It's A Sad Day For The Radio Hall Of Fame

According to a press release from TruthWinsOut.org the Museum of Broadcast Communications announced that they would induct right wing extremist James Dobson into its Radio Hall of Fame.

Because voting was open to the general public (see my July 9th posting), clearly he got enough of his fanatical supporters to go to the website and vote for him. Unfortunately, there seems to have been a little deception going on there also.

When I went to the Radio Hall Of Fame website to check the list of inductees myself, I noticed what I think is a pretty important variance in the way they listed their winners and the way the ballot listed them. When I voted, the listing for James Dobson was under his own name but on the final list of winners, it was recorded as "Focus on the Family."

This may not seem like such a big deal but when you consider that most of the people (not counting Dobson's Dogs) who took the time to seek out the site and cast their votes, did so because they wanted to support one or two of their personal favorites and wouldn't necessarily have known much about the other nominees. So, when they see a name they recognize but don't really know anything about and don't have time to do research, they'll usually vote for that person solely because they recognize that name and it doesn't ring any negative bells in their minds. James Dobson is a name that would fall into that catagory. Most open-minded, non-judgemental people who don't know him or anything about his history wouldn't think to question his credentials.

"Focus On The Family" however is pretty well known for its extremist views and outrageous statements and would, in all likelihood, ring all kinds of bells in the minds of a lot of those people. If that organization was, in fact, the winner then why wasn't it listed by its name on the ballot so people would have known that they were voting for an organization and not an individual?

Conversely, Art Bell is another inductee who was listed by his own name on both the ballot and the winners list. The program he started and nurtured into the most listened to late night broadcast in the history of radio, "Coast To Coast AM," was not named as the winner, only Art was.

That being said, I would suggest that there are a few things we can do to show our revulsion at a hate-monger being honored by the Museum of Broadcast Communications.

Wayne Besen, Executive Director of Truth Wins Out (TWO), has vowed to protest the annual awards dinner that will be held in Chicago on Saturday, November 8, 2008. If you live in or will be in the Chicago area at that time, contact TWO and find out how you can participate.

Another way is to send a quick email to the Museum's Founder/President & CEO, Bruce Dumont.

If you want to write a letter, phone or fax the Museum, here's their info:

The Museum of Broadcast Communications
400 North State St., Suite 240
Chicago, IL 60610
Tel: 312-245-8200
Fax: 312-245-8207

To read TWO's full press release go to: TruthWinsOut.org