Dr Laura's N-Bomb

[Buckley]

Somewhere in the '80's, the mantra from managers and program directors and news directors at the largest stations became:
"Don't offend anyone!"

Scary then, that Canadian Radio's still clinging to a 30 year old set of ideals. I get that no one wants the headaches and that the CRTC is stuck back even further than the 1980's, but come on...

The real difference is - and this may be significant - if my yammerings draw no interest or worthwhile responses, I will be relegated to the side by indifference.

It's true that indifference is the absolute worst response a radio personality can receive, with good and bad being both equally good in some cases (you know how many listeners Dr. Laura probably also gained from finding out she might be a racist? Not necessarily the listeners you want but they'll still be hearing the ads), but anything has to be better than, as you put it, "pure, filtered sachrine". Or who knows, maybe I'm one of the only 6 people who don't want to hear the morning news girl banter with "straight man and bad ass (by sesame street standards)" about how their kid colored on the wall this week but it was cute because the kid drew a big heart with "mom" in the middle, so she felt bad about washing it off the walls... awww... excuse me while I check my blood sugar.

[Marke Driesschen]

There's two expressions that come to mind about this...
If you live by the sword, you die by the sword..
If you play with fire, you'll eventually get burned....
If the Dr. Lauras and Rush Limbaughs of the world want to make their mark by being edgy, controversial and opinionated...fine..we get that. But chances are they will offend someone with that approach and, rather than face the consequences when they go too far, it somehow gets twisted around that they are the ones who's 'right to express themselves' is offended. Does that mean I can go on TV, drop a couple of F-bombs and then claim "Well, people use that word all the time in heavy traffic! Why can't I use that word? It's my constitutional right!" Believe me, there are days when I want to but I don't. I tend to be afflicted with impulses of class and restraint sometimes!
I will defend the right for anyone to speak their mind, but when you make outrageous statements that have either no merit or meaningful purpose to your point and in turn either hurt or insult an individual or group of people, you should have the courage to admit you were wrong. I'm tired of broadcasters like this who knowingly push the buttons but then cry foul when someone pushes back.
As for Dr. Laura....according to my former colleagues at Talk 1410, she is a nasty piece of work. She was here for a speaking engagement and used the 1410 studios for her show while in town. I don't know the entire story behind it, but after Jennifer Thompson related an encounter with the good Dr. on the air during the Jen and Joe show, both her and Joe had to read a written apology to Dr. Laura, who, it turns out, has no sense of humour. I guess in Dr. Laura's world, those 'rights' apply only to her.