Walton and Johnson hateful remarks about Stephen Hawking

[trfogey]

ALSA National and some of the state chapters spoke out, at least via Facebook. My state chapter did -- the president of the chapter messaged me personally to let me know they were going to. I had disappointing results with MDA, but that's a story for another time and place.

I agree with you, olly. There's absolutely no reason for it to be eight days without an apology. Just imagine how quickly (and forcefully), they would have reacted if the Radio Clawds had used a racial or ethnic slur?

Another awareness opportunity slips away.

 

[trfogey]

I had a post eaten by the m o d e r a t i o n monster as well for use of the F B term. I agree with olly 100 percent. It is inexcusable that we are now eight days without an apology -- period. Full stop. End of sentence.

 

[notme]

I used that tiny place and made a shorter thing to the thread with the taped broadcast, but it apparently wasn't allowed to be posted here for some reason. Oh well, I tried.

 

[brooksea]

I guess we will see a backhanded apology.

 

[olly]

heard anything about the "appology" yet trfogey?..........not that it means much.
someone added me onto the new fb page,woke up this morning to loads of emails i had to delete so i have left the fb page.

cj,there only saying it because they have to...........they said they did not mean to offend,what did they expect of course it would.
they are just pleading ingnorance......yeah right,pull the other one its got bells on.

 

[trfogey]

Latest update from the Boycott W&J group page:

Boycott update 5/25/2011

We continue to be in daily discussions with Clear Channel and have high level of energy from Clear Channel to work towards deliverable of resolutions. Coordination of schedules on "both sides of the table" is being worked so that we can facilitate getting into the depths of the planning for 30 minute radio spot and a subsequent face-to-face meeting for PSA discussion. We are still working on the on-air/public apology and obtaining a link for same so that others will be able to listen to it.

Nine days and still waiting....

Not to mention that somebody's bound to shout "Bingo!" any second now in the Buzzword Bingo game a few of us have been playing on the side.

 

[olly]

ok,thanks trfogey..........did find a letter just posted from the alsa to the radio channel...........very good



Letter to John Hogan, Clear Channel President


Thank you to all of those who have spoken up and taken action on the comments made by Walton and Johnson. We understand how important this is to our community and have also reached out to Clear Channel's president. The contents of the letter are below: Mr. John Hogan, President Clear Channel Corporate 200 East Basse Road San Antonio, TX 78209 Dear Mr. Hogan, I am writing this letter in response to comments made on the Walton and Johnson show on Monday, May 16th. During their time on the air they made comments about Stephen Hawking and his battle with ALS. The comments were ill informed and offensive to the over 30,000 people and their families who struggle with this disease every day. As President and CEO of The ALS Association, I invite your station to join our efforts to educate people about this terrible disease. Our mission is to “lead the fight to treat and cure ALS through global research and nationwide advocacy while also empowering people with Lou Gehrig’s Disease and their families to live fuller lives by providing them with compassionate care and support.” As the only organization dedicated to this fight on all fronts, I hope you can understand why we were offended by the on-air remarks. ALS is a deadly disease that robs people of their body but not their minds. Within a trapped body, a person suffering from ALS lives with the daily challenge of communicating with their loved ones as well as the outside world. As you can imagine, many of these people listen to your radio station as a link to the outside world which is one reason the comments were so insensitive. ALS patients struggle each and every day with a disease that has no known cause and no cure. Piece by piece their bodies are robbed of everything but their ability to think. If you will, think about being perfectly still—not even so much as a blink for two or three minutes, and then imagine what that is like for someone 24 hours of every day. I would like to direct you to our website at Homepage - ALS Association so that you can be better informed about this horrific disease and the fight we are leading to help those who live with the disease. There you will find stories of courage and determination as well as stories that will break your heart. They are stories of mothers, fathers, sisters, brothers, daughters and sons who fight a battle none of us wish for them. It is a disease that can strike any one of us and knows no boundaries of age, race or gender. At any given point, someone within your Clear Channel family might very well be the next diagnosed case. Awareness is imperative to solving this mystery. Please turn this negative into a positive by issuing a public apology. The ALS Association will be more than happy to supply you with educational information so that your listening public has the opportunity to help us in this fight. Sincerely, Jane H. Gilbert President and CEO The ALS Association


by: The ALS Association.

