O’Shaughnessy: We Have to Stop This Train

Whitney Radio’s Bill O’Shaughnessy, owner of WVOX and WRTN, Westchester, N.Y., stated in remarks for NAB’s summit on responsible programming that a “runaway train” led by the FCC and Congress, and driven by “would-be censors” is headed straight for broadcasters. In prepared remarks for the summit he states, “We have to stop this train.”
“The Commissioner (Michael Copps) and Congress want a world that is uncomplicated, without pain for their children, not obscene, not profane,” he states. “But, the hard truth is that their children, our children, are meeting in the real world the very influences we are trying to shield them from.
“If parents give their children the right kind of vehicle, their kids will float on any kind of debris. The censors and the bluenoses can’t, however, get rid of the debris. … It’s called life.”
Should the FCC be in the business of “judging and punishing ‘utterances?'” O’Shaughnessy asks.
“To many, Howard Stern’s ‘trash mouth’ is not worth defending. But freedom of speech is. This election-year crusade against ‘shock jocks’ can have far-reaching implications that can come back to haunt us,” he states.