This is a timeline of protests against KSFO Hate Speech Radio from 1995 to the present.
Sorry for the sloppy formatting.
I have been going through the San Francisco Chronicle archives, and I'm not even one quarter through. This will be very brief as the protests against KSFO Hate Speech Radio are so many:
1995
Democratic National Committee vs. KSFO
April 28, 1995
A Message from the National Chairman of the Democratic National
Committee....
In the aftermath of the Oklahoma tragedy, Americans are asking how
our society became so violent, how we can build more peaceful
communities, and how such a horrifying act could have been
committed against so many innocent people.
I am writing to you because there are organized efforts in this country that spread hatred and encourage violence in our
communities. These purveyors of hate are working nonstop to
intimidate law enforcement efforts and create a climate of
lawlessness.
In San Francisco, radio listeners on KSFO recently heard talk show hosts speak of "lynching a few liberals" and encouraging listeners to "shoot illegal immigrants who come across the border." (Minneapolis Star-Tribune, 2/24/95)
These are just a few examples of some of the venom spewed on the airwaves. Other organized groups also are spreading hatred and encouraging violence.
This sort of violent speech should be repugnant to all Americans. And there is clearly a connection between such hateful diatribes and the escalation of violence that our country has experienced.
It is the responsibility of each and every one of us to work to end this uncivil discourse before more innocent lives are lost. Today I am writing to urge everyone to speak out against those who threaten the civility of our society. Our voices are stronger than theirs if we make them heard. I encourage you to:
- send letters to your local newspapers calling for an end to these efforts to incite violence;
- call your local radio stations and tell them that you
want the purveyors of hate to be held accountable for their
remarks;
- call or write to your elected officials and tell them you
want them to work toward ending these efforts to destroy our
communities; and,
- organize local efforts in your communities to protest against the irresponsible media outlets that put this garbage on the air.
Many people are profiting by distributing these hateful attacks. Media organizations make money this way, talk show hosts get rich, and the NRA's bank account increases when more people buy guns to wage war on the government. All of them have an incentive to continue to fan the flames of hatred. And we have an incentive -- the protection of our families -- to stop them.
Together we can work to ensure that our society adheres to rational and civil discourse. We have no choice but to act now to ensure that we remain a peaceful and law abiding society.
Thank you for acting as a concerned citizen.
Sincerely,
Don Fowler
National Chairman
Democratic National Committee
As a result of protests hate spewing talkshow host is fired:
KSFO Fires Emerson
JESSE HAMLIN, Chronicle Staff Writer
Friday, February 17, 1995
J. Paul Emerson, the controversial KSFO talk show host whose inflammatory remarks about gays and minorities sparked protests, pickets and an advertising boycott of his show, was sacked by the station yesterday.
Officials at both KSFO (560 AM) and its corporate parent, Capital Cities/ABC, confirmed that Emerson had been taken off the air, but refused further comment.
SF Mayor, SF Supervisors & Gay Activists vs KSFO
TALKING BACK TO "HateTalk" RADIO
FROM THE GLAAD MARCH 1995 NEWSLETTER
Responding to KSFO’s AIDS-phobic and homophobic broadcasts, over a hundred protesters—including S. F. Supervisors Tom Ammiano, Carole Migden and Sue Bierman—picketed the offices of the Bay Area radio station.
The February 3rd demonstration was spearheaded by ACT UP/Golden Gate, GLAAD, Mobilization Against AIDS, The AIDS Policy Project, and Project Inform. KSFO is one of several Bay Area broadcasting ventures owned by media giant ABC (the American Broadcasting Company).
Exercising his own right of response, S. F. Mayor Frank Jordan wrote a letter to KSFO’s general manager in which he described Emerson’s HIV broadcasts as "absolutely false" and a threat to "the public health and safety of our citizens."
El Cerrito Police Association vs KSFO
El Cerrito Cop Accused of Airing Hate as Radio Host
Peter Fimrite, Chronicle East Bay Bureau
Thursday, February 16, 1995
El Cerrito police, city officials and community leaders have strongly denounced a police officer who allegedly made derogatory comments about liberals, gays, feminists, homeless people and the Holocaust while moonlighting as a radio talk show host.
The controversy, which erupted this week when the El Cerrito Police Officers' Association issued a letter condemning the ``offensive'' remarks, raises questions about how far off-duty civil servants can go while exercising their right to freedom of speech.
El Cerrito Police officer Michael Spearman allegedly advocated lynching liberals, joked about gays ``looking at my butt'' and said the Holocaust was given ``too much attention'' while working recently as a fill-in talk show host on KSFO-AM radio. The officer's comments outraged several members of the police department, who claimed Spearman was, in effect, casting the entire force as bigots who care little about the plight of disadvantaged people.
1996
CA Senator & State Lawmakers vs KSFO
PAGE ONE -- Lawmakers Blast Radio Hosts' Smog Claims
Erik Ingram, Chronicle Staff Writer
http://www.sfgate.com/...
Friday, August 16, 1996
An angry group of state lawmakers is telling several San Francisco radio talk show hosts to ``put up or shut up'' over their continual claims that the state's new smog check program is a sinister plot to confiscate people's cars.
