Radio Talk: A Difficult Subject
Posted by: EvanJul 19 2006, 7:28 pm
Over the past week, I've been working behind the scenes to respond appropriately to some controversial remarks made on a local radio station, Jammin' 95.5 during their show The Playhouse. While we haven't been able to confirm the content of those remarks, we've worked with the station so that they hear we're concerned about bike safety and that we're concerned about what was reportedly said.
I've talked with PDOT, Jonathan Maus, the League of American Bicyclists, several advocates and the BTA staff.
This has been extensively reported on at BikePortland.org (lead scoop, hat tip), the Portland Mercury blog, Willamette Week's murmurs column, etc. Jonathan's been doing his best at digging into the situation and responding. And the on-line community has had a lot of ideas and has been taking it into their own hands.
The exact content of the talk show comments is a subject of much debate, and causes difficulty in deciding how to respond to the situation appropriately. What then?
First, we must remember people are known to perceive reality depending on their preexiting biases (sociology and psychology studies on who holds a knife in a video are stunning). Bicyclists hearing the show probably focused on some words and phrases, talk-show shock-jocks think they said another. While the shock-jock thinks he said something merely insulting, others heard a call to violence. We can probably all agree there was an expression of anger at a cyclist who PK thinks cut him off, and that the hosts clapped when someone reported cyclists being hit. Beyond that, we're stuck in hearsay. The show's manager says he was "appalled" about the hosts clapping for the hit cyclist and called the station immediately.
Second, the show's format is one over-the-top attempts at humor. The show's host is being paid to push people's buttons and be provocative. By Willamette Week's measure, in 2003 the station repeatedly crossed the line between provocative and inappropriate. Whether it reached the point of inciting violence or not, and I can't tell in this case, the host portrayed a lack of sympathy to cyclists who are injured while acting in certain ways. For those of us who've lost friends, families, and neighbors, or been injured ourselves while on bikes, such callousness hits us pretty personally and deeply. The hardest part of my job is responding to serious and fatal crashes, and I wish everyone treated crashes very seriously.
Third, we struggle with how much insensitive talk shows increases danger for cyclists. To many in the cycling community, this talk fosters mean, aggressive, dangerous driving and attitudes towards cyclists that threatens our very lives and safety when we're on the road. We are more fearful when we hear it, and feel that expressing those thoughts encourages an outrageous norm. To others, it's simply a jerk with a microphone stating a common road rage that this time is directed towards cyclists. Were it pervasive anti-cyclist talk, instead of the "entertainment of the week," we could clearly know what's happening and respond. Instead, it seems to have been a short-lived subject (and the host may learn from his on-bike experience, see below). Of course, it's happened before on other shows, and the BTA will respond and educate those who think it's cool to bash cyclists.
Now, we have to piece things together and move forward. When talking with Tim, the station manager, he apologized and said he doesn't condone violence toward cyclists, and wants to find some positive things to do. He's committed to making the host try biking to work a couple of times to see the world through the eyes of a cyclist (which has already happened at least once). We're asking them to do more (a share the road PSA would be a start), and the underlying problem may be the show's format and desire for conflict-driven ratings and an uneducated host, rather than a systematic anti-bicyclist effort.
I think that most folks can agree that we need to work on sharing the road safely, and the station, the BTA, and community partners can carry that message forward.
Finally, as bicycling advocates, let's express our concerns in productive ways. Threats of violence and damage to Tim and the station don't open minds and roads to cycling, they close them.
My name is Jasun Wurster and I have been involved with this incident from the beginning along with Jonathan.
You may know me from the website that I created when I recorded Monday's show and posted sound bites for the world to hear located at:
http://web.pdx.edu/~jasun/haters/index.html
I am also the person in which the shows how, PK, refers to as wursterj@hotmail.com in the sound bite titled 'Don't cry PK … I am playing by your rules'.
This entry is going to be critical of the BTA and the station.
If you listen to the sound bite recorded on Monday July the 16th titled 'PK checks in with his boss …', Tim McNamara says “… I know what you said, I listened to the tape …â€?, I do not sense any thing but contempt for us in his voice.
On Tuesday July the 17th during the monthly Critical Mass / Local Government meetings I provided Sam Adam's office and the Commander of traffic CD's of the sound edits. The PPB was unaware of the show. I was saddened for I would hope that he BTA would have thought about telling local law enforcement about this issue.
I am saddened that the BTA is even thinking of Public Service Announcements (PSA) to help Tim McNamara, as quoted on bikeportland.org, “… to make this stop?! I will do anything you ask.â€?.
The FM radio spectrum is a publicly owned resource in the United States. By Law all radio stations have to run 'X' number of PSA's each day. This cost the radio station nothing to run bike safety PSA's.
This show is Nationally Syndicated in 13 other communities in which damage has been caused as well. Accepting compensation, in any form, that assist only Portland, Oregon is unethical and should not be considered.
I feel that the BTA could best serve bicyclist nationally by using their lawyer resources to get a copy of the show on the 13th and allow us, as a community, to make a decision … as opposed to the BTA making decisions behind the doors and using leading questions to manipulate us.
