A recent editorial, (“Ducks should find their voice, demand an end to KUGN contract,” ODE, Nov. 12) argued that the University should “break its contract” with the station because several of KUGN’s syndicated talk show hosts engage in “hate-filled diatribes” and “don’t promote a culture that rejects bigotry, discrimination, violence and intimidation of any kind.”
The statements attributed to the talk show hosts identified in the editorial are deeply offensive. If they are accurate — and my limited exposure to the programs suggests that they are — it is critical that members of our community voice their outrage.
We should send protest letters to KUGN expressing our differing views. In addition, we as individuals should change the channel. If no one is listening, these talk show hosts will disappear quickly from the airwaves. But the University is not and should not be in the business of using our sports broadcasting contract to drive speakers off the air because we disagree with their views or the way they express those views.
The University is a public agency and cannot use its authority to directly or indirectly censor speech. Any effort to do so would be in conflict with Oregon University System policy, state and federal free speech provisions and with the fundamental values of this University.
The principle that the government may not censor a speaker because it disagrees with the speaker’s viewpoint is central to our understanding of free speech. It protects professors and students in the classroom, editorial writers, itinerant preachers in the EMU free speech plaza, protesters marching in front of Johnson Hall and conservative radio talk show hosts. And any effort on the part of the University to engage in such censorship strikes at the foundation of free exchange that the Emerald has defended for generations.
On numerous occasions when faced with angry readers calling for the University to exercise control over the content of the paper, the Emerald has rightly argued that the First Amendment protects the publication of controversial speech. Emerald journalists have understood that protecting free speech means defending speech that we find offensive from government censorship.
Given this history, it is surprising and disappointing to see the Emerald editorial board call for the University to use its contractual relation with KUGN-AM as leverage to silence speakers. If the University administration were to follow this course of action, it would be on very shaky legal ground and it would be making free speech victims out of the talk show hosts.
Voice your opinion, reject the ideas, change the channel, but do not ask a state institution to join in censorship.
Tim Gleason is a professor and the
Edwin L. Artzt dean of the School of Journalism and Communication.
Related News Stories:
Eugene groups respond to KUGN
Frohnmayer responds to KUGN debate
Community quietly talks about KUGN
KUGN talk show content angers students
Related Opinion Stories:
‘Adversarial’ radio hosts draw critics, supporters
KUGN (Illustration 12/04/02)
UO ignores students’ KUGN concerns
Clarifying our stance on KUGN
UO must ask if KUGN ‘enhances’ image
Money pressures cause Frohnmayer’s KUGN stance to be transparent
UO should not censor embattled KUGN shows
Related Letters:
Letters to the editor (12/02/02)
Letters to the editor (11/20/02)
Letters to the editor (11/18/02)
Letters to the editor (11/14/02)
Related Websites:
KUGN: The voice of the Ducks
MichaelSavage.com
MichaelMedved.com