3 Atlanta radio hosts were fired Monday for a senseless skit mocking former New Orleans Saints player Steve Gleason ~ ~ ~

[whodeawhodat]

not funny no reason to be fired imo. just not funny...

[SenorGato]

Yeah, they should be cool and wait several days while umpteen groups representing ALS victims and their families call press conferences the national media covers, complete with inspirational stories about how ALS victims still manage to give meaning to their lives despite living with a degenerative disease.

 

Then after several days of nonstop jokes by Letterman, Leno and Fallon and being made a national joke generally, the station should decide to fire the guys then, thereby transmitting to the nation the idea that the station management is a collection of gut-free wusses who only do the right thing when the heat comes down.

 

Brilliant.

 

That's literally more press than any other radio show or radio station (or ALS) has had in a long time, and it does not take much to say "they violated no rules, learn to take a joke as a joke." Firing them in general is not OK. 

[T0mShane]

Podcasts are destroying radio. LOLOLOLOLOLKOLKLOLOLOLKOKKLLKKKLIFFIFFVHFDCVGFFJJFSTHBKKLOLOLOLOLOLOLLOLLOOKOOLOLOL

[kelticwizard]

That's literally more press than any other radio show or radio station (or ALS) has had in a long time, and it does not take much to say "they violated no rules, learn to take a joke as a joke." Firing them in general is not OK. 

 

So what you're saying is the station should stick by it's radio comedy hosts' evisceration of a sportscaster for his ALS condition even though it would subject the station  to continued public disgust and make the station and it's management a national joke.  This is your idea of the right way to go.

 

I see you're a big believer in PT Barnum's philosophy:  "There is no such thing as bad publicity".

 

Unfortunately, that philosophy doesn't always work.  Take a look a t Jerry Sandusky's Second Mile Foundation, for instance.

[Lizard King]

That's literally more press than any other radio show or radio station (or ALS) has had in a long time, and it does not take much to say "they violated no rules, learn to take a joke as a joke." Firing them in general is not OK.

They were fired because the skit didn't represent the values of the company, and cheap classless humor costs the company advetising dollars, therefore they were a liability to the company and had to go. Nothing to do whatsoever with free speech. It is about a firm's right to profitability. If they want to go twist around on a public park and mock ALS they are welcome to do so.

By the way we just recently lost a good friend who, if not for ALS would be 52 years old. So if you could keep that in mind with your free speech/look at me strawman it would be appreciated, because this sh*t is very real with no cure and ruins families...unlike any message board position you ever take.

[Bleedin Green]

That's literally more press than any other radio show or radio station (or ALS) has had in a long time, and it does not take much to say "they violated no rules, learn to take a joke as a joke." Firing them in general is not OK. 

 

Please feel free to fill us all in on all of the company policies of the station they worked for, since you apparently are so familiar with them.  You do realize that this wasn't some random tasteless joke some schmuck made to his friends one night and then walked into work the next day and got fired for it, these guys were working; on the air, doing what they were paid to do, with thousands of the station's customers listening when they did this.  So, once again, if a company is displeased with the work they are paying you to do, they are no longer going to pay you to do it, that's simply how the working world goes, just as it should.

 

I'm really not sure what's so difficult to grasp about this concept.  Then again, this is coming from the same guy who thinks the customer is to blame when they insist on actually getting the change for their purchase which he didn't bring, so perhaps we shouldn't be too surprised.

[kay_gee]

Plus, not for nothing, they weren't just laughing at a group of sick people, they picked out a specific guy to publicly embarrass.

 

Bullying isn't cool.

[Lizard King]

Plus, not for nothing, they weren't just laughing at a group of sick people, they picked out a specific guy to publicly embarrass.

 

Bullying isn't cool.

Yeah, not to mention, the guy has a young son who is years if not months away from losing his father. There are not many sure bets in life other than the Jets not being in the Superbowl, but losing a battle to ALS is one of them.

[SenorGato]

Podcasts are destroying radio. LOLOLOLOLOLKOLKLOLOLOLKOKKLLKKKLIFFIFFVHFDCVGFFJJFSTHBKKLOLOLOLOLOLOLLOLLOOKOOLOLOL

.

Podcasts and MP3s, yes T0m. 

[SenorGato]

Plus, not for nothing, they weren't just laughing at a group of sick people, they picked out a specific guy to publicly embarrass.

 

Bullying isn't cool.

 

Bullying is another thing that isn't illegal either, and this is only bullying now because we need to further label this thing ANYTHING other than what it was. It's sick. 

