Dr. Laura Revisited

[Jermyn Davidson]

From an email I received from, "Media Matters"....


Media Matters: Incendiary rant exposes Dr. Laura (again)

The year was 1998, and radio host Dr. Laura Schlessinger's celebrity was soaring. A media group had recently paid $71.5 million for her program -- the biggest radio deal at the time -- and the Los Angeles Times reported that she had the "fastest-growing show in radio history, a program now aired on 450 stations in the United States, 30 in Canada -- where she is the No. 1 talk radio personality -- and in South Africa." Schlessinger would soon begin discussions on hosting her own national TV show.


Just a few years later, Schlessinger began to stumble. In 2001, her syndicated Paramount television show was cancelled after a brief run, and in 2002, the New York Daily News reported that Schlessinger's radio audience had lost several million listeners.

Schlessinger's troubles then -- just like now -- began with incendiary remarks aimed at a minority group. During the 1990s, Schlesinger blasted "homosexuality" as "a biological error," "deviant behavior, a dysfunctional behavior," and linked gay men to pedophilia and child molestation. Schlessinger also touted "therapies which have been successful in helping a reasonable number of people become heterosexual."

When Paramount announced it had signed Schlessinger to a TV talk show for the fall of 2000, the group StopDrLaura.com successfully "waged a campaign to dissuade companies from sponsoring the show." Dr. Laura debuted to "disappointing" ratings and Paramount "had difficulty attracting national sponsors to the show," forcing the studio to sell ads at reduced rates (LA Times, 9/22/00).

In the spring of 2001, Dr. Laura -- to no one's surprise -- was cancelled. Schlessinger blamed the cancellation on gay rights groups such as StopDrLaura.com and Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD), telling Larry King that "political correctness" "overpowers and overwhelms the United States of America today. ... This was strictly about trying to destroy my voice." Schlessinger defenders claimed that critics were trying to silence her "1st amendment" rights.

Nearly ten years later, the same controversy over Schlessinger played out again -- this time over racially tinged remarks to an African-American caller.
To give you a refresher, during the August 10 edition of her program, Schlessinger took a call from an African-American woman seeking advice on dealing with the resentment she felt when her white husband didn't speak out about racist comments his friends made. During the discussion, Schlessinger used the n-word 11 times, and told the caller that she had a "chip on [her] shoulder." Schlessinger added that "a lot of blacks voted for Obama" due to race and said that the caller shouldn't "marry out of [her] race" if she didn't "have a sense of humor."

After Media Matters posted audio of Schlessinger's racial rant, groups such as GLAAD, Women's Media Center, and UNITY Journalists of Color joined Media Matters to hold Schlessinger's "advertisers accountable and find out exactly where they stand."

Like in 2001, Schlessinger appeared on Larry King Live to claim that her "First Amendment rights have been usurped by angry, hateful groups who don't want to debate. They want to eliminate." Schlessinger announced that she was ending her radio show to "move on to other venues where I could say my piece and not have to live in fear anymore that sponsors and their families are going to be upset, radio stations are going to be upset, my peeps, as I call them, are going to be upset."

Some conservatives predictably rallied around Schlessinger. Michelle Malkin lauded Schlessinger for having "battled political correctness for years." Sarah Palin -- who's scheduled to join Fox News colleague Glenn Beck at his 8-28 rally to "reclaim" the civil rights movement -- defended Schlessinger's n-word rant by claiming Schlessinger has been "shackled" by her critics, and took to Twitter to tell Schlessinger, "Don't retreat... reload" after her "1st Amend.rights ceased 2exist."

The First Amendment argument is as silly now as it was ten years ago. "Censorship, in the legal sense, really only occurs when the government is trying to prevent you from saying something. I think that actions that GLAAD has taken regarding Dr. Laura is the way we in the American system expect the system to work, and Dr. Laura has a right to say what she's doing," explained Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press executive director Lucy Dalglish on the June 15, 2000, edition of PBS's NewsHour.
The purported media critics at NewsBusters, meanwhile, bizarrely accused Media Matters of censorship because we were part of a campaign targeting advertisers. The criticism is strange considering NewsBusters and its parent, Media Research Center, also target advertisers of content they view as offensive. Indeed, MRC president Brent Bozell told the LA Times in 2000 that while he didn't approve of the anti-Dr. Laura cause, "It's perfectly acceptable for an organization to lobby to cancel a program they think is inappropriate. I don't think there's anything wrong with that at all."

