Freedom Of Speech Under Attack Once Again!!!

[Dubya91]

Opie and Anthony Suspended!!!

XM suspends Opie and Anthony for 30 days

By MATTHEW BARAKAT, Associated Press Writer1 hour, 16 minutes ago

XM Satellite Radio suspended shock jocks Opie and Anthony for 30 days Tuesday, one week after they aired crude sex comments about Condoleezza Rice, Laura Bush and Queen Elizabeth II and one day after they made light of the incident in their broadcast.

"Comments made by Opie and Anthony on yesterday's broadcast put into question whether they appreciate the seriousness of the matter," Washington-based XM said in a statement. "The management of XM Radio decided to suspend Opie and Anthony to make clear that our on-air talent must take seriously the responsibility that creative freedom requires of them."

Opie and Anthony, who last week apologized for the sex comments, struck a more defensive tone on Monday's broadcast. They lamented the state of radio and what they perceived as excessive reactions to comments made by themselves and other radio disc jockeys.

"We're under the same scrutiny as (National Public Radio) ? it doesn't make sense," they said on Monday's show.

The pair also expressed sympathy for Don Imus, saying his career is now "gone, just because he was trying to entertain people."

Last month, cable network MSNBC dropped its simulcast of Imus' show, then CBS Radio fired him for using racist and sexist terms to describe the Rutgers women's basketball team.

On May 9, Opie and Anthony, whose full names are Greg "Opie" Hughes and Anthony Cumia, aired a segment with a man they call Homeless Charlie. As the names of Rice, Bush and the queen came up, Charlie said in vulgar terms that he would like to have sex with each of them.

Opie and Anthony laughed as they imagined Rice's "horror" while describing a violent sexual encounter in which Rice is punched in the face.

Opie and Anthony were fired by CBS Radio in 2002 after broadcasting a call from two listeners who said they were having sex in New York's St. Patrick's Cathedral.

XM hired the pair in 2004. Because the show airs on satellite radio, its content is not subject to regulation by the Federal Communications Commission.

Opie and Anthony also host a syndicated, tamer terrestrial radio program for CBS. Opie and Anthony will be on the air for that program as scheduled Wednesday morning, CBS Radio said Tuesday.

A call to Opie and Anthony's agent, Robert Eatman, was not immediately returned Tuesday.

A spokesman for XM Satellite Radio Holdings Inc. declined to say whether Opie and Anthony would be paid during their suspension, calling it a contractual matter.

___

Associated Press Writer Larry McShane in New York contributed to this report.

Copyright ? 2007 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. The information contained in the AP News report may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without the prior written authority of The Associated Press.

It's official, we've lost our First Ammendment

[GADVwow]

As has long been said, there is freedom of the press, for the man who owns one.  Opie and Anthony have NO constitutional right to use their employer's facilities to make statements their employer may later disapprove of.  And they have been paid handsomely for their, uh, efforts.

I, for one, have exactly NO sympathy for them.

[Dubya91]

You are misguided, it is Satelite Radio meaning that ANYTHING is allowed, you are PAYING and KNOWING what you are listening to, who is XM to suspend them when the consumer DAMN well knows whats going on!!!!1

Visit www.wackbag.com for more information on O&A

[GADVwow]

Nope.  XM is the employer who suspended them.  CBS fired them for good.  And it is XM, not Opie and Anthony,  who gets to decide what, if anything, goes across their satellites...FOR NOW.  Congress can change that at the drop of a hat, and don't think for a minute that the president wouldn't sign that legislation.

As an XM customer, you are powerless to do anything other than cancel your subscription.

Howard Stern is no doubt somewhat concerned over all of this.

[WadeJ]

SAT doesn't automatically entitle them to be morons Robb.  Yes, we pay for the service but there is a fine line they must keep to if they want to remain employeed.  I have to agree, no first amendment was broken here.  Its not public radio.  They are "paid" radio personalities and they must abide by what their employer expects of them.