[SenorGato]

So what you're saying is the station should stick by it's radio comedy hosts' evisceration of a sportscaster for his ALS condition even though it would subject the station  to continued public disgust and make the station and it's management a national joke.  This is your idea of the right way to go.

 

I see you're a big believer in PT Barnum's philosophy:  "There is no such thing as bad publicity".

 

Unfortunately, that philosophy doesn't always work.  Take a look a t Jerry Sandusky's Second Mile Foundation, for instance.

 

Evisceration? Is this a ******* joke? 

 

The public disgust would last until someone else said something else, IF even that long. The station would survive, and maybe if they handled the situation like the fully grown adults supposedly running the station are they reach a few people. 

 

Jerry Sandusky ****ed kids for 20 years dude. The **** is wrong with you people? This couldn't be any less like Sandusky. What a sick way of looking at this...I am speaking to adults, right? Adults who can tell the difference between entertainment/jokes and an actual attack, right? If not, can we get one on the line?

[SenorGato]

[Bleedin Green]

Bullying is another thing that isn't illegal either, and this is only bullying now because we need to further label this thing ANYTHING other than what it was. It's sick. 

 

Which would be why they weren't arrested, they were fired.  There is absolutely zero correlation between legality of an action and a company's ability to fire you for it.

[SenorGato]

Seems to me that if you have to resort to making fun of Steve Gleason to get a laugh, you're neither smart nor funny enough to have a radio show anyway.

 

Yeah, the normal reaction to unfunny things isn't a firing. The public doesn't have to be offended for Steve Gleason, and Steve Gleason has no right to go through life without offense because he has ALS. The assumption that Gleason IS offended and something must be done to defend...whatever it is you guys think is being defended by firing these guys....is ****ed in the first place. 

[Bleedin Green]

Yeah, the normal reaction to unfunny things isn't a firing. The public doesn't have to be offended for Steve Gleason, and Steve Gleason has no right to go through life without offense because he has ALS. The assumption that Gleason IS offended and something must be done to defend...whatever it is you guys think is being defended by firing these guys....is ****ed in the first place. 

 

I'll let you in on a little secret, these guys were paid lots of money to be funny and ultimately entertain their customers (which in this case, would be the public).  So I hate to have to break this to you, but when you're failing at your job and pissing off your customers, firing is actually the normal reaction.  What they did is directly related to their jobs, that's not even up for debate; your refusal to acknowledge that doesn't magically make it not so.

[kelticwizard]

Evisceration? Is this a ******* joke? 

 

No, it's a word which physically means to cut someone apart, and linguistically means to cut someone apart verbally, especially in public.  For instance, William Safire, columnist for the The New York Times and former Nixon speechwriter,  once described Lloyd Bentsen's comment to Dan Quayle in the 1984 vice presidential debate-"Senator, you are no Jack Kennedy"-as a public evisceration, for it was widely perceived as an extremely damaging insult to Quayle.  I have seen the word used similarly by other writers, it is not an uncommon usage.

 

In the same vein, these three radio hosts put on a skit which sought to have fun cutting up Steve Gleason in his attempt to do his sports commentary job despite the disadvantages his ALS condition, such as not being able to talk without assistance from an electronic device.   Evisceration, or at least attempted evisceration, is an apt description.

 

Got that now?

[kay_gee]

Which would be why they weren't arrested, they were fired.  There is absolutely zero correlation between legality of an action and a company's ability to fire you for it.

 

 

BUT OMG FREEDOMS!

[kelticwizard]

.....Jerry Sandusky ****ed kids for 20 years dude. The **** is wrong with you people? This couldn't be any less like Sandusky. What a sick way of looking at this...I am speaking to adults, right? Adults who can tell the difference between entertainment/jokes and an actual attack, right? If not, can we get one on the line?

 

In post  #37 you defended the idea of retaining the three radio hosts, despite the widespread public disgust and national criticism it would likely bring, on the basis that the radio station and ALS would receive more attention than they ever had before.  In other words, there is no such thing as bad publicity.

 

I never equated Sandusky's action with the radio hosts' skit.  I simply gave Sandusky's foundation as an example of an organization which WAS brought down by damaging media attention.  In other words, there IS such a thing as bad publicity.  I can give others.

 

Despite what you may think, bad publicity and public outcry can damage or even bring down an organization, and a smart manager will move swiftly and decisively to limit such damage immediately, as was done here. 

