Morning “Shock Jocks” Shows…

I don’t listen to them because I believe they cater to the lowest common denominator. A few weeks back on a morning radio talk show on WPLR the hosts had a story out of Belgium about a man divorcing his wife because she's transgender and show hosts were very, very negative about her. What happen to them, nothing at all. But down in Washington DC the hosts of a ESPN station got suspended for their rant about trans-athletes. In a post on “Outpost” Cyd Zeigler Jr. call for them to be suspended because of what they said,

ESPN 980 has suspended radio hosts Steve Czaban and Andy Pollin for their heinous attack on Gabrielle Ludwig and other transgender athletes on their Dec. 6 show. The station has released this statement:

    We strongly believe two of our employees crossed the line when discussing a tanssexual person on their program last Thursday. Such intolerance and insensitivity will never be tolerated by this company. Due to the nature of their conversation, the pair have been temporarily removed from ESPN980′s Sports Reporter program.

Outsports called for their suspension yesterday after hearing their three-minute anti-trans rant. My guess is that someone at ESPN told the station they had to do something concrete, it had to include a suspension, and they had to do it fast. And we know GLAAD has been working with the station on a proper response. ESPN released a statement to Outsports earlier today rejecting the comments made by the two hosts.

It is not that they are against trans-athletes but it is what they said, they made it a personal attack using derogatory and hateful speech. In an earlier post Cyd Zeigler Jr. wrote that…

Last Thursday, 980AM ESPN Radio in Washington DC featured one of the nastiest, most anti-transgender rants I’ve ever heard. Along with their guest, they lashed out at trans college basketball player Gabrielle Ludwig. Among their horrific comments:

•     They said transgender people should not be allowed to play sports. ”Whatever you’ve got to do to scratch that inner itch and quell those inner demons, that’s fine. But don’t go playing sports then. And don’t go playing sports saying, ‘but I’ve go the rights of everyone else.’”
•     They make fun of Ludwig’s appearance, including her biceps and tattoos. Clearly reacting to photographs, they expressed deep-seated disgust at her appearance. “That could be a Russian chick,” they said as they cackled.
•     They referred to her as “he/she” and as “it.” “I think ‘it’ is the politically correct term.”

We hear it over and over again how talk show hosts cross the boundary from joking to hurting. We saw it in the death of the nurse on Britain. Some talk show hosts will do anything for ratings and a laugh at other innocent people expense; they try out do the other “Shock Jocks” in being the most outrageous radio host.

If you listen in the morning to the “Shock Jocks” ask yourself at whose expense are they getting their laughs and rating points?