A talk radio host calls a sitting member of Congress a “scum-sucking pig wench” on air. During another broadcast, the host labels a former chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff “a lying sack of crap.” A second talk radio personality supports a guest who calls the nation of Mexico “one of the most despicable countries on Earth,” and days later praises another guest who says an illegal immigrant seeking sanctuary in a church should be dragged out by her hair.
The preceding remarks were delivered on Denver talk radio shows, hosted by personalities such as “Gunny” Bob Newman and Peter Boyles. But the vitriol is not much different from that of Don Imus, the national talk radio personality fired this week for making racially charged and bigoted comments – the latest in a career marked by such statements.
Imus’ firing for going – by his own admission – “over the line” raises the question of whether local talk radio hosts also sometimes go too far to foster dialogue with their listeners. Boyles, Newman and their colleagues such as Dan Caplis and Jon Caldara use the public airwaves to promote their positions on important issues such as immigration reform, ethnic tensions and politics. However, they frequently resort to inflammatory remarks and factual misinformation – that is, statements that can be proved untrue – to make their points.
Since the days of Alan Berg in the early 1980s, talk radio hosts have relied on ever-more outrageous styles and comments to attract listeners. Constitutionally protected free speech generally includes outrageous opinions and commentary, and media watchdog organizations such as Colorado Media Matters have no interest in silencing such opinions.
But what should the public make of radio hosts who routinely offer falsehoods stated as facts to support their opinions?
Simply put: Is it all right for Boyles and his radio brethren to use lies and smears to back up their assertions regarding ethnic groups, immigration or any other topic?
I don’t believe that it is. This is a line Denver broadcasters – and their advertisers – should fear to tread, yet Boyles and other talk show hosts cross it frequently. Some examples of falsehoods and ethnic smears among the many that Colorado Media Matters has recorded from Denver-area talk radio:
Discussing the dangers purportedly posed by illegal immigrants, Boyles and guests on his show have claimed repeatedly that those immigrants kill on average 25 Americans a day. They cite Government Accountability Office (GAO) statistics that allegedly support those claims. In fact, there is no GAO report or study that substantiates that 25-a-day figure, and a review of Justice Department statistics also indicates that the figure appears to be bogus.
On numerous broadcasts Boyles repeated the assertion that a U.S.-born child of illegal immigrants entitles the parents to avoid deportation, despite the fact that federal law indicates otherwise.
On his Jan. 23 broadcast, Caplis repeated the falsehood that presidential candidate Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., attended a radical Muslim seminary, never correcting himself when the story was debunked three days later.
Newman on his Feb. 23 broadcast made the claim that a new Bank of America program offers “credit cards specifically issued to illegal aliens,” a remark debunked by the bank’s own statements and credible news reports about the program.
These are among the numerous cases we’ve documented at colorado.mediamatters.org. Given the frequency with which these radio talkers use falsehoods to promote their opinions, the real question is: Will anyone hold them accountable for not telling the truth?
Until advertisers and listeners answer that question, we can expect the truth to be an infrequent guest on these shows.
Bill Menezes is editorial director of Colorado Media Matters, which describes itself as “a non-profit progressive research organization focused on identifying conservative misinformation in the media.”