[Lizard King]

Steve Gleason has no right to go through life without offense because he has ALS.

It's without question at this point that you are a miserable piece of sh*t. Cetainly you could not make it through life spewing these vitriolic views aloud, as guys like me would drill you into your own battle with ALS. So I ask, what part of your sick, demented Internet persona thinks the below is even good humor?

Gleason wrote a column for Sports Illustrated that appeared Monday detailing his battle with the terminal disease. Gleason has lost most of his motor skills and has to communicate with a computerized device that lets him write and speak using only his eyes.

The three radio hosts, Steve Shapiro, Nick Cellini and Chris Dimino, thought Gleason's disease would be good fodder for a skit on their radio show on 790 The Zone in Atlanta.

The three did a mock interview with Gleason, complete with a fake robotic voice. At one point in the segment, the fake Gleason started a "knock knock" joke, with the "joke" being: "Smother." "Smother Who?" "Smother me. Do me a favor."

http://touch.latimes.com/#section/-1/article/p2p-76350622/

As the guy winks to his child goodnight that won't know a father in months, I would love to know how you justify anyone keeping their job after that.

Lovely.

[Matt39]

It's without question at this point that you are a miserable piece of sh*t. Cetainly you could not make it through life spewing these vitriolic views aloud, as guys like me would drill you into your own battle with ALS. So I ask, what part of your sick, demented Internet persona thinks the below is even good humor?

Gleason wrote a column for Sports Illustrated that appeared Monday detailing his battle with the terminal disease. Gleason has lost most of his motor skills and has to communicate with a computerized device that lets him write and speak using only his eyes.

The three radio hosts, Steve Shapiro, Nick Cellini and Chris Dimino, thought Gleason's disease would be good fodder for a skit on their radio show on 790 The Zone in Atlanta.

The three did a mock interview with Gleason, complete with a fake robotic voice. At one point in the segment, the fake Gleason started a "knock knock" joke, with the "joke" being: "Smother." "Smother Who?" "Smother me. Do me a favor."

http://touch.latimes.com/#section/-1/article/p2p-76350622/

As the guy winks to his child goodnight that won't know a father in months, I would love to know how you justify anyone keeping their job after that.

Lovely.

 

Ok. So where do we draw the line? What can be considered funny and what cant? Most people I'm sure didnt feel the ALS joke was anywhere near funny....I didnt think it was.

 

But sitting around and demanding someone to be fired over a bad attempt at humor...man ppl need to get a grip. They're just words. No one was injured.

[kay_gee]

Ok. So where do we draw the line? What can be considered funny and what cant? Most people I'm sure didnt feel the ALS joke was anywhere near funny....I didnt think it was.

 

But sitting around and demanding someone to be fired over a bad attempt at humor...man ppl need to get a grip. They're just words. No one was injured.

 

No, but if the company wants to fire them, that's their prerogative. The fact that someone's throwing an internet tantrum because these guys got fired in a country with free speech right just shows that a] he has no idea that sketch is unfunny at best and bad for their business at worst, and b] he doesn't understand that the Constitution only guarantees you can't be prosecuted/thrown in jail by the government for what you say. It doesn't mean your employer can't fire you if they decide you've done something bad for their business or that doesn't reflect their brand values.

[SenorGato]

It's without question at this point that you are a miserable piece of sh*t. Cetainly you could not make it through life spewing these vitriolic views aloud, as guys like me would drill you into your own battle with ALS. So I ask, what part of your sick, demented Internet persona thinks the below is even good humor?

As the guy winks to his child goodnight that won't know a father in months, I would love to know how you justify anyone keeping their job after that.

Lovely.

 

First bold: Whoa love, it really takes a miserable piece of sh*t to type that out. 

 

Second bold: Read the thread. 

 

So what's the line for funny? What can and can't you make fun of? What are the laws to joke telling on an entertainment platform that remain unwritten? Why can't they be written down so that those guys actually broke a rule rather than crossed some invisible, bullsh*t, arbitrary line? What does his kid have to do with his joke? 

[T0mShane]

The public doesn't have to be offended for Steve Gleason.

You would like to dictate how an entire audience should react to certain productions, or at least determine a societal standard as to how offended an entire audience should be allowed to be.

[T0mShane]

.

Podcasts and MP3s, yes T0m.

You made this up entirely. There is not a single data point available to suggest that more people are turning to podcasts at the expense of traditional radio.

[T0mShane]

Ok. So where do we draw the line? What can be considered funny and what cant? Most people I'm sure didnt feel the ALS joke was anywhere near funny....I didnt think it was.

