Anchorage Shock-jocks suspended

By Rachel D’oro
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
April 15  

ANCHORAGE, Alaska - A radio station (KBFX, 100.5 The Fox) suspended two disc jockeys Tuesday over a derogatