Saturday, March 10, 2012
YOUNGSTOWN
STAFF REPORT
The petition being circulated by state Rep. Robert F. Hagan of Youngstown, D-60th, to have conservative talk-show host Rush Limbaugh removed from Youngstown radio had garnered 2,743 signatures as of Saturday night.
The goal of the petition, available by visiting http://bit.ly/y3YrZO, is 3,000 signatures.
Limbaugh, whose nationally syndicated show is heard on more than 600 stations, airs locally on 570 WKBN-AM.
Limbaugh came under fire for calling a Georgetown University law student derogatory names after she testified to congressional Democrats in support of national health-care policies that would require employers to offer group health insurance that covers birth control.
By Thursday, at least 45 advertisers had pulled their ads from his show, according to politico.com. Several stations across the country have dropped his show, and on Saturday, nationally known feminists Jane Fonda, Robin Morgan and Gloria Steinem, who co-founded the Women’s Media Center, called on the FCC to remove Limbaugh from the airwaves totally.
In an editorial published by cnn.com, the women wrote: “Limbaugh doesn’t just call people names. He promotes language that deliberately dehumanizes his targets.”
They also noted that a coalition of Iraq and Afghanistan female veterans are demanding that the American Forces Network drop Limbaugh from its programming.
“If Clear Channel won’t clean up its airways,” the editorial continues, “then surely it’s time for the public to ask the FCC a basic question: Are the stations carrying Limbaugh’s show in fact using their licenses ‘in the public interest?’ “
The women contend that “Limbaugh has hidden behind the First Amendment,” or claimed his show is humor or entertainment for 20 years.
“He is indeed constitutionally entitled to his opinions, but he is not constitutionally entitled to the people’s airways.
“It’s time for the public to take back our broadcast resources.”