Advocacy & Safety - Another shock jock bashes cyclists

A shock jock in Portland, OR bashes cyclists:
http://portland.indymedia.org/en/2003/10/273241.shtml

It's best to ignore ignorant people. All this guy is doing is trying to enhance his ratings. None of these types are worth the effort it takes to get PO'd at them.

The best solution is to write his sponsors and tell them based on his anti-cycling rhetoric, you are boycotting any company who sponsors Lars and you have already enlisted <<number>> of friends, family, and co-workers.

Encourage them to write, also.

Agree with the above post. The guy's only doing it because he knows he'll get a flood of responses to the station. I'd be interested to see what would happen if just one of these trolls was ignored.

Don't agree.. So far all reported incidents have been on Clear Channel. Clear Channel owns something like 60% of US radio. My first hatred of Clear Channel is because they threaten our acccess to good music. They have such narrow music offerings because they think offering some kind of hot music menu increases ratings.
No, I do not ignore Clear Channel...I pay attention to Clear Channel by those who critique radio..I, personally refuse and boycott all Clear Channel outlets.
Reason I say not to ignore this buffon: Clear Channel does not allow dj's to have independence of content.. They closely script the babble their dj's spout. That babble increases their ratings, so Clear Channel believes. They like and approve of obnoxious dj's.
Clear Channel would not tolerate such behaviour long term by the station manager should Clear Channel disapprove. There have now been too many reports of such commentary in regards to cyclists by Clear Channel stations..
Personally, I would love to sue Clear Channel for endangerment of all our lives..I would eagerly sign on such a class action lawsuit.
I tried to find from your links to 'Lars', if again this was a Clear Channel station..Unless, i missed an appropriate link, I could not answer that question. Do you know?
If so cyclists in your community should do what they did in Cleveland..Show up on your bikes in a mass protest and report these b*st+rd+ to the FCC.
Heah, they hate us spandex road warriors. When this creep comes out of the station, how about throwing some stinky old used cycling shorts, dead aim at the jerk.

No, I do not ignore Clear Channel...I pay attention to Clear Channel by those who critique radio..I, personally refuse and boycott all Clear Channel outlets.
Reason I say not to ignore this buffon: Clear Channel does not allow dj's to have independence of content.. They closely script the babble their dj's spout. That babble increases their ratings, so Clear Channel believes. They like and approve of obnoxious dj's.

And if you respond to the babble by drawing attention to it, you're all the marketing they need to attract ratings. As I said before, nobody has ever simply ignored it yet. You might be surprised.

But Chris.. This miserable network micro manages all of its messages. If they did not like it, I assure you it would stop..This is repeated behavior by Clear Channel, if this latest incident is Clear Channel.
This is not the decision of some lone idiot dj , wanting to vent the anger of outraged motorists at some third object to deflect motorists' angst; but some kind of corporate ratings game.
The reason I think cyclists outrage is warranted, the airwaves are supposed to be regulated to work in the public's interests. FCC regulations come into play when outrageous behavior comes into play over a public medium.
By law, we have a right to have it stopped.

But Chris.. This miserable network micro manages all of its messages. If they did not like it, I assure you it would stop..This is repeated behavior by Clear Channel, if this latest incident is Clear Channel.
This is not the decision of some lone idiot dj , wanting to vent the anger of outraged motorists at some third object to deflect motorists' angst; but some kind of corporate ratings game.

That's my point exactly -- it's all about ratings, and what's the best way to generate ratings? Generate controversy. Because their first effort got a flood of replies from enraged cyclists, they feel they've generated enough controversy, so they've decided to keep it going. Had it just been ignored the first time, they may well have stopped it then. However, all the responses are just what the station wants. You're playing right into their hands.


The reason I think cyclists outrage is warranted, the airwaves are supposed to be regulated to work in the public's interests. FCC regulations come into play when outrageous behavior comes into play over a public medium.
By law, we have a right to have it stopped.

By law, we have a right to have 90% of all advertising of all kinds stopped under the provisions of the Trade Practices Act (or whatever the US equivalent is). Do you see it happening? The fact is, the airwaves are not regulated (unless someone speaks out against the sponsor, which is not relevant in this case). This is the situation we are in, and the one that has to be dealt with. It's my opinion that the most effective way to deal with it is to ignore it and not give it the controversy, hype and ratings that it is so desperate to attract.

This is the message from the site spandexwarrior linked to:


Lars trashing bicycles/cyclists
author: Bilbo
On his talk radio show today (Mon 10/13), Lars Larson is trashing bicycles and cyclists.

He is saying unbelievable things .... "bicycles gum up the streets causing more pollution." He continually mentions "the horrible incident where the rogue cyclist hit the boy on the steet corner and left him to die".

Call this flaming @ss-hole ... if for no other reason than to jam up his telephone lines.

(503) 417- 7575
(800) 827 -0750

DON"T LET HIM GET AWAY WITH THIS ABSURD SLANDER!!!!

I don't see what the big deal is. This DJ apparently did not say anything advocating violence against cyclists. The claim that bicycles create traffic problems and cause more pollution is ridiculous enough to pass off as satire. I don't know about any incidents with a hit and run cyclist in the area, but it simply sounds like more satire. This DJ made a poor attempt at irony. I simply just choose not to laugh because it's not funny, nor is it offensive to me. It's just dumb. Anyone who takes this guy seriously really needs to lighten up.

And if anyone has more information on what he said, please post links or summarize what he said after listening to it yourself.

Here's what the article says in regard to ownership of the station:
"You bet – it’s Lars Larson. On billionaire Paul Allen’s KXL radio, via something called Rose City Radio Corporation, owned by Charter Communications, owned by Vulcan Spectrum."

Oh, BTW, Lars hates lightrail too. Read this: http://www.kxl.com/lars.asp

A shock jock in Portland, OR bashes cyclists:
http://portland.indymedia.org/en/2003/10/273241.shtml

'Shock' jock indeed. This sort of thing isn't shocking any more. Now it's just tiresome. This guy's just another clown in the parade.

The success of this sort of broadcasting is more an indictment of the audience that tunes in every day to hear it than the dj himself.

spandexwarrior.this guy is just a paid goon of his advertisers.
As soon as I saw the Mike Savage ad, I knew this shill is not worth my time... I would miss out on our local variations of this one-sided mouthpiece, because basically I discount them as a poor source of information..
We have one hypocrite on local San Diego talk radio, a former mayor, who talks of the misdeeds of others; when he was driven from office by corruption within his own administration.
Unless this bafoon hits on cyclists and threatens them with his hot rod Ferrari, I would just ignore him. If he crosses the liine and threatens endangerment to cyclists, then some reaction is needed. Are cyclist advocacy groups large in Portland. I would attend their meetings and discuss this annonyance.
A media reform I am totally for is low power stations, so that others have a chance to make their views known. Unless, you have the coin to put up your own media outlet in the US, I fear our First Amendment rights is subject to censorship. And free speech is mostly a paid advertisment for cheap meaningless talk, talk, talk- but no substance.