 

[olly]

thanks trfogey,posted the alsa letter to radio channel but its gone to lala land lol..........when it comes back its good for others here to read.

 

[notme]

Honestly---their apology wouldn't be worth the air used to express it. Though the CHANNEL should certainly apologize--the apology of the CLAWDS would be useless--and certainly less than sincere.

I'm glad to see some awareness at least=--I've Tweeted a link with all my author and reader fans and hope some of them at least re-send the message.

I've posted on their facebook page several times--the posts are all deleted--but at least each time I've clicked 'like' again, I can repost.

 

[DeeMichelle]

:x Totally offensive, but hey-
every brown cell that they have between them cannot compare to the intellect of Stephen Hawking- he is a scientific legend who will go down in history forever for his genius. They won't even be remembered as the oppressive dick heads that they are.

 

[trfogey]

A statement from the President and CEO of the ALS Association:

I had the distinct pleasure this afternoon of receiving a phone call from Eddie Martiny, General Manager, and Marc Sherman, FM Operations Manager, of the Clear Channel stations in Houston. They were calling at the request of Mr. John Hogan, President of Clear Channel Radio, who received my letter asking for a public apology. They were interested, compassionate and want to help us with an awareness campaign through their sister stations. They also gave me permission to share with you the words of the public apology that was made on KKRW station on Tuesday:

“KKRW and Walton & Johnson would like to apologize for insensitive remarks about Stephen Hawking’s physical condition that have caused distress to people with disabilities, including those with ALS – which Professor Hawking suffers from – and their families. We recognize that there are many people in Houston who suffer from serious, debilitating illnesses and no offense to them was intended.”

They are working on producing public service announcements, and will run them on all of their stations during the next couple of weeks. I urge all of you to join me in thanking them for their concern and their response to the ALS community. I want to go on record with a huge thank you to the management of Clear Channel Communications, who recognizes the mistake that was made and are now doing everything they can to help us.

Some in the community have requested a link to a recording of the apology as broadcast. If I get one, I'll post it.

 

[trfogey]

From the Boycott Walton and Johnson group F a c e b o o k page:

Boycott Update 5/27/2011

This will be the only update until Tuesday 5/31/2011

Clear Channel has confirmed that the on-air apology did not air across the Louisiana stations. Clear Channel does not own these stations. The "who" made the apology is not known as yet either.

We have requested for Clear Channel to provide an audio clip of the 5/24 on-air apology OR to sche...dule a 2nd on-air apology and provide the details with sufficient time for us to share back to the ALS community. This way, those with the capability can 'tune in' to hear it live. Status on this request will be provided once we receive it.

All other reported areas are "status quo".

One member of the Boycott group reports hearing a portion of the on-air apology and states that the voice reading the apology could not be definitively identified as either John Walton or Steve Johnson.

Eleven days and still waiting....

 

[twinmommie72]

Thank you trfogey for keeping us updated. It blows my mind how this was skimmed off the top and flushed. Imus was fired for saying something about HAIR...Why do people turn their backs on this?

What W&J said was definitely character defining, yet they claim they are Christians. So I guess they are aware "vengeance is mine, says the Lord". Shucks...who am I kidding! Those guys claim Christianity for ratings otherwise they would have never dreamed of saying those horrible things. All I know is...THEY S U C K!

 

[trfogey]

One further note: If you do a Google search for "walton and johnson hawking", this thread is the top result. Good work, everyone.

 

[trfogey]

One further note: If you do a G o o g l e search for "walton and johnson hawking", this thread is the top result. Good work, everyone.