ARTICLES

The Filth Index

SD CATHOLIC LEAGUE FILES RADIO COMPLAINT

By Allyson Smith

On March 16, the San Diego chapter of the Catholic League for Religious and Civil rights filed an informal complaint with the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) against radio station KGB FM-101.5 and its morning deejays Dave Rickards, Shelly Dunn, and Cookie "Chainsaw" Randolph.

The complaint followed repeated requests by the Catholic League and others for KGB to discontinue "Lash Wednesday," which the League describes as "a spite-filled parody of the Roman Catholic Church's Sacrament of Penance." Past efforts to stop Lash Wednesday included a mailing campaign last summer of over 8000 postcards. All protests have gone unheeded, except for the fun poked at them by the KGB deejays. KGB is one of several San Diego-area radio stations owned by Jacor Communications, Inc.

The FCC complaint alleges that "beginning in 1994 or earlier, and continuing to the present, respondents have engaged in the broadcast of obscene and indecent material during the hours when the broadcast of such material is prohibited." The complaint describes on-air references during the Dave, Shelly, and Chainsaw show to sodomy, excretory functions, incest, sex acts inside a Catholic Church, and a fictional sado-masochistic encounter with a priest in a confessional.

According to local attorney Richard Vattuone, who filed the complaint on the League's behalf, "Dave, Shelly, and Chainsaw's primary goal is to degrade human beings and human sexuality in particular [They] have also attacked and degraded women, the handicapped, and other individuals and organizations."

While "Lash Wednesday" is referred to in the complaint, its main focus is the overall "obscene and indecent material" broadcast weekday mornings on KGB. It calls for an order enjoining the respondents from broadcasting such material between the FCC-prohibited hours of 6:00 a.m. and 10:00 p.m. and for the payment of the maximum allowable fine under law.

"While I am a strong proponent of First Amendment rights," Vattuone said, "I do not support the unrestricted use of the public airways to broadcast obscene or indecent material at any time of day. The law supports my position. Indecent material may only be broadcast late at night. Other members of the public have joined protests against the filth-mongering radio stations, including the El Cajon and Poway city councils. These individuals are not fanatics or censors. They simply want the law to be applied."

Unfortunately, Vattuone pointed out, one of the guidelines for determining indecency is "community standards." "Although past legal precedents demonstrate that the [Howard] Stern and DSC [Dave, Shelly and Chainsaw] material is obscene, or at least, indecent," said Vattuone, "many of the filth-mongers now argue that our society has so degenerated that what was once considered obscene or indecent is now acceptable. Thus, the upcoming decision by the FCC in the DSC matter may be seen as a barometer of the public 'filth' index."

In a recent interview on the Rick Roberts radio talk show on KOGO-AM 600, another Jacor-owned station, Catholic League president Carl Horst explained why the Dave, Shelly and Chainsaw show meets the FCC's definitions of indecency. Horst brought an audio tape containing a segment of the June 18, 1997 "Lash Wednesday" bit, which Roberts played on the air. In the segment, a caller described how he made a laxative-laced pizza for a roommate. The caller's "confession" was followed by several excretory sound effects and comments from the deejays, as well as a comment about nuns and cucumbers. Roberts admitted the segment was "rough" and said he would not allow his own nine-year-old to listen to such material. Later in the show, Jacor regional vice president Jack Evans phoned in to debate Horst on indecency. "Who decides?" Evans demanded. Horst responded, "It's smut, and you know it's smut."

Victor Diaz agrees. Diaz is president of Califormula Radio Group, which operates Z90 (90.3 FM), X99 (99.3 FM), and Radio Latina (104.5 FM). Born into a large Catholic family in Guadalajara, Mexico and educated by the Marist brothers, Diaz began his radio career in 1941, following in his father's footsteps. Through the years, he has founded several radio stations on both sides of the U.S.-Mexico border. Now retired, he oversees long-range planning for his group of stations. Diaz's stations are in direct competition with several Jacor stations for market share and ratings in the San Diego-Tijuana metro area.

Before its entrance into the San Diego market, Jacor operated 93.3 FM, "Power P," in Tampa, Florida, which broadcast adult shows live via satellite. Then, approximately three years ago, Jacor purchased a small non-commercial Christian radio station, KECR, in El Cajon. Since KECR's frequency was also 93.3 FM, the same frequency as Power P, Jacor thus acquired the ability to broadcast from Tampa into San Diego. KECR's low 1.8-megahertz signal, near sea level, was replaced by Jacor's 50-megahertz antenna located high atop Mt. Miguel, and its Christian programming was replaced by Power P's adult shows -- such as "Bubba the Love Sponge" -- beamed in live from Tampa.

"Overnight," said Diaz, "the only chapel that was on FM Boulevard in San Diego, a beautiful little chapel in a garden, was razed, and an adult entertainment center was put in its place."

Diaz discovered the "new" 93.3 FM through his 11-year-old granddaughter. "She had radio privileges while doing her homework in the privacy of her bedroom and would listen to the radio, turning the dial back and forth between two stations, 'cruising' up and down FM Boulevard. She never paid attention to the little religious station in the middle. But the day it changed to Power P, she discovered it." Soon, said Diaz, his granddaughter was using foul language. When he asked her where she learned such language and she told him, "The radio," he at first didn't believe her.

"My granddaughter not only learned those words," Diaz said, "but then learned the meaning of those words. She lost her innocence, and nothing can replace her innocence. It's just like she was spiritually raped while cruising up and down FM Boulevard.

"I have been in this business 45 years, and I have met dozens of Howard Sterns -- dirty-minded people who would love to have an open microphone and would love to make everyone in town aware of their dirty-mindedness. For 30 minutes [on-air], they would give you an arm and a leg.

"What is new, what has never happened before is irresponsible radio station operators who are willing to open their microphones to these people on the important stations in this city. And they not only allow them to do it, but pay a good amount of money for them to do it and defend them against the federal government when it tries to stop them.

"Children have radios in their pockets and can stick them in their ears, literally. Radio is the most insidious [of all mass communications mediums]. It's extremely dangerous."