Douglas Scheidt
Below is an email from a Cleveland Bike shop owner that tried to defend
bicyclists in Cleveland on air with the DJ's in question. Sounds like he
wasn't treated too kindly when trying to offer the bicyclists side.
Below that is the result of the bike community making their stand in
Cleveland. So, people, it sounds like we can make a difference.
Below the email is an incident that occured in Cleveland between a car and a
bicyclists. I am not sure of the timeline, so I don't know if the incident
occured before or after the broadcast. The incident was reported at:
http://bicycleaustin.info/newsletters/2003-07-08.html
From: Cory
Subject: Scary stuff
The following is from an email from Lois Cowan - Co-owner, Century Cycles
On Wednesday, July 2nd, the morning radio show on WMJI-Majic 105 read an
e-mail from a listener saying that bicycles should not be on the roads in
the Cleveland Metroparks. At least one of the DJs told listeners who were in
cars to do things like:
- speed past the bike, pull back into the lane and slam on your brakes.
- speed past the bike, have your passenger open their door and put on the
brakes.
- yell and/or honk at all cyclists as you pass in your car.
- throw things like cans or rolls of pennies out your window at cyclists.
Apparently, there was a caller who said that what they were telling people
to do was wrong. The caller tried to explain that bicycles are allowed on
the roads and are vehicles just like cars. From what I understand, the DJs
made fun of the caller and didn't take her comments seriously.
I contacted one of the DJs, Jimmy Malone, about the content of the program.
He said that he would try to get "the other side of the story" on Thursday's
show and I agreed to be interviewed.
My interview started with me explaining that bicycles are allowed on the
roadways and why some cyclists don't use the multipurpose trails in the
Metroparks. During the "interview", I was repeatedly and relentlessly called
a buffoon, idiot, clueless, pms-sufferer, couldn't take a joke, didn't
understand satire and stupid.
For the remaining three hours of their "show", they took calls from
listeners and further encouraged drivers to do whatever it takes to get
cyclists off the roads. Callers who agreed with their viewpoints were
awarded a gift certificate to a local restaurant.
They aired loads of people who called in to say that they agreed that
bicyclists are basically moving targets. I heard of only one person that
said they felt that their "jokes" were wrong. I was left wondering if they
were just putting the ignorant people on the air or (as they said) did no
cyclists call in with their opinion?
On Monday, July 7, they were again making comments about bicycles being on
the roadways. The biggest offender, Chip Kullik, again said he pulls over
and opens his doors into cyclists.
We need every single person who rides a bike to call or e-mail the Federal
Communications Commission, the station, Clear Channel Communications and the
Cleveland Metroparks to say that the program during these two mornings is
wrong. It is DEAD wrong if someone is killed because the radio station spent
over four hours "joking" about swerving into cyclists, throwing things at
riders, honking, yelling, or passing and then slamming on your brakes.
Please take a few moments to call, write or e-mail any or all of the
following:
Federal Communications Commission
Enforcement Bureau
445 12th St SW
Washington, DC 20554
phone 202-418-7450
fax 202-418-2810
complai-@fcc.gov
go to www.wmji.com to e-mail the Program Manager
Dave Popovich and/or Jim Meltzer
WMJI
6200 Oak Tree Blvd
Independence, OH 44131-6933
DavePo-@clearchannel.com
JimMe-@clearchannel.com
Clear Channel Communications, head offices, San Antonio,
Director of Public Relations - lisadol-@clearchannel.com
John Hogan, CEO
Clear Channel Radio
200 East Basse Rd
San Antonio, TX 78209
johnh-@clearchannel.com
Bob Rotatori-PR Manager
Cleveland Metroparks
4101 Fulton Parkway
Cleveland, Ohio 44144
216-351-6300 ext. 3263
Someone needs to stand up against this aggressive and selfish behavior that
some motorists feel against bicyclists in the Metroparks and on the
roadways. We need to educate the public, both motorists and cyclists, about
the correct rules of the road.
Please copy me on any e-mails or letters that you send. I can be reached at:
lo-@centurycycles.com
phone 440-519-0006
fax 440-519-0079
Lois Cowan
Co-owner
Century Cycles
33351 Aurora Rd
Solon, OH 44139
Follow up after the letter above
Here's the latest:
Hurray! Good news! We CAN make a difference!
This is from the TrueSport News website:
http://truesport.com/Bike/2003/news/idiotupdate.html
==================
The following is an email from Lois Cowan - Co-owner, Century Cycles
Due to a flood of e-mails, phone calls and letters, Clear Channel
Communications and WMJI-Majic 105 in Cleveland have agreed to help correct
the wrongs that their broadcasts caused last week.