But sitting around and demanding someone to be fired over a bad attempt at humor...man ppl need to get a grip. They're just words. No one was injured.

Imus wasn't fired because people demanded it. Imus was fired because corporations pulled their financing for a show that wasn't pulling great ratings anyway. You and Gato want to make a philosophical argument to determine what a societal standard should be for what is it isn't offensive. If you guys think that there should be zero limits to what can be disseminated, that's fine, but you'd be ignoring the practical realities of the broadcasting industry.

[The Crusher]

Seems to me that if you have to resort to making fun of Steve Gleason to get a laugh, you're neither smart nor funny enough to have a radio show anyway.

Clever trumps cruel every time. Fire them and give you and I the spot.

[Matt39]

Imus wasn't fired because people demanded it. Imus was fired because corporations pulled their financing for a show that wasn't pulling great ratings anyway. You and Gato want to make a philosophical argument to determine what a societal standard should be for what is it isn't offensive. If you guys think that there should be zero limits to what can be disseminated, that's fine, but you'd be ignoring the practical realities of the broadcasting industry.

 

Right, Imus wasnt doing well...this just gave them an excuse. If Imus said that joke in the early 90's, at the peak of his popularity, he wouldnt have been fired. Because one, back then no one had an internet platform to be "offended" and he obviously was a ratings giant at the time. On the list of "offensive" things Imus, Bernard and company said over the years...that'd probably fall into the last percentile.

 

I haven't even read enough about this, how were Shapiro's ratings? The station knew he was a guy who did fringe/offensive humor...whats funny is them being surprised something like this happened...similar to ESPN and Rush.

[Lizard King]

First bold: Whoa love, it really takes a miserable piece of sh*t to type that out.

Second bold: Read the thread.

So what's the line for funny? What can and can't you make fun of? What are the laws to joke telling on an entertainment platform that remain unwritten? Why can't they be written down so that those guys actually broke a rule rather than crossed some invisible, bullsh*t, arbitrary line? What does his kid have to do with his joke?

Nah, like I said earlier it is undeniable that you are a scumbag. Like the DJ behind the mic, you have no concern for the effects of your words on an anonymous venue. Why does he deserve to get through life without being publically humiliated? You are so naive; the argument is not even apples to apples. I can run down the steet yelling God hates people with cancer, and that idiocy would be protected in a public venue. But if I went into your home and told your mother that she deserved to die because she had cancer, you would ask me to leave. I could tell my customers that 9/11 was a hoax but I would not have a job by lunch because it is in bad taste. You know this, and that is why people like you are the ones who truly deserve the debilitating effects of ALS. It's unfortunate. Continue on your sad diatribe, don't worry. We see you.

[T0mShane]

Right, Imus wasnt doing well...this just gave them an excuse. If Imus said that joke in the early 90's, at the peak of his popularity, he wouldnt have been fired. Because one, back then no one had an internet platform to be "offended" and he obviously was a ratings giant at the time. On the list of "offensive" things Imus, Bernard and company said over the years...that'd probably fall into the last percentile.

I haven't even read enough about this, how were Shapiro's ratings? The station knew he was a guy who did fringe/offensive humor...whats funny is them being surprised something like this happened...similar to ESPN and Rush.

The great test case would be if Carton crosses the line.

This Shapiro thing is an awful starting point for a censorship discussion because it was so flagrantly stupid that no level of ratings was going to save him, and there was no need for the station to even wait on the public outcry.

[SenorGato]

You would like to dictate how an entire audience should react to certain productions, or at least determine a societal standard as to how offended an entire audience should be allowed to be.

 

No, I would like people who are offended by what entertainers say to shut the **** up and get over it. I would like those people who feel the need to grab arms over jokes to get a life and cut the phony, pretentious outcries that does way more damage to individual lives than anything these guys (or the many similar cases) have done to anyone. These guys' lives are ruined by one joke that violated NO rules that they know of or operate under every day. Meanwhile the vast majority has already forgotten and Steve Gleason got bought 5 minutes of publicity he can take advantage of.

 

You made this up entirely. There is not a single data point available to suggest that more people are turning to podcasts at the expense of traditional radio. 

 

 

Meh, I am hardly the first to say it and it's more true than not. Traditional radio is dying and it's because the public dictates that they want bland, nothing programming to match their similarly dull, nothing lives. Boy they do love that sports radio THO....there's a daily brainiac convention. 