I agree with Jason. Get Ray Thomas, or some other lawyer, to get the station to release the tape TO THE PUBLIC.
I'm a bit concerned that 95.5 will try to avoid additional bad publicity by releasing the tape to the BTA only. 95.5 will use their advertiser issue as an excuse. Then, the BTA board will hold a meeting about the tape. The public will not be invited to that meeting. At that meeting, the BTA board will decide what 95.5's penalty should be.
During bike to work month/week/day many of us joined co-workers who don't ride to work for a day of intro-to-bike-commuting. Thus we have a group of bicyclists in the area who are ready and willing to volunteer to ride with new cyclists.
Does BTA maintain a list of those people? It would be a great resource to pull from and provide a ride buddy to the 95.5 crew. Being a morning person I could get up at the 2:00 or 3:00 am needed to ride with the morning radio guy.
Side note – two years ago I rode with my sister. She had often voiced the common complaint about cyclists not stopping at stop signs. We were less than four blocks into the ride when I was shouting out to her "Stop! Stop!" as she proceeded to run a stop sign. This lead to a great discussion.
We've reviewed the legal options for getting a copy of the tape. As a non-attorney who has some familiarity with the law, I can't say they look very good for getting us the tape in a timely manner. Believe me, if we got it, we would share it with the public — there's no way we would add to the heresay mess.
We could FOIA the tape from the FCC, but that would probably take several months, if not years. If you have other ideas on what laws might allow us to get a copy of the tape in a timely fashion, I'm open to hearing them.
Hi Evan,
Here are a few ideas:
1) A person who has been assaulted by a motorist can file suit against the radio station, with the BTA picking up the legal bill, and request that tape as evidence.
2) The BTA with their vast political connections could assist in having persons in power officially , like Sam Adams, condone the shows actions and request for the FCC to take action via state and federal senators and representatives.
3) The BTA could mobilize your members to apply pressure against the radio station by filing complains with the FCC and following up with Congressman Earl Blumenauer. There is a resource as with all the information: http://web.pdx.edu/~jasun/haters/cheat_sheat.html
4) The BTA provide safety material to the bicyclist that want to peacefully educate the non-cycling public.
5) The BTA could use their resources to get other prominent local and federal politicians to call Tim McNamara at 503-243-7595, extension 216 and request a copy of the tape.
6) The BTA could work with other organizations such as churches, unions and bicycle related businesses to call Tim McNamara at 503-243-7595, extension 216 and request a copy of the tape.
What I am NOT for is the BTA to broker a deal with a local radio station. But to support cyclists in changing the national perception of a person riding a bicycle on the street.
jasun
The radio host who started this should be forced to apologize in public for weeks on end and then fired.
What a moron.
I got this after posting on a radio forum:
If you want a copy just about anything recent on most Portland radio and TV stations, contact Moba Media. You'll need to pay, but they can get if for you.
http://www.mobamedia.com
I checked out the website, but couldn't tell from a quick visit how much it would cost to get the show. If its not outrageous, it woud sure seem like money well spent by the BTA though. Then we could all judge for ourselves.
We checked with Moba Media earlier this week. They don't have the show (they don't normally record 95.5, probably because it isn't a news station).
Do they record any of the 11 other affiliates that nationally simulcast the show?
Here is list:
KXJM – Portland, OR
WZNR – Norfolk, VA
KEZE – Spokane, WA
WRED – Portland, ME
KUJ – Tri Cities, WA
KBTE – Lubbock, TX
KSXY – Santa Rosa
KKYD – Topeka, KS
KEWB – Redding, CA
KRSQ – Billings, MT
KAQX – Astoria, OR
KFAT – Anchorage, AK
I suggest initial PSAs and a daily "Bicycle Moment" feature where callers can call in and voice either negative or positive comments. Those comments should then be discussed with a positive outlook toward the end.
So if a motorist calls in and rants about "how them stinking bikes are always in the way," PK et. al. should thank the motorist and then discuss that cyclists have legal rights to the road and that motorists should learn to deal with them just like they would a slow cement truck or farm equipment.
If a cyclist calls in dissing a motorist… then again the host and any guest should discuss the issues and suggest a peaceful, legal, way for all road users to co-operate.
It may be a bit saccharin, but the goal should be to foster good relations between the cycling and motoring communities and how we all can share the road.
Moba's a local company, not national. We looked into getting the show from Norfolk and California — no luck yet.
I would love to see PK get fired and be forced to do 200 hours of community service for the bike community.
I agree with Jason's comments. I DO support the BTA, and I want to encourage not only BTA, but BikePortland, and the whole community to keep the pressure on regarding this issue. Just like the bike vs bus incident, we can make this a situation which has more positives than negatives.
After all the hoopla, it seems that PK has really gotten a new perspective from his Bike Ride. I think Mr. McNamara would benefit from a similar biking experience. If he wants to do something to improve the situation let him bike to work and exercise off some of that scowl.
i realize its been 6 weeks but i wanted to mention that the btas behavior in this sitiuation makes me want to ask for my membership money back!