WFNR considers pulling Boortz

Scott Stevens knew Neal Boortz was a “hate monger.” But he had only received a single, generic complaint about Boortz’s remarks regarding the shootings at Virginia Tech. Now, Stevens says WFNR AM 710 in Pulaski will strongly consider pulling Boortz, a nationally syndicated talk show host, from their 10 a.m.-12 p.m. time slot after being made aware of the severity of Boortz’s remarks by a letter from Virginia delegates.

Two weeks ago, Boortz criticized the victims of the April 16 shootings for “standing in terror waiting for (their) turn to be executed.” All eight Virginia stations that syndicate Boortz were sent a letter Monday afternoon signed by Democratic Delegates Stephen Shannon, Jim Shuler and Chuck Caputo. The letter called the radio host’s remarks “hateful” and the radio stations’ responses “disappointing and meager.”

“I feel (Virginia radio stations) have a sense of public responsibility in the immediate aftermath of this tragedy to exercise some restraint. What they did was let this broadcaster peel off outrageous assertions that somehow it was the fault of the students and the faculty members who were killed or injured…There’s simply no place for this out-of-state radio host to make such claims on Virginia’s airwaves immediately after this tragedy has taken place,” Shannon said.

For Stevens, dealing with Boortz up to this point has constituted a decidedly sticky situation.

“I deeply regret that I did not know the content (of Boortz’s remarks). I think it’s outrageous. His show is always like that. He is a hate-monger but I will tell you that he has had, traditionally, a following in this radio market. There were a couple of times when his radio show wasn’t on because of technical reasons and I was inundated with complaint calls, more so than with complaints about his remarks,” Stevens said.

Nevertheless, Stevens said that the station would take up investigating the case today, seeking the audio of Boortz’s comments from the host and weighing Boortz’s hreflections on his remarks before rendering a decision. Stevens said that removing Boortz from the station’s content was “certainly on the table,” and that the station would more than likely offer Boortz the opportunity to personally address the local area.

“We’re just a little small-town radio station. Would he be willing to come here and do his show and address this market in person and offer up a friendly debate about what his intentions were? If he chooses to do nothing, we would give the proper notice to pull the show,” Stevens said.

Due to contractual obligations, Stevens said even if the station decided to remove the programming, it might take some time to actually leave the airwaves due to contractual obligations.

Shannon, for whom slain student Maxine Turner was a constituent, hopes the letter would generate an awareness for future situations.

“The ultimate goal is to have them sit down and reconsider the wisdom of allowing this particular radio host to assert outrageous claims, and in the future perhaps they would have some protocols so they would not turn a blind eye to use of the airwaves immediately after a tragedy in such a hurtful manner,” Shannon said.

As of Tuesday afternoon, Shannon’s office had not received direct response from any of the eight stations.

On April 17, Boortz’s comments prompted concern from David Meszaros, the Vice President and General Manager of WSB AM 750 Atlanta, Boortz’s flagship station.

“I was disappointed with the way he was handling it on the air. I didn’t think it was the right way to go. He’s entitled to his opinion, that’s what talk show hosts do. I really, along with a number of our management team, had some serious conversations about the direction of his comments,” Meszaros, whose son is a graduate of Virginia Tech, said.

Meszaros said that the station decided not to levy a punishment on Boortz after the host issued a statement in which he said the United States is producing a “culture of passivity” but that the manner in which he presented his comments was less than ideal.

“It's a valid point, one that I wish I could have made in a more appropriate manner yesterday. I failed, and for that I apologize,” Boortz wrote.

Meszaros did not return phone and e-mail messages for comment concerning the Virginia delegates’ letter.