CBS President, Mel Karmazin
Mel Karmazin, Howard Stern and Racism
In 1994, after hearing daily racist presentations on The Howard Stern Show,
I filed an 'Informal Objection' with the Federal Communications Commission
(FCC)
against Infinity Broadcasting Company (now CBS)
and it's proposed acquisition of two radio stations (WPCG-AM and WPCG-FM)
both of which broadcast to a primarilly black audience in Washington, D.C.
I argued that because of Howard Stern's unabashed racism,
The Howard Stern Show created a 'hostile work environment'
for any radio station owned by Infinity and, as such, Infinity's ownership
of the Washington radio stations
would be detrimental to the stations minority employees, listeners and advertisers.
My argument was joined by the African American Business Association (AABA).
Rather than have the matter taken into court, Infinity entered into a settlement
agreement with the AABA.
Is Howard Stern a racist? Judge for yourself, the following terms of that
agreement are verbatim.
FCC File Numbers: BAL-931008GQ and BAL-931008GR
"Under the terms of the Settlement Agreement between the
AABA and Infinity, Infinity agrees to participate in various programs aimed
at increasing Infinity's sensitivity to minorities and enhancing the opportunities
of minorities to work in and to advertise on radio.
Several of these initiatives involve substantial financial expenditures
by Infinity. For example, Infinity would pay approximately $325,000 to establish
an independent non-profit organization called the "Incubator."
The Incubator would teach minority businesses to advertise effectively on
the radio, would train minority students to product the advertising, and
possibly provide up to $500,000 of reduced price airtime on WPGC to minority
businesses. Infinity would contribute $25,000 to a Cleveland, Ohio group,
unrelated to AABA, that trains minorities to be on-air talent. Furthermore,
it would reimburse AABA for its over $28,000 of legal expenses."
In addition, the agreement required that:
"Infinity's top management
(including Mel Karmazin and excluding Howard Stern)
would attend a symposium on racism."
Mel Karmazin was the President of Infinity.
Mel Karmazin is now the President of CBS.
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