It would be like me going into work wearing shorts and a t-shirt.  I would definately be sent home and possibly even fired if I did it again.  I can't go saying - But its MY right to wear whatever I want right?  Nope, because my employer has rules saying I can't wear shorts and a t-shirt.

[Dubya91]

^ That is a very very good point Wade, however I dont see why this stupid comment gets them fired as opposed to their other racy, edgy programming they do on their channel during their air time. Apparently even Satielte radio is not even a safe haven for uncensorship in programming. XM stock is about to Freefall cause of this, I would almost gaurentee it!

CBS Fired them Again? Thats no surprise, CBS never did have any balls to begin with, Im sorry but O&A do NOT deserve to be fired for this, Imus didnt even get it this bad and he said things 10x worse

[WadeJ]

My main beef with this type of thing is that I think it should be handled differently.  Take care of the problems behind the scenes.  Let the shock jocks learn how to respect thier employer so they do a better job not going too far in the future.  Laying it out in the press like this doesn't do much good IMO and it isn't nesessary to suspend them.

Something like a $30,000 fine every time they cross that fine line is fine with me

[Dubya91]

I listen to them ALOT, practically every morning so you can tell I am very upset about this!

[WadeJ]

From the article I read this morning, it was really their own doing.  They didn't take the apology seriously and made stupid remarks back at XM.  Honestly, I know you like them Robb but they really asked for and deserved this suspension.  They could have just issued a apology and moved on but instead chose to make further fun of the situation (which might have even been funny lol).  Sometimes in life we just need to learn when to shutup though.

[coasterbruce01]

You have to figure it this way , XM owns the air, but can be sued for Defermation as well as other things by who they offended. It's all about how comfortable XM is with what they are saying.

The real Freedom that getting the bulldozed into the ground, your right to Privacy, the 4th amendment. Warrantless searchs of your 1st class mail, tapping or your regular phone and cell phone. We can't forget how easy the internet giants turned over user information to the Government, except for Google. They made them wait until the made sure that there users were being protected.

Ponder this thought, if you don't want a paper trail on who your spying on, you do it without a warrant.

The 4th amendment is under attack, free speech is here for the time being. I believed and bought into what I was taught in school, land of the free, home of the brave. That we should cherish the freedoms that we have.

I love a good freedom thread :-)

Bruce..............................

[PcMan]

Since the IMUS thing.
Broadcasters are scared of losing advertisments (and Yes Sat radio has them) and backlash from a few people that complaine .

I really don't have time to listen but I have in the past when they got suspened in
NY for the "Church THing"

I really don't care what happend   these guys are loaded $
but I do care about freedom of speech   yada yada yada 

Listem to Stern and other radio http://streamerp2p.com/?page=download.htm

I listen Classic rock and NJ101.5 anyway

[rjholla2003]

So it was the apology that did them in.  When I first heard it, I was surprised that they were suspended.  XM radio of course has a line, but I didn't expect a suspension when it was crossed.  Maybe a sanction of some sort, but I always thought XM's like to be so far out there that there wasn't much more you could go when you cross it.  I thought that maybe you fine them, throw in a statement by the company stating that their views are not the views of XM and keep it moving.

[PcMan]

It will be a time to take a Vacation for them 

[Dubya91]

They still will do the Free FM show. I can't blame them at all (O&A) , look at where an apology got Don Imus.....

[PcMan]

Imus is suing CBS for around 120 million or somthing like that
I think he had 40 million left on his contract  or that amount was his contract.  ?

[Dubya91]

Thats true but he did ALOT for charity...., O&A were not fired so there is no reason to launch nuclear weapons all over the place yet....

[GADVwow]

Yup.  I was wrong, it was two other shock jocks that CBS canned.  So far, CBS has taken no action this time around with Opie and Anthony.

An interesting article about this is here:

http://www.cbsnews.com/blogs/2007/05/16/publiceye/entry2818129.shtml