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Howard stern urges vote against bush Original Source Link: (May no longer be active)
http://www.azcentral.com/offbeat/articles/0305stern-bush05-ON.htmlhttp://www.azcentral.com/offbeat/articles/0305stern-bush05-ON.html
Howard Stern urges vote against Bush
Peter Goodman
Newsday
Mar. 5, 2004 05:19 PM
Howard Stern, sounding grim and depressed, said Friday on his top-rated morning show that he expected to be forced off the radio within three months, the victim of a political and financial campaign driven by right-wing religious conservatives. He urged listeners to vote against President Bush in revenge.
"The plug is about to be pulled on me," he told his audience, which he estimated at about 16 million listeners nationwide. "I'm saying my goodbyes now. There's nothing you can do about it . . . Vote George Bush out of office. That's all I ask. Remember me when you go to the voting booth."
Until recently, Stern has stayed away from politics. "I just want to do fart jokes and have stripper chicks in here," he said Friday. He has talked about going off the air before, but usually around the time of contract negotiations. His current contract has two years to run.
Stern's show, carried on more than 40 stations around the country and broadcast from WXRK/92.3 FM in New York, was suspended Feb. 24 from six stations owned by radio giant Clear Channel Communications, a Texas company whose owners are major backers of Bush. Stern is syndicated by Infinity Broadcasting, a subsidiary of Viacom Inc., that also owns more than 100 stations.
When announcing the suspension, Clear Channel CEO John Hogan said that Stern was being punished for an incident in which a caller used a racial slur while referring to African-American women. On Tuesday, Sen. Sam Brownback, R-Kansas, wrote to Viacom president Mel Karmazin about Infinity's lack of action. "In light of Infinity's reported new indecency policy, and the supposed use of a substantial time delay, I do not understand how such a broadcast could be aired using an Infinity broadcast license," he wrote.
"Clear Channel set me up," Stern said. "They used me. They threw me to the wolves." He said he expected Infinity to be forced to drop him by the threat of huge fines (Congress is considering raising fines for broadcast indecency to $500,000, up from the current maximum of $27,500) and possible loss of broadcast licenses. "Mel will not be able to do business . . . The company will try to fight back, but it won't be able to. I'm heartbroken about this."
A Stern campaign against Bush is no idle threat, in the opinion of one industry expert. "George W. Bush should lie awake at night having lost Howard Stern's support and having Stern as a political enemy," said Michael Harrison, founder and editor of the industry journal Talkers magazine. Although it is independent, Talkers has links to the conservative Heritage Foundation, which sponsors its twice-yearly talk-radio seminars. "Stern's clout, his influence over adults who vote, professionals, 30-something and 40-something professionals, is enormous," Harrison said.
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