Asian American groups call for CBS to fire New York shock-jocks
SAN FRANCISCO -- Prominent Asian American civil rights groups in the Bay Area are demanding that CBS Radio fire New York shock-jocks Jeff Vandergrift and Dan Lay, who were suspended earlier this week for making a prank phone call to a Chinese restaurant seen as racist and sexist.
Today, the coalition of groups submitted a letter to CBS Radio, calling for the network to improve its guidelines on offensive terms, to communicate periodically with civil rights and community groups and to fire the duo -- who had broadcast on Bay Area airwaves for more than a decade before they went to New York in 2005 -- and their producer at WFNY-FM.
The coalition includes the Asian Law Caucus, Chinese for Affirmative Action of San Francisco and Equal Rights Advocates -- all in San Francisco -- along with Oakland's Organization for Justice & Equality and, in New York, the 80-20 Initiative, Asian American Legal Defense and Education Fund, and the Organization of Chinese Americans.
The station's general manager, Tom Chiusano, has agreed to meet with the coalition, but no date has been set. He had no comment on the groups' petition.
Vandergrift and Lay, who go by the monikers JV and Elvis on their show "The Dog House," placed a six-minute call to a Chinese restaurant in which they requested "shlimp flied lice," used sexually explicit language to proposition a waitress, referred to another employee's body part as a "tiny egg roll" and claimed to know kung fu.
The station suspended the pair without pay until further notice on Monday. [More....]
"Civil rights group" is a code word for American Glavlit. These groups don't even care that they are ruining the income of a Korean woman--the wife of one of the jocks. I expected to see more of this kind of thing, so as I promised, here's Chinese HBD humor I just made up:
Question: Why do Chinese people have slanted eyes?
Answer: To hide the dollar signs.
Are gun owners mentally ill?
Some anti-gun people think owning a gun is a sign of some kind of mental abnormality. According to General Social Survey data, gun owners ...
Have you listened to it? They should be taken off the air for crappy humor. It's idiotic. Hardly funny at all. I was looking for a few chuckles and could only get half way through. Ho-way I went.
ReplyDeleteI like a good Chinese joke like any other Chinaman.
I listened to 30 seconds of it, and it wasn't funny. I'm all for firing guys who aren't funny or talented, but that's different that punishing speech.
ReplyDeleteFree free to share any of those jokes with us. After mine, it would be nice to read a funny one.
Q: How do you blind fold a Chinese guy?
ReplyDeleteA: With dental floss!
Q: How do Chinese parents name their children?
ReplyDeleteA: They drop the silverware in bucket!
How about this site:
ReplyDeletehttp://www.chinesejokes.net/jokes.php
Then there's
http://www.irishjokes.com/
http://www.polishjoke.com/
http://www.blackjokes.net/
http://www.jewishjokes.net/
http://www.netfunny.com/rhf/jokes/88q2/11640.html (wasp jokes)
http://www.ahajokes.com/russia_jokes.html
http://www.ahajokes.com/german_jokes.html
http://www.humorsphere.com/humor/mexican_jokes.htm
A Chinese guy at work once asked me for an example of a joke making fun of Chinese. Off the top of my head, I said,
ReplyDelete"Hey, what do you get when you cross a black and Chinese? A car thief who can't drive!"
Several minutes of explanation later:
"Ah, Chinese marries black person, have child. Child bad driver, steals car... [Laughs] That is an insult! But it is worse for the black."
----- Original Message -----
ReplyDeleteFrom: Albert Wang
To: Robert
Sent: Sunday, April 29, 2007 12:13 AM
Subject: Albert Wang on CBS Radio "Chinese Food" prank call - EDWARDS STATEMENT ON DEROGATORY RADIO SKIT BY WFNY RADIO HOSTS.pdf
This should NOT be a political event, and should NOT be used by presidential candidates to try to curry favor.
As an Asian American, I believe that Senator John Edwards should not inject himself, "paid for by John Edwards for President," into this controversy. It is my sincere hope that other aspiring presidential candidates not take side on this matter.
This is not a political issue. This is a legal issue, and politics has no role in resolving this issue. I had no intention of prompting anyone to make this into a political debate when I decided to contact CBS on Saturday morning (April 21, 2007) regarding the Dog House's "Chinese Food" prank call incident as reported in Ming Pao Daily, a Chinese newspaper. (See attached.)
