Is this fineworthy for the station if people file FCC complaints?
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Former Bearcats Coach Bob Huggins in National Hot Water After Using Homophobic Slurs on 700WLW!
- Thread starter RadioKid
- Start date
Not likely. Nobody swore, and I've never seen the word Huggins used in any listing of words you can't say on the radio. In fact, there's an English holiday-season favorite by the Pogues, "Fairytale of New York," that has the full six-letter word for a gay man in its lyrics. It's not only acceptable to play even at the staid BBC, but you'll hear it on a number of album rock stations here in the U.S. around Christmastime.
I don't recall any action by the FCC against WFAN after Don Imus slurred the Rutgers women's basketball team. Poor taste, yes. Obscenity, no.
Not under current obscenity/profanity standards. There is no FCC rule about offensive terms, racial epithets, and the like.
While the licensee could be asked to respond under the general area of responsibility, this would open up a world of questions about how fast the delete button can be pushed when a well known and normally respectful guest does something unexpected or out of character.
There is an issue of whether it violates any federal or state laws based on discrimination and related subjects.
Huggins is about to begin his 17th season as the Mountaineers’ head basketball coach. Why he agreed to speak of ancient history is beyond me, and why he did what he did is something I will never understand. He certainly would be expected to know better. We all have weak moments that sometimes lead to stupid mistakes. I am curious how the deep-pockets donors will react, and more than curious as to how Huggins will be greeted at both the Coliseum and all away venues.
Huggins built his coaching reputation at the University of Cincinnati. He's always projected a sort of naughty, redneck personality -- minus racism, obviously, because ... well ... he coaches basketball. I'm sure he and "Willie" know each other well from his days coaching the Bearcats. Perhaps his old friend forgot momentarily that he was on the radio when Huggins made his crude reference to fans of the other school in town, especially if he'd used that sort of language in off-air conversations or even at games. Doesn't make what happened forgivable, but maybe a bit more comprehensible.
MAGA runs Ohio, so no. Gym Jordan would be screaming about cancel culture
John Kiesewetter wrote a second opinion piece on how WLW needs to suffer consequences and tried to rope in their sports partners to put pressure on them. Looks like he went on-air on WVXU to address this, too.
Does the man just feel super strongly about this particular incident or does he have an axe to grind with Willie from years past?
Does the man just feel super strongly about this particular incident or does he have an axe to grind with Willie from years past?
Depending what the definition of "far left" is, which seems to be anyone to the left of MTG. If Tucker can ask questions, I guess John can too. I haven't seen a lot of out-and-out political bias in John's columns over the years. Cunningham, either is far right or has a convincing portrayal, McConnell is more center right, I'm not sure about some of the others. I think the incident has already been forgotten.
Actually, all indications from many sources are that NPR is pretty middle of the road and prides itself on "fact-based reporting". That network also normally brings people in to represent at least 2 viewpoints when hosting certain segments, so comments representing all sides are heard by their listeners. Now, for those who get their "news" and information from Fox News, OANN, Newsmax and right-wing talk, then sure, to them, a network like NPR that's actually moderate to slight left left is going to seem "pretty far left", but that's their perception - it's not necessarily accurate or based in reality.
Here's a "Media Bias Chart" that helps illustrate:
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It's certainly time to put it to rest for now IMO. Huggins apologized, he made no excuses and said that, just as he expects of his players, he'd stand up and take whatever punishment or ramifications came his way without argument. His pay was reduced by $1M, he's suspended for the first 3 games of the season and needs to attend sensitivity training. Dead horse has been beaten. Time to move on.
That said, this and all the other myriad incidents of racial, anti-semetic, anti-LGBTQ+, and other comments aimed at minorities and religious groups that have gotten people into hot water on both radio and TV shouldn't be forgotten - it's just a bit sad that, even after all the repeat instances, some never seem to learn from them.
Seems like he does feel pretty strongly about this. The Reds, Bengals, UC and Xavier aren't going to sanction WLW for this IMO.
I've never met Kiesewetter but I've enjoyed his work over the years. I did talk to one of his stations' news anchors during a luncheon here in Columbus last fall and they (using that pronoun to avoid giving away/hinting who) had nothing good to say about WLW from their days as an intern there, most notably Cunningham.
I would be surprised if we hear much more about this incident though. Does seem to have died down considerably.
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