[kelly]

Bottom Line...the OWNER of the radio station said....they're out   

[kelticwizard]

Ok.

So where do we draw the line? What can be considered funny and what

cant?

 

But sitting around and

demanding someone to be fired over a bad attempt at humor...man ppl need

to get a grip. They're just words. No one was injured.

 

 

.....

So what's the line for funny? What can and can't you make fun of? What are the laws to joke telling on an entertainment platform that remain unwritten? Why can't they be written down so that those guys actually broke a rule rather than crossed some invisible, bullsh*t, arbitrary line?

 

I'm sure both of you are very competent and secure in your jobs, but in defending these radio hosts you sound like every guy sitting in the bar who just f'd up and got canned.

 

Where do we draw the line?  Who's to say what's good and what isn't?  Hell, Kowalski did nearly the same thing last month but did the boss fire him?  Nooooooo......

[kelly]

Clever trumps cruel every time. Fire them and give you and I the spot.

 

..T0mShane & The Crusher ? ?...if you guys do the show in atlanta....warning -  i'll be there  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

cheers ~ ~

[SenorGato]

Nah, like I said earlier it is undeniable that you are a scumbag. Like the DJ behind the mic, you have no concern for the effects of your words on an anonymous venue. Why does he deserve to get through life without being publically humiliated? You are so naive; the argument is not even apples to apples. I can run down the steet yelling God hates people with cancer, and that idiocy would be protected in a public venue. But if I went into your home and told your mother that she deserved to die because she had cancer, you would ask me to leave. I could tell my customers that 9/11 was a hoax but I would not have a job by lunch because it is in bad taste. You know this, and that is why people like you are the ones who truly deserve the debilitating effects of ALS. It's unfortunate. Continue on your sad diatribe, don't worry. We see you.

 

That's because I am adult enough to know the difference between a joke and an insult. OTOH, some ******* random piece of human sh*t and garbage telling me I deserve ALS because I can ID a joke and survive any offense I should take from it? Rotfl, this is the kind of garbage, sh*t, phony crowd I'm talking about, and this is the kind of person that radio station chose to side with and cater to.  Some phony, sanctimonious, simple minded retard who can sit there preaching about higher morals while in the same breath  he says something as absolutely ******* stupid as that. 

 

Let me ask you something you little bag of worthless sh*t . If I were to contact Steve Gleason in an email explaining to him that there are retards like yourself given power to shove your supposed morals in my face while telling me that I am a miserable, piece of sh*t scumbag who deserves ALS - wtf do you think he says to that? Oh good, you totally deserve ALS for defending those guys? That is the problem here - you phony, sanctimonious pieces of garbage out there will sit there sh*tting your morals onto people telling them what they can and can't joke about on an entertainment platform - but in the end you're too stupid to actually hold up being as morally upstanding as you like to imagine you are. OTOH, you'll get away with your words and these guys, who were considered very good at their jobs by their peers, have their lives ruined.  

 

These DJs did not walk into Steve Gleason's home. These DJs did not involve his kid or kids. These DJs did not tell their customers that 9/11 is a hoax, and guess what dummy? You're not paid to talk. No one is paying to hear you talk. Not a siiiiiiiiingle one of your customers is looking for you to entertain them with your conspiracy theories or jokes. OTOH, radio DJs ARE paid to talk and ARE paid to entertain. If a joke falls by the wayside then so be it, that's about as far as it should go. There are rules set up and constantly changing that these guys already have to look out for, and they operated within those rules. No one wants or needs phony ******* assholes like yourself sh*tting your phony morals on people, wishing them ALS because you're too much of a ninny little girl to understand the difference between a bad joke and a truly venomous attack. 

[Matt39]

I'm sure both of you are very competent and secure in your jobs, but in defending these radio hosts you sound like every guy sitting in the bar who just f'd up and got canned.

 

Where do we draw the line?  Who's to say what's good and what isn't?  Hell, Kowalski did nearly the same thing last month but did the boss fire him?  Nooooooo......

 

Unless someone is physically hurting someone, or blatantly attacking someone maliciously I dont root for people to be fired for saying something someone might find offensive. Its about context. I wasnt the type of kid who rooted for the RA's in college either. Some kids did...but most found them to be the fun police.

 

Kramer- there was no context. He went off on a direct racial tirade. These guys were trying to tell a joke...that's what these mornings shows are, everyone tries to one up eachother...and they chose a very poor topic to attempt comedy. I didnt find it funny- just move on. Let the ratings dictate who's on the air and who's not.