Pressure to fire Savage mounts
Don Day | July 28, 2008Michael Savage – who has picked on just about everyone – may finally have picked the wrong target: autistic kids.
Savage called the kids “idiots” and “morons” (clip at right). Now pressure is mounting for Savage to step down or be fired. Aflac and Home Depot pulled out, and a few affils have dunked the program as well.
KBOI airs the program evenings following Nate Shelman.
Autism is real. I know this for my niece just turned 10 and is about to be put into a state school because she has grown and has behaviors her parents can’t control anymore. But I feel Savage is being broad w/ his statements. He’s simply explaining excuses bad parents have. I’m aware of that 1% that he spoke of. But that’s really nothing compared to what the jerks on the X say about handicapped kids.
I don’t know about Autism, but I wonder if he confused it with ADD or ADHD. I’m a little skeptical of that condition. As someone who has studied education and talked to folks in that area, often times kids and teenagers get misdiagnosed as having ADD when in reality they are pretty bright and bored out of their skulls. They have little to no challenges at school or at home and then they start to act out.
But hey, who am I? If everybody is up in arms about Savage, why not let the market dictate his fate. If everyone is that pissed off just turn the dial to something else and let the ratings plumet. We all know in this business they don’t put up with low ratings for too long.
The reality is he won’t get booted off because he makes too much money for other people – like it or not.
“The reality is he won’t get booted off because he makes too much money for other people – like it or not.”
Probably true, but he did just lost about a half-dozen affiliates over this. No wonder “Savage” and his distributor are desperately trying to spin what he said.
People really need to do their own research rather than being spoon-fed bits and pieces. I know it’s a chore, but find & read the entire transcript of what he said before makeing jugement. And that means you Don.
The role of a smart media, political, and information consumer is to listen to all sides of an issue, educate oneself about the issue, and then make an educated decision. Are Savage, Imus, and Stern’s comments always what I agree with or believe to be acceptable? No. In fact, I find all three to be outlandish and obnoxious. However, acceptable community standards and market ratings determine one’s success or failure in the media. When the public consumption of Mr. Savage’s comments boils down we will see what remains of his program. Intelligence will overshadow emotion and eventually the market will determine his fate. If ratings remain relatively strong, Savage stays. If not, Savage’s role in media is likely reduced or eliminated completely. Time will tell.
And that’s how I see things from my little corner of the world.
The entire transcript of what Savage said about autism can be found at mediamatters.org for anyone who wants to read the whole thing.
I agree with Buster Bronco. Let the ratings decide. They always do. Controversy is the name of the game. It creates buzz for the program. It can also get out of hand when you have three or four hours a day to fill with something. Sometimes ones mouth gets ahead of ones head and things get said that are unfortunate and inappropriate.
Sometimes, too, celebrities develop an exaggerated sense of their own importance, which can lead to these kinds of situations. Time, ratings and support from sponsors will decide his fate. I say we just sit back, cook up some hot dogs, drink a beer and watch the fireworks.
I actually did read the transcript Mr. Frahm (boiseengineer), and I’m not passing jdgenent, even though that seems to be your game with me of late. If you don’t like this site’s content, story selection – or even if you just don’t like me, that’s fine – don’t read it.
I’m not certain why boiseengineer is calling Don on passing judgement. He reported on what could be legitimately called a story. He wrote that there is a controversy. There is. He wrote about what the controversy was regarding words that Savage used to describe a certain segment of the population. Those words were used. He included that portion of the broadcast to show those words were used. He indicated the fallout of this by listing the sponsors and affilitates that dropped their support. He then said where you could hear the show locally. So, where is the judgement? The fact that the story was reported at all? If that’s the case, it sounds like a coverup.
“Intelligence will overshadow emotion.”
I’m not sure how anyone can say that in this time in this country. I don’t think people make decisions based on the best reasons, but I think in this case it will happen. However, people forget. How long was imus off the air before he came back? No matter what you think about what he said, eventually it won’t matter anymore.
Thought for the day: An echo makes a lot of noise before it leaves.
I feel privileged to have been agreed with and quoted on the same week.
I like Savage, wish he was still on the 4:00 PM slot on 670. The ratings and market place should determine if Savage stays or goes. Radio offers a lot of choice in this country and if someone doesn’t like Savage or whoever, just move left or right on the dial.
Awesome from above.
From “ctopp1″: “if someone doesn’t like Savage or whoever, just move left or right on the dial.”
Is there actually anything to the right of Savage? Plenty of room to go happily to the left, however….
In response to Mr. Bass’s question of whether or not there is anything right of Mr. Savage, I view the political spectrum as a line with conservatism to the right, moderates to the center, and liberalism to the left. However, the line as narrow in width. There may be nothing to the right of Mr. Savage, but, as with Humpty Dumpty, there is room have a great fall completely off the spectrum. The ratings will determine whether Mr. Savage hard enough that all the king’s men can’t put him back together again or if he just cracked his shell.
I read his entire transcript…
He still sounds like a complete Donkey….