Why I Went After Howard Stern
Now before you go thinking that I'm some
ultra-conservative, lunatic fringe, right wing, anti-First Amendment,
Democracy hating, no-life, low-life, with a computer
and lots of time on my hands,
I can assure you that, I'm none of the above.
In fact, most people are surprised when they see a photo
of me.
I am, however, a father and a grandfather and, throughout this web site
you will see that Howard Stern's radio broadcasts are, to say the least,
adult oriented in nature and, at minimum,
they are questionably indecent and federal law states that
they can not be broadcast at a time of day that is accessible to children.
In response to those who say, "If you don't like it, change the
station!",
I say, "If you don't like it, change the law!" Period!
I first heard Stern's program while I was living in Los Angeles. One
morning somewhere around 8:00 in the morning, I was driving on the "405'"
looking for an off-ramp, and a traffic report on the radio.
The radio dial landed on 97.1, KLSX-FM. The voice was someone
named Howard Stern.
Stern and his 'zany radio buddies' were talking with a caller about a
pair of soiled ladies underwear that Stern had sent to the caller. It
seems that the gentleman had requested a pair of Stern's sidekick, Robin
Quivers', underwear and Stern had them delivered to him, via Federal Express.
Prior to sending the undergarments, Stern had them
soaked them in salmon oil and smeared with Hershey's chocolate.
I'm not easily offended and, quite honestly, I couldn't care less what
Howard Stern did with Ms. Quivers' drawers but, on the public airwaves?
No way! This was too much!
By the time I got to work, I had my entire argument down
to one sentence,
"How dare this man put this garbage out over public airwaves!"
The next day, I began tape recording Stern's program and writing letters
to his sponsors. I would tape Stern's program in the morning, and I would
transcribe objectionable parts at night and, on the weekends I would write
letters to his sponsors.
As a result, I started getting letters from advertisers who agreed
with me
and cancelled their advertising.
(Over the years, I have been able to get, literally, hundreds of Stern's
advertisers to quit.)
Encouraged by the results in contacting Stern's advertisers, I began
researching the laws on obscenity and indecency in broadcasting. The results
of that research showed me that Stern's broadcasts were clearly in violation
of federal indecency laws, since his adult material was being broadcast
during hours when it was accessible to children.
Research completed and armed with law, precedent, tapes, transcripts and
one man's opinion, I filed a 17-page formal complaint against Stern with
the Federal Communications Commission.
At that point, I was satisfied that the matter was in the hands
of the FCC
and they would agree with me that Stern's material violated the law.
I felt confident the FCC would do something about it.
At that time, my son, Sean, and his wife had just had a baby girl and
becoming a grandfather changed my perspective on the world we live in and,
more importantly, the world we make for the children of our children.
I continued to tape Stern's program and contact his advertisers and then,
almost 10 months after I filed that first complaint, I got a phone call
from a reporter from a R&R, a radio industry publication. He asked me
what I thought about the fines.
"What fines?"
That's how I learned that the FCC agreed with me and had issued more
than $120,000 in fines against Stern's broadcasters.
It was the largest indecency fine in the history of broadcasting.
The success of that first complaint let me to continue and, to date,
I've filed 15 or more indecency complaints against Stern and I've been able
to obtain more than $1.7 million in federal indecency fines against the
broadcasters of The Howard Stern Show!
Over the years I've accumulated more than 3,500 hours of Stern's
broadcasts.
That's also why one radio station nicknamed me, "The Ex-Sterninator".
Needless to say, I'm not the most popular person with Howard Stern and his
fans.
Stern refuses to talk about me by name and refers to me in less than complimentary
terms.
Actually I take that as a positive!
I've had death threats from Stern's fans and
legal threats from Stern's advertisers and their attorneys.
and
I've had some rather 'unique' things sent to me in the mail.
But, I've also gained, an enormous education about the communications industry
and communications law.
I've spent, and continue to spend, my money, my time and my energy
to let you know that one person can still make a difference.
I consider myself a conservative product of the liberal 60's and I'm not
a prude
but, like you, I've seen a steady decline in the broadcasting standards
throughout the industry
and I'm concerned about where the industry will be in 10 years.
Why did I go after Howard Stern?
Actually it was for two reasons,
1 - He is the worst the industry has to offer, and
2 - I have a grandchild
This web site is my own creation and the latest effort
in a continuing campaign to force the broadcasting industry to adhere to
the laws and
stop broadcasting adult material to children.
If you agree . . . Please Support This Web Site!