Negotiations are underway and Clear Channel has agreed to a number of items
revolving around:
- Running Public Service Announcements on all six of their stations in the
northern Ohio market.
- Donating a substantial amount of money toward local bicycling causes.
- Helping with programs and events such as Safe Routes to School and public
safety education.
- Supporting and promoting the America Bikes agenda with national and local
politicians.
- Public apologies from those DJs who offended all of us with their
anti-bicycling comments.
AS OF TODAY, FRIDAY JULY 18th, WE CAN STOP E-MAILING COMPLAINTS ABOUT THEIR
REPREHENSIBLE BROADCASTS.
Station management and the DJs understand that what they said was wrong.
They are in the process of making things right, but for them to focus on
turning things around we need to free up their computers.
Thank you for your quick response. It's great to see freedom of speech used
in a positive way.
Please forward this to anyone that you may have sent the original Call to
Action to so that the word gets out. If you are the administrator of a
webpage or see the original Call to Action still posted on a webpage, please
post this update as soon as possible.
Lois Cowan
Century Cycles
33351 Aurora Rd
Solon, Ohio 44139
440-519-0006
Incident -
A DJ on WMJI-Majic 105's morning show read an e-mail from a listener saying
that bicycles shouldn't be on the roads in the Cleveland Metroparks. At
least one of the DJs told listeners who were in cars to do things like:
speed past the bike, pull back into the lane and slam on your brakes.
speed past the bike, open your passenger door and put on the brakes.
yell and/or honk at all cyclists as you pass in your car.
throw things out your window at cyclists.
I gave Jimmy Mallone at the station the phone number of a cyclist (Kim) who
was the victim of an assault by a motorist. She was purposely run off the
road in the Cleveland Metroparks last Sunday and now has a broken rib and a
concussion. Her helmet split in half, but she feels lucky to be alive. The
behavior that the DJs are condoning is not fun and games; it could be
someone's life or death.
----Original Message Follows----
From: evanmac-@aol.com
Reply-To: evanmac-@aol.com
To: complai-@fcc.gov, DavePo-@clearchannel.com,
JimMe-@clearchannel.com, lisadol-@clearchannel.com,
johnh-@clearchannel.com, ob-@topica.com, danc-@yahoo.com
Subject: [OBRA Chat] Radio Station incites violence against cyclists
Date: Fri, 11 Jul 2003 23:11:55 EDT
On Wednesday, July 2nd, the morning radio show on WMJI-Majic 105 read an
e-mail from a listener saying that bicycles should not be on the roads in
the
Cleveland Metroparks. At least one of the DJs told listeners who were in
cars to
do things like:
- speed past the bike, pull back into the lane and slam on your brakes.
- speed past the bike, have your passenger open their door and put on the
brakes.
- yell and/or honk at all cyclists as you pass in your car.
- throw things like cans or rolls of pennies out your window at cyclists.
If this is in fact true, this radio station, its owners, and the djs should
be fined for this behavior, and forced to apologize not only on the air but
by
funding a large media campaign in the Cleveland area stating the rules of
the
road, including the fact that bicyclists are legitimate road users and that
taunting bicyclists is a criminal offense. A bicyclist could be harmed or
even
killed by any one of these acts. If it can be shown that anyone has been
harmed
by the comments made on that show, the djs, and Clear Channel, should be
held
fully liable and punished to the full extent of the law.
It does not matter who this radio station was encouraging people to
potentially kill. The fact of the matter is that they were promoting
violence toward
others. The radio station cannot hide behind an excuse that they were doing
it
all in fun, as they made even more fun of people who tried to call and voice
a
different opinion.
This is the sort of thing radio licenses are supposed to help control. A
station that airs remarks such as these should have its license up for
review, and
suspended if possible. I would like to see that these remarks are
investigated, and that the station, its staff, and Clear Channel are
educated about the
difference between comedy and inciting violence. Inciting violence and other
illegal behavior is not comedy, nor is it free speech.
As a citizen, I would suggest businesses stop advertising with Clear Channel
until something is done. And that listeners stop patronizing Clear Channel
advertisers as well.
Thank you,
Evan MacKenzie
"We fear the cold and the things we do not understand. But most of all we
fear the doings of the heedless ones among ourselves."
......AN INUIT SHAMAN, quoted by an early Arctic explorer (As published in
William H. Calvin's, "The River that Flows Uphill", 1986)
To respond to the whole group send to ob-@topica.com.
To respond to the list manager send to ob-@teleport.com
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