I really doubt there is a need to call him out on his post. If it had been, say, a country station that had played the song and a poster had said 'Doesn't suprise me because rural hicks and immaturity go hand in hand' would people call him out? Doubtful. Because for some reason that type of comment is accepted. But, if you are somebody that would have, then that shows a consistency that I applaud. As a person of mixed ethnicity, I'm amazed at the lack of intellectual consistency with which we are offended. Of course I'm frustrated when I hear someone make a comment about 'urban' types, etc. But, again to be consistent, I find it disingenuous to sit back and allow stereotypical comments about 'hicks' or 'rednecks' or 'southerners' to go by without at least commenting with the same disdain as I do when it hits closer to home, i.e. the urban stereotypes. We lose credibility when we're 'selectively' offended. I'm not Asian, but I'm offended by the conduct of HOT 97. We don't need comments generalizing 'urban dwellers'. I'm not even sure what's meant by that term. And, by the same token, lets remember the little twinge inside of us that we felt when we read it and consistently apply that next time we see a thread lambasting the rural stereotype.
However, the FCC does regulate what is acceptable on the airwaves as they are only leased to the radio stations. FCC has total control over what gets said over the airwaves and freedom of speach has little to do with it. If the government put them in jail or had them murdered for what they said you could make the "free speach" arguement but it is within the FCCs bounds to keep the ariwaves "decent" (whatever that means). Think about it. If the FCC didn't have this power then Janet Jackson and CBS could not have gotten into trouble over her breast. She could have argued "free speach" (like Larry Flynt) and nothing could have been done. However, since it was on TV and the FCC has power over what goes over the airwaves CBS got a huge fine - which is probably what is being asked of this radion station.
Here's an example of what I am talking about from an article in a cycling magazine. Apparently a shock jock got pissed about cyclists for some reason and said they should be run over. A lawyer answered the question at the end of the article in this way... ...in 1969 the Supreme Court reversed itself in Brandenburg v. Ohio. The new doctrine strongly protected free speech: "Advocacy of the idea of illegal conduct, without more, is constitutionally protected. Only where such advocacy is directed to inciting or producing imminent lawless conduct and is likely to produce such actions may the speech be suppressed." Today's "shock jocks" may sound like troglodytes, but most of them know their first amendment law better than most lawyers. If you were to listen to a tape recording of the offending shows, you would probably never hear a single sentence or string of sentences that contains the three essential Brandenburg elements: 1) The speech must direct, not just advocate, unlawful conduct. (Do it! Go now-do it!) 2) The unlawful conduct must be imminent or at a certain time in the future, not an indefinite future. (Go out NOW! Today, this morning, on your way to work, DO IT!) 3) The speech must be likely to produce lawless action. link
Yes, 'hicks', 'rednnecks' or 'southerners' (used in a contemptuous manner) would still disgust me. Whats even worse is that the poster is commenting (if you can call it that) on the ignorance and plain stupidity of the DJ's and then turns around and does the same thing. You talk about people being 'selectively' offended and i agree with you that does happen a lot. If you were offended by HOT 97 why are you not offended by the poster. Of course he/she has not replied as to the meaning of 'urban dwellers' so it this could all be rubbish
I agree with you on this. I have absolutely NO IDEA what 'urban dweller' is supposed to mean. I guess that term is supposed to be code for 'black'. And the assumption that being black equates with being immature is preposterous.
Jin responds. WARNING: EXPLICIT LYRICS (if there are appropriate times for profane release, this would be one of those times): http://www.alljin.com/Audio/Exclusives/jin-tsunami_response.mp3 So has that Miss Jones beyatch been sh*t-canned yet?
lol i was going to make that joke but you made it for me. i figured someone here would insinuate that urban means black. only black people live in urban areas...i think we all know this. also any sort of comment that can be perceived as racist is automatically against black people since black people are the only people in america that have trouble with racism. man who knows what he meant...maybe he just meant mexicans, maybe he just meant people in the hip hop culture, maybe he meant cubans or puerto ricans.
which is why people asked for clarification. Nobody jumped down his throat or accused him of anything. They just wanted to what he wanted to mean. Maybe he meant inner city youth of any color. Isn't it still a strange thing to say about them? I understand asking for clarification.
Well somebody got fired for making a tsunami joke, and it was no where near as bad as this song. Link If you don't want to read, I'll break it down quickly. A prominent English sports commentator, Rodney Marsh, made a joke during a call in show that David Beckham turned down a trade to Newcastle because of trouble with the "Toon Army in Asia." The fans of Newcastle are known as the "Toon Army." Say it with an English accent and it sounds like sort of like tsunami. If that pun cost him his job, I wonder what the terrible song would cost those DJs if they worked in England. I guess that guy is an urban dweller.