At the end of the day, however, Schlessinger's racial rant is only the latest in recent public displays of racially loaded rhetoric by right-wing media figures. The question, as it was in 2000, is whether the audiences will hold figures responsible for their rhetoric.


This weekly wrap-up was compiled by Media Matters research fellow Eric Hananoki.

[Jermyn Davidson]

My first and strongest criticism is how can that "husband" not stand up to his friends over that stuff-- especially if it offends his own wife?

He doesn't respect his wife and his "friends" don't respect him or his wife.


My second criticism is how can Dr. Laura excuse this stuff? I'm not married but one day i will be. If my wife tells me that something offends her, I will do what I can to neutralize the offense or simply remove it (or them) from our lives.


I just don't get it?

[Praxeas]

Media Matters is supposed to be non-biased but I can't help but think they are not with these last 2 threads on Fox news and this one where they characterize what she did as "Schlessinger's troubles then -- just like now -- began with incendiary remarks aimed at a minority group"

What she did was not "just like now" aimed at a minority group. She was not making crude comments aimed AT any group.

[Praxeas]

Originally Posted by Jermyn Davidson

My first and strongest criticism is how can that "husband" not stand up to his friends over that stuff-- especially if it offends his own wife?

He doesn't respect his wife and his "friends" don't respect him or his wife.


My second criticism is how can Dr. Laura excuse this stuff? I'm not married but one day i will be. If my wife tells me that something offends her, I will do what I can to neutralize the offense or simply remove it (or them) from our lives.


I just don't get it?

Did she excuse it? She was dealing with the wife not the husband. Maybe if he was on she would have words for him too. But what else do you tell a woman like that if she wants to remain in the relationship besides grow a thick skin/learn to be less sensitive about it?

[Jermyn Davidson]

Originally Posted by Praxeas

Did she excuse it? She was dealing with the wife not the husband. Maybe if he was on she would have words for him too. But what else do you tell a woman like that if she wants to remain in the relationship besides grow a thick skin/learn to be less sensitive about it?

Prax,

In this situation, the best advice for this woman to maintain her own self respect is NOT the advice you or Dr. Laura would offer.

You don't just letr people disrespect you like that-- especially whn you have made it known that you find it offensive.

That husband soes not seem like a good husband at all.


Dr. Laura was not only insensitive in this, but her decision to use the n-word in this situation was really a bad, bad decision.


All she did was pour salt on a gaping wound.

It was absolutely TERRIBLE advice!

[Jermyn Davidson]

Just to renind you all, I am conservative and have been a registered Republican since 2004.

[RevDWW]

From

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It appears to be a propaganda machine for the progressive movement.

[Hoovie]

Originally Posted by Jermyn Davidson

Just to renind you all, I am conservative and have been a registered Republican since 2004.

Does that mean you voted Republican in the last Presidential election?

[Praxeas]

Originally Posted by Jermyn Davidson

Prax,

In this situation, the best advice for this woman to maintain her own self respect is NOT the advice you or Dr. Laura would offer.

You don't just letr people disrespect you like that-- especially whn you have made it known that you find it offensive.

That husband soes not seem like a good husband at all.


Dr. Laura was not only insensitive in this, but her decision to use the n-word in this situation was really a bad, bad decision.


All she did was pour salt on a gaping wound.

It was absolutely TERRIBLE advice!

what was the best advice for her? Leave? As I said, she obviously wanted to stay with him and the Dr did not have the benefit of counseling him

[Jermyn Davidson]

Originally Posted by Praxeas

what was the best advice for her? Leave? As I said, she obviously wanted to stay with him and the Dr did not have the benefit of counseling him

What she said and the "spirit" of what she said was all wrong.

Laura does not get any sympathy from me in this case.

I wish all of her sponsors would pull away now-- before her last show.


What she should have done, the sensible thing to do in this case would have been to confirm to that woman that her complaint is legitimate-- because it is.

Then she should have attempted to offer solutions as to how to approach the husband and the situation in a way that does not disregard the legitimate hurts of this woman.


I don't understand why Laura would have said what she said to this woman-- it goes against all logic and decency!