The real issue is: Given the Freedom of Speech guaranteed by our Constitution, to what extent can the Federal Communications Commission regulate the broadcast of INDECENT material?
In order to participate in this debate, you should become familiar with the definition of "INDECENCY" according to the Pacifica Foundation case decided by the United States Supreme Court in 1978. A presidential candidate simply does not have the authority to compel the U.S. Supreme Court reverse its own decision in Pacifica and change the definition of "Indecency". Even if the candidate becomes the next President, he still has no authority over the U.S. Supreme Court, nor should he attempts to do so. For our government to function properly, there should be checks and balances among the executive branch, the legislative branch, and the judicial branch.
You might want to get a copy of FCC Indecency Policy Statement, and study the "Candy Wrapper" Song incident, in which the FCC took regulatory sanctions against a San Diego radio station.
Please talk to legal scholars and hopefully they will not contradict my analysis. I am a lawyer, but not a civil rights lawyer.
We need justice. Justice should be impartial. Politics has no role in this matter.
Albert Wang
The lawyer who got some impartial justice for the First Baby of the Year.
from San Diego, California
----- Original Message -----
ReplyDeleteFrom: Albert Wang
To: albertwang221@hotmail.com
Sent: Tuesday, May 01, 2007 6:30 AM
Subject: Fwd: Radio 'shock jocks' make waves - Controversial hosts fired after national response - By: Elyssa Thome
Albert Wang's suggestions:
1. Federal Communications Commission has the regulatory authority to investigate CBS RADIO to make a determination of whether the BROADCAST and the REBROADCAST of Dog House's "Chinese Food" prank call violated INDECENCY regulations. FCC should make the determination of whether CBS RADIO should be sanctioned, e.g., $10,000 for the BROADCAST and $15,000 for the REBROADCAST. If you are upset by the "Chinese Food" prank call, contact the FCC by sending an e-mail to fccinfo@fcc.gov. Ask FCC to protect children from unwanted INDECENT, OBSCENE, PROFANE, and, yes, also VIOLENT, material involuntarily transmitted by TV stations and Radio Stations into our homes, especially during daytime (6:00 a.m. to 10:00 p.m.). We also have the right to privacy in our own homes.
2. DOG HOUSE hosts should NOT be fired without cause. Don't bark at the wrong tree. Do you want to go to a comedy show where the comedian is focusing on compliance with each and every imaginable federal, state, local and judge-made law and regulations? Let's give comedians some artistic licence, and allow them to be funny. If CBS Radio is pressured into firing Dog House hosts without cause, more than 90% of Americans, including myself, would believe that another injustice has been created . We should not commit an INJUSTICE in response to a prior INJUSTICE. Let's be FORGIVING, and not REVENGEFUL.
3. Let's reaffirm our LOYALTY to the UNITED STATES CONSTITUTION. Let's reaffirm FREEDOM OF SPEECH under the FIRST AMENDMENT. Let me be blunt: I am ethnic Chinese and a naturalized American citizen, and came here and choose to live here because I like it here and respects our LEGAL SYSTEM. If you don't like our CONSTITUTION and have no respect for our LEGA SYSTEM, you can vote in the next election and try to make a difference through the electoral process, petition your Senators, House Representatives, State Assemblymen or Assemblywomen, City Councilmen or Councilwomen, or, if nothing works through the LEGAL PROCESS, you can exercise your CONSTITUTIONAL right to travel by moving to Canada, Mexico, Cuba, China or any other country of your choice.
WE CHOSE AMERICA. LET'S BE AMERICAN. GOD BLESS AMERICA.
Albert Wang...........a Romantic Realist
aspiring to be a valiant seeker of TRUTH, LIBERTY and JUSTICE
(a/k/a the lawyer who got some impartial justice for the First Baby of the Year)
p.s. If you like what I just said, or if you are upset by what I just said, before you make any comment, or criticism, educate yourself on these "Freedom Of Speech?," "Indecency?" "Social Responsibility?" "Racism?" issues instead of making a lot of irrelevant and/or irreverent "Ben Ben" noises. Get educated first. If you like to get educated by me, go to my Blog, "BenBenXiong" ( i.e., "Stupid Foolish Bear") at Wenxuecity.com.
P.P.S. I am not the BenBen one, i.e., I am neither Stupid or Foolish. Draw your own conclusion as to whether anyone is Stupid or Foolish.
