The Michael Savage Saga Continues

You’ll have to excuse my focus over the last few days on conservative talk radio host Michael Savage, but his comments about autistic children and their parents merit some attention.

Happily, there’s some good news to report. FOXNews.com is reporting that Aflac, an advertiser on Savage’s radio show, has pulled all their advertising from Savage’s show, with the following comment from a company spokeswoman: “We understand that radio hosts pick on any number of targets however we found Michael Savage’s recent comments to be both inappropriate and insensitive.” It’s good to see a company like Aflac taking a stand against the kind of ignorant and inflammatory garbage that Michael Savage is spouting. In addition to news that Aflac has pulled their advertising from Savage’s show, the FOXNews report also includes a statement from WOR-AM, which broadcast Savage’s remarks in New York City:

“The views expressed by Michael Savage are his views and are not those of WOR Radio. As Michael Savage is a syndicated show, the content is the responsibility of the syndicator, which is Talk Radio Networks. Unfortunately, it is impossible for WOR Radio to know the subject matter in advance of airing. WOR is in the business of serving the community in which we broadcast. That is our stated goal, and we will continue to do so. We regret any consternation that his remarks may have caused to our listeners.”

Curiously enough, Tom Parker, the Program Manager from 620 WTMJ is sticking to his guns, because in his opinion complaints are really only important to take a look at if they come from “loyal listeners,” while complaints from liberals just aren’t worthy of his time.

At any rate, I’m glad to see Aflac and WOR-AM did the right thing, and hopefully more folks will stand up and voice their disgust with Michael Savage.

EDIT: As pointed out by a commenter, the statement released by WOR-AM isn’t really an apology; it’s more a statement of regret.

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3 thoughts on “The Michael Savage Saga Continues

  1. That wasn’t an apology from WOR, it was the station shrugging its shoulders and saying it has no control over its program hosts. “Regretting” something is not apologizing for it.

    If WOR really were to take a stand, and I’m not advocating this, it would drop the Savage program, or at the least come out and more strongly denounce what he said.

    As it stands, all WOR did was to say hey, we have nothing to do with this.

  2. Oooh, way to go Aflac! As a mom of four children– one of whom is autistic– I’ve been following this story closely. Glad to know that at least ONE company has done the right thing.

  3. Bill, you raise a good point concerning the nature of the statement from WOR. I’ve edited the content of my entry to more accurately reflect the true nature of the statement.

    Brillig, I agree 100%. It’s good to see a company like Aflac taking a stand against the kind of comments we’ve heard from Michael Savage. A lot of Savage’s supporters have been very vocal in their defense of Savage’s comments, so it’s nice to see at least one company doing the right thing.

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