``After listening to these shows, people are writing and calling us, convinced that the government's black helicopters are going to land in their yards and take away their old Chevrolet,'' said Ed Matovcik, chief aide to Senator Mike Thompson, who is one of the five lawmakers challenging the radio hosts. ``They believe it because they heard it on the radio.''
Thompson, D-St. Helena, and the four other legislators decided they would rebut the radio assertions, one by one, at a Monday morning news conference at the state Capitol.
For example, they plan to point out that it is unconstitutional for the state to confiscate cars for failing a smog test.
KSFO Listener Threatens to Kill CA Senator and Family
Things reached the breaking point this week when a drunken caller left five messages on Thompson's office answering machine threatening to kill him, his wife and his mother.
The caller, who left his name, was interrogated by police and apologized, saying he had become angry after listening to a KSFO talk program. Thompson later asked authorities not to press charges.
===2001===
Asian American Coalition vs KSFO
In Sacramento, an organization of Asian-American groups organized a protest against hate speech on the public airwaves including KSFO-AM's nationally syndicated Michael Savage.
- Calling the Chinese "little devils," Savage called for dropping nuclear weapons on the country and said that Chinese-Americans should be put in internment camps if they wouldn't sign loyalty oaths.
"It goes far beyond ridiculing a certain ethnic group or calling names or making a certain group the brunt of jokes," says Georgette Imura, part of a Sacramento group called CAPITAL (the Council of Asian Pacific Islanders Together for Advocacy and Leadership). Rather than asking help from the FCC, they sent letters to KSFO advertisers and picketed the Sacramento station, KSTE, which airs the show. "We don't want to get into free-speech issues. Instead, we are going to hit them in the pocketbook."
"What it (hate speech) does is send a message to misguided folks that it's OK to act and talk that way. Our fear is that this will lead to acts of violence or discrimination."
2003
Marin County Teachers vs KSFO
KSFO's Michael Savage Refuses to Apologize for Suggesting Sex between Students, Homeless
"It is one of the most hurtful, hate-filled broadcasts I have heard... and the station is owned by Disney."
"The students involved are learning a big lesson about media irresponsibility"
{News Update: Congratulations to the owners of SavageStupidity.com for their legal triumph over Michael Savage and his attempt to bully them off the web. It was announced today (June 30, 2003) that their website is legal and protected under the first amendment.
Ross, CA.-- An apology from Bay Area talk show host Michael Savage, scheduled to be given to the students of a Marin County high school, was derailed Friday December 10 when an alleged misunderstanding about the age and number of the meetings' attendees caused the talk show host to duck out on the meeting at the last minute.
Savage intimated in a broadcast on Disney-owned KSFO-FM, that the possibility of forcible rape was a reason why female high school students might find it exciting to feed homeless people in San Francisco's inner city.
An apology for Savage's sexually improper comments was negotiated during a meeting October 5 between (then) Branson teacher and parent Dartanyan Brown, KSFO President Micheal Luckoff and Operations Manager Jack Swanson. According to Brown, the meeting held at the Front street offices of ABC-TV in San Francisco, was a cordial one with Luckoff offering his personal apology to Brown for any problems caused by Savage's comments.
A letter of protest, signed by teachers at the school, was sent to the radio station in early October. The letter was responded to by Jack Swanson, operations manager at KSFO who, after reviewing the tape, agreed with the teacher that "indeed, Mr. Savage's comments were well over the line of acceptability."
2005 - 2007
SPOCKO VS KSFO
December 16, 2005
KSFO promoting penis chopping
Spocko's Brain
My local right wing talk radio station, KSFO, had Brian Sussman on last night around 6:20. He was talking about his views on torture and what torture he would like to perform. "I would hold a 9mm to his head and cock it. Then I would tell him that I was going to cut off a finger and then his penis." I had to turn off the station after that. It was just straight up sadism and cruelty described in graphic detail. From a man who calls himself a "theocon", and at a time when young children could easily be listening.
We have our first documented success.
SPOCKO'S BRAIN
January 9, 2007
I would love if we had an actual letter, but I'll let bluestatedon say it in his own words.
Update: MEDC responds quickly
After I read last week that the Michigan Economic Development Corporation had advertised on KSFO, I sent emails to James Epolito, MEDC President and CEO, and Lisa Dancsok, MEDC VP for Marketing, Communications and Legislative Affairs, to inform them of the situation. I received a personal response via email that evening from Ms. Dancsok, informing me that they were investigating the situation immediately.
Yesterday, I received a phone call from Jim Epolito himself. He'd already met with with Governor Granholm about the situation, and needless to say she was horrified that money had been spent on advertising on that station.
The ads ran in October and November, and apparently MEDC's ad agency, who bought the spots, was not aware of the programming content. I bet they thought they were getting the Little Mermaid, not advocates for violence, torture, and hate.
At any rate, the MEDC has already canceled any future ad buys on the station, so KSFO now has one less advertiser.
KSFO Hate Speech Radio is brought to you by Disney, "America's Heart & Soul"
• After being approached by the Walt Disney Corporation (KSFO's owner), Melanie Morgan of KSFO conducted a high-profile screening of Disney's "America's Heart & Soul" -- "a pro-American alternative to Moore's hate-filled diatribe".