[BC] More on Bill Handel - brilliant

[David Lawrence]

 >From MusicBiz (http://www.musicbiz.com):

Apparently, Clear Channel's Broadcast Responsibility Initiative doesn't
cover air talent making fun of an ethnic tragedy. The Muslim interest group
CAIR is demanding an apology from Talk KFI-AM Los Angeles morning host Bill
Handel for making light of the recent tragedy during the Hajj pilgrimage,
where hundreds died. (You may recall that Emmis bent over backwards
mollifying Asians who were upset with a Hot 97 New York parody song about
the tsunami a year ago.) Here, however, Handel responded by saying that he'd
apologize on three conditions: that CAIR 1) denounces all terrorist attacks;
2) agrees that Israel is a sovereign nation with the right to defensible
borders; and 3) that it has no ties, financially or otherwise, to terror
organizations or individuals. A management press release stated that "We
regret that listeners found the comments of one of our on-air hosts to be
insensitive. KFI does not censor its hosts, nor does it tell them what to
say or not to say. KFI is a strong and passionate believer in First
amendment rights and that is at the very core of this radio station." CAIR
tersely agreed to those conditions. One might wonder why Clear Channel is
standing up for its air talent, when it threw Howard Stern under the bus.
One would answer that Stern was an Infinity property, while 100% of the
revenue generated from Handel's very successful show fills Clear Channel's
coffers.

David
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