If you live in St. Louis or Phoenix, you’ve heard the story about how shock Jock Beau Duran called Daryl Kile’s widow, Flynn, on the air and after telling her she looked hot, asked if she had a date for the game. Flynn mustered the class to say “Goodbye” before hanging up. Everybody and their brother has been apologizing for the incident, the St. Louis Post Dispatch ran a couple of letters of apology from Phoenicians, the radio station even put up lame apology on their web site.
While it’s nice everyone in Phoenix felt the need to apologize, they didn’t do anything wrong. We know it’s the mutton headed jock who’s to blame (along with the station manager), and that our own St. Louis idiot shock jocks would have done the same if only the Diamondbacks had a recent widow, or something similar. Let’s face it, the race for morning radio ratings is a race to the bottom, although I’m not sure we’re sinking any lower. Wasn’t it Howard Stern, the king himself, who talked about how “hot” the “chicks” were fleeing the Columbine massacre? Isn’t he making more money now than then? As long as the audience listens, we’ll continue to hear it – whatever it is. And don’t think radio is somehow different — wasn’t it Salon, bastion of everything good, that ran Forbidden Thoughts About 9/11, which was a catalogue (when including the follow up “The Readers Respond”) of just about every tasteless, thoughtless, and heartless response – common denominator of shocking – to 9/11 that even Howard Stern wouldn’t have aired?
According to this story, originally Doran wasn’t going to be disciplined in any way, despite the uproar. But when a big advertiser, The Shane Co. (“now you have a friend in the diamond business”), yanked their advertising and demanded the station make public apologies in St. Louis, Beau was suspended for a week. Not much of a penalty, but you take what you can get. I never much cared for the Shane Co., but I have to applaud their action. Not enough to run out and buy some jewelry, but still I hope other advertisers consider what it is they sponsor. Maybe it will be a “I’m mad as hell, and I’m not going to take it anymore.” moment. Or not. It’s a tricky job, balancing what some want to hear against what many don’t. But if you’re an advertiser, there’s nothing wrong in saying: Say and do what you want, just not on my nickel.