----- Original Message -----
ReplyDeleteFrom: Albert Wang
To: Vicki Shu
Cc:
Sent: Saturday, April 28, 2007 5:42 PM
Subject: Albert Wang's position re CBS Radio: Please DO NOT fire Dog House's hosts
Albert Wang’s position re CBS Radio: Please DO NOT fire Dog House’s hosts
As the first reader of Ming Pao Daily News who brought the “Chinese Food” prank call incident to the attention of OCA-NY, and as the first concerned citizen who brought Ming Pao’s news articles to the attention of CBS Radio and engendered the current controversy, I believe that I also have a social responsibility to try to inject some reason and attempt to quickly end this controversy with a “win-win” proposal.
We should not rectify a mistake by creating another mistake. Based on my personal personal observations in the past week, and after reviewing CBS’s most recent annual Social Responsibility Report and CBS’ statement of Business Conduct, I believe that we should defer to CBS’ internal decision on what disciplinary sanction the Dog House hosts should accept.
It appears to me that CBS, in good faith, has promptly taken remedial actions against the Dog House hosts, and is probably in the middle of completing its internal investigation. CBS appears to be a socially responsible company and is proactively rectifying this careless (but not harmless) mistake. Therefore, it is inappropriate to use or racial or political pressure to coerce CBS into terminating the employment of the Dog House hosts, if such termination would be effected without cause.
I believe in the Freedom of Speech guaranteed under our Constitution. Dog House hosts are free to say anything that do not constitute defamation, extortion or other torts. CBS Radio, as their employer, is responsible for editing the content of Dog House talk shows before their broadcast. What happened might be merely and unintended “glitch” in CBS Radio’s quality control system.
Our collective focus should be how all of us can work constructively to reduce such “glitches” and prevent future harms to Asian Americans, Hispanics, Blacks, gays and lesbians and other minority groups. Firing the Dog House hosts is not the optimal solution. Moreover, such termination might have the adverse effect of creating more divisiveness in our American society.
As an aspiring seeker of TRUTH, LIBERTY and JUSTICE, I feel compelled to ask everyone concerned to be reasonable and rational, focus on our commonalities, and work together for a better tomorrow.
Last Saturday, I brought this incident to CBS’ and OCA-NY’s attention, because I sincerely hoped to correct an injustice. Let’s not create another injustice by summarily terminating the Dog House hosts without cause.
Let’s keep our sense of humor, and play some healthy jokes on each other.
Albert Wang,
The lawyer who got some impartial justice for the First Baby of the Year.
From: Albert Wang
ReplyDeleteTo: tchiusano@cbs.com ; Vicki Shu ; Yudkin, Greg ; Leo Y Lee ; Jerry Cheng ; LizOuYang@aol.com ; john.mainelli@cbsradio.com ; karen.mateo@cbsradio.com
Sent: Saturday, April 28, 2007 7:05 PM
Subject: Re: NY Area OCA Chapters Outraged by 92.3FreeFM -- Station owned by CBS
TO ERR IS HUMAN.
TO FORGIVE, DIVINE.
It is time to work together with CBS and move forward.
According to CBS’s website (see attached), the effort and commitment that CBS places in areas like community outreach, public service announcements, responsible programming and diversity are initiatives that CBS takes very seriously at CBS Corporation – they are the core of what it means to be a public trust.
All of us should give CBS the opportunity to show that it takes very seriously the responsibility that comes in being a global mass media company.
Let’s work with CBS and help CBS to strengthen its community outreach to Asian American communities and take Asian Americans into proper consideration as CBS continues to promote diversity within CBS companies.
It would be a more productive use of our time to work together, instead of coercing CBS to terminate two of its employees - which is definitely the end result I intended when I brought up this issue last Saturday.
P.S. If you have time, please take a look at the 100+ page Social Responsibility Report on its corporate website. http://www.cbscorporation.com/our_company/corporate/responsibility/index.php. I read part of it, and believe that we should work with CBS constructively instead of destructively continuing this fight.
----- Original Message -----
From: Albert Wang
To: tchiusano@cbs.com
Cc: Maggie Zeng
Sent: Sunday, April 22, 2007 8:18 AM
Subject: Fw: NY Area OCA Chapters Outraged by 92.3FreeFM -- Station owned by CBS
When you make a mistake, the right thing to do is to apologize. To err is human. To ask for forgiveness, divine.