Well apparently from what I heard from friends in NYC. They say that it is getting a lot publicity over there. So at least some things are being done to make sure people hear about this.
This news haven't gotten any real big national exposure. It is mostly being heard in NY. If this was a song about black people and about shooting blacks, there will be a huge outcry. Every stations will be talking about it. Sadly, this incident is not. Asians and Asian-American doesn't have outspoken influential leaders like Jesse Jackson, etc. The host, Miss Jones and her co-host should be fired. Outraged!
So shall it be written, so shall it be done! ----------------- Radio station pulls show over tsunami slur HOT 97 morning show ridiculed victims NEW YORK (Reuters) -- The entire staff of the New York radio show "Miss Jones in the Morning" was taken off the air on Wednesday after broadcasting a song that ridiculed victims of the tsunami in South Asia, the radio station said. New York FM radio station WQHT, or HOT 97, repeatedly ran the segment last week on the show, hosted by deejay Tarsha Nicole Jones who uses the on-air name Miss Jones. Jones and her team were suspended indefinitely, according to publicist Lizzie Grubman, who declined to say whether Jones would feature in another show at a later date. http://www.cnn.com/2005/SHOWBIZ/TV/01/26/quake.slur.reut/index.html
These the same *ss clowns that made the joke. . . What were Aaliyah's last words then played a bunch of scream . . less than 24 hrs after she died in an airplane Damon Dash . . he boyfriend reportedly tried to beat the sh*t out of one of the DJs One of the women in the booth walk out after that They tried to be SHOCK JOCKS like howard stern but all SHOCK JOCKS SUCK Rocket River
But then there's the race issue-we can argue about how all racism is the same but that's just not true. A black person making fun of or being racist to a black person is not treated in the same light as a white person who does it to blacks. In this incident, the blacks were being racist and insensitive to Asians. The lyrics were this: There was a time, when the sun was shining bright So I went down to the beach to catch me a tan Then the next thing I knew, a wave 20 feet high Came and washed your whole country away And all at once, you can hear the screaming chi-nks And no one was saved from the wave There were Africans drowning, little Chinamen swept away You can hear God laughing, 'Swim you b****es swim.' [Chorus] So now you're screwed, it's the tsunami, You better run and kiss your ass away, go find your mommy I just saw her float by, a tree went through her head And now your children will be sold to child slavery http://www.newyorkpost.com/news/regionalnews/38657.htm It's like when a black person saids the word "nig-ger" to another black vs a white or asian person saying it to a black person. It will not and should not be treated the same.
Now when the say the whole team was taken off the air, is that including Miss Info (the Asian DJ), the one who was against the song in the first place?
HOT97’s Miss Jones & Morning Team Fired! Thursday - January 27, 2005 Silver T Late last night New York's #1 station Hot97 released this statement, regarding the Tsunami Song Statement from WQHT-FM, HOT 97 January 26th, 2004 (New York City) - Miss Jones and the HOT 97 Morning team have been indefinitely suspended for the airing of a song that made light of a catastrophic event, as well as comments made at the time the song was aired. Earlier this week, Miss Jones said on the air "I apologize to all who have been offended by my poor decision to go along with playing that insulting (to say the least) Tsunami song. I should have known better and I didn't. So I'm sorry and hopefully we can move forward from this, or I can move forward from this being a better hostess, because I am better than that, and I know better than that -- and you deserve better radio than that." While Miss Jones has apologized on the air, in the media and on the HOT 97 website, station management felt that stronger action was necessary to demonstrate the severity of the situation. Emmis Radio and HOT 97 will not tolerate such derogatory and racially insensitive content. This incident in no way reflects the spirit of HOT 97. The station has a long-time and well-known reputation for community involvement and support. Emmis Radio President Rick Cummings said, "What happened is morally and socially indefensible. All involved, myself included, are ashamed and deeply sorry. I know the members of the morning show are truly contrite. They know their actions here are inexcusable." We would like to clarify that no company advertising on our station had any connection to the Tsunami Song and no company advertising on our station endorsed or sponsored the offensive material aired on the "Miss Jones in the Morning" show. We apologize for any misunderstanding that may have caused listeners to believe that anyone, other than the morning show staff, was responsible for the material that should not have been aired.
