moves. The Globe even tried to make a comparison between the recent Rush Limbaugh / Michael J Fox controversy and this one:

WRKO firing sets off debate on speech issue

By Andrea Estes and Suzanne Ryan, Globe Staff | November 4, 2006

WRKO fired radio talk show host John DePetro and his engineer yesterday after DePetro called Green-Rainbow Party gubernatorial candidate Grace Ross a "fat lesbian" on the air.

The firing set off a debate among radio talk show hosts, listeners, and academics about the ever-changing boundaries of appropriate speech on air.

Two weeks ago, nationally syndicated host Rush Limbaugh, whose show is also on WRKO, sparked outrage, but kept his job, when he accused actor Michael J. Fox of exaggerating his symptoms of Parkinson's disease in a public appearance.

DePetro, who said in an interview that he was "stunned" by his firing, apologized on air shortly after making the remark on his show Thursday morning, and then called Ross that night to apologize. But in an interview yesterday, DePetro defended himself and slammed management for firing his engineer, an act he compared to "clubbing a baby seal."

"He had nothing to do with it," said DePetro, referring to his engineer, James Kiesling. "He should not have been terminated. I take full responsibility. If you want to fire me, OK. I know what I signed up for. But taking it out on him?"

Kiesling could not be reached for comment.

According to a tape of his Thursday show, DePetro was venting about the previous night's gubernatorial debate. "I could go now a lifetime without Grace Ross," he said. "She has nerve. This whole business of 'well since we're being ignored,' " he said, mocking Ross's effort to get equal time in the debate.

"No, you're irrelevant. Get off the stage!" he continued, directing his remarks to Ross. "I couldn't stand her at the end. At one point I was about to yell: "Will somebody tell that fat lesbian to shut up. . . .

"Shut up. Go home," DePetro said. "Burger King is looking for another third-shift person to work the grill. Enough."

"I was traumatized by you being on the stage," he said of Ross.

One question many are asking is whether DePetro intentionally set out to get himself canned. Was he already close to it anyway? Was this a way to go out with a bang?

In her piece today, excerpted here, the Boston Herald's Jessica Heslam makes the case that his position was already somewhat shaky well ahead of this incident:

Despite his dismal ratings and a major advertiser’s concerns over past anti-gay chatter, WRKO radio insists it was morning yakker John DePetro’s “fat lesbian” remark aimed at candidate Grace Ross on Thursday that did him in.

The mouthy host responded by hiring an attorney.

“This wasn’t said in the heat of the moment. This wasn’t an accident. He told people in advance that he was going to do this - that’s the key,” said George Regan of Regan Communications, which represents the station.

Sources said DePetro’s board operator, Jimmy Kiesling, was also fired because DePetro told him beforehand he was going to demean Ross, which DePetro denied.

Sources said DePetro, hired by the station in the summer of 2004 and suspended once already, had been warned repeatedly of the “rules of the road.”

“I was stunned and very disappointed,” DePetro said. “It seems to be selective punishment. There wasn’t obscene language used. It was a throwaway two-second comment that I apologized for.”

DePetro’s low ratings could not have helped him. In the key category of 25-to-54-year-olds, DePetro’s share dropped 50 percent, from a 2.2 in the spring to a 1.1 in the summer, according to numbers provided to the Herald. DePetro was one of WRKO’s lowest-rated hosts.

In July, DePetro was suspended for two days and ordered to apologize after he called former Massachusetts Turnpike chief Matt Amorello “Fag Matt” on his show.

One of WRKO’s biggest advertisers, Harvard Pilgrim Health Care, contacted the radio station in March because of an anti-gay conversation on DePetro’s show.

Harvard Pilgrim asked WRKO not to run their commercials during DePetro’s program and management was “very responsive,” Sharon Torgerson, a Harvard spokeswoman, said yesterday.

At Boise- based News By Us, David R Usher thinks the termination was unfair:

The firing of WRKO-AM announcer John DePetro, for calling Massachusetts gubernatorial contender Grace Ross a “fat lesbian”, is a grossly inappropriate response by the station.

However, I do agree that DePetro’s point could have been more intelligently stated, and his apology to Mr. Ross should have been sufficient.

DePetro’s comment was not inaccurate (although what critical mass has to do with one’s politics is certainly up for discussion).

The personal has been the political for years (if one happens to be a man). Male candidates are called every name in the book by the media. Everything they ever breathed is called out for microscopic inspection or ridicule.

Feminist Carol Hanisch invented the idea that the “personal is the political” in 1970. It was quickly adopted by feminists and perfected into today’s accusatory terrorism of male politicians – most often founded on imagery more than reality. It is only fair that feminists now be held to a similar standard of review – so long as it is accurate.

If we fired every writer and radio announcer who ever made a Coulteresque remark about a politician, the airwaves would have nothing left to play except commercials. (This might well be better than suffering through groveling cootchie-snorter interviews the WRKO management expects).

Meanwhile, at the New York Radio Message Board, there is anger over the board operator's firing. Why was he punished for DePetro's stunt? Isn't he a technical person, rather than a content editor?

Another question is whether DePetro's massive dose of national publicity will help or hurt his career. Especially in light of his ratings troubles, will other stations want to deal with this handful?

In your Radio Equalizer's opinion, the Rhode Island- based host will probably return to his previous employer in Providence, the long- suffering WHJJ-AM, which has yet to recover from its ill- fated decision to run Air America Radio programming.

What do you think about the controversy? Feel free to leave comments below.


IMAGES: Boston Herald library, Boston Globe

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