Clear Channel stations in Cleveland, Raleigh, and Houston started a fire-storm with on-air comments advocating running cylists off the road, hitting them with car doors, or throwing objects at them.
"After the Raleigh and Houston broadcasts, Cowan mounted an Internet campaign against Clear Channel that created a national nightmare for the company. Clear Channel still faces complaints filed by bicyclists with the Federal Communication Commission, which grants radio licenses. "
"The company explained that after the Houston and Raleigh broadcasts, a producer in Houston was fired and the Raleigh morning team was suspended. In Cleveland, after a meeting with Cowan, Clear Channel officials apologized on air to bicyclists, broadcast public service announcements about sharing the road and donated $10,000 for bike advocacy. "
Clear Channel radio stations are all too often overflowing cesspools of filth, modeled after the "king of all media", the head potty-mouth Howard Stern. I would like to think that the individuals involved in these events are no longer working in radio, but I'm sure other stations, hungry for the ratings that filth always brings, hired them within days.
But if they decide to try to come down on cyclists again, they'd better watch their backs.
Posted on November 11, 2003 09:06 PM