Radio Ghoul Harasses Gay Teens

Hesiod has all the info you need to protest the shock jock Jan Mickelson who works in Des Moines, IA and infuses the airwaves with Savage-like hate speech.

It's no surprise his station is owned by Clear Channel. I support sending him and his station manager a message but I doubt it will do much to discourage him from his 'mission'. Clear Channel is the real problem here and I wonder if this malignancy is being taken as seriously as it should.

I listen to one of their stations on my way to and from work to catch their latest propaganda. In my opinion it's even more odious than Mickelson's. This format is Top 40 rap and pop while the DJs offer-up disparaging comments about the various artists. They do this in a very matter-of-fact way as if ridiculing speech, grammar and lifestyle doesn't merit further discussion, it's 'just wrong'. When they're not putting down the artists whose music is the audience draw, they're hawking for the Bush administration and lending credence to whatever rhetoric is floating around at the moment. For instance yesterday they promoted an Osama bin Laden doll that talks, the message encouraging you to believe al-Qaeda is tied to Iraq. They thought this doll was so cute?! 'I'd buy one if I could' type of dialogue. Another thing they do is promote anything that's on FOX, especially American Idol.

Am I bothered for no reason? I really don't think so. It appears to me to be a concerted effort to use a type of music to draw kids in, gain their confidence, then use that power to shape their opinions.

Update 4/23: Apparently Monica Lewinsky's FOX show debuted Monday as the DJs I mentioned praised it and her yesterday morning. They also had someone impersonating Clinton's voice making some particularly stupid remarks one of which was directed towards Hillary. It would fit into a bigger marketing design, wouldn't it? Feature Lewinsky in a huge venue you control then have your offspring outlets use its newfound notoriety to remind everyone what a terrible character Clinton is.

I'm intensely curious if this kind of thing is going on in other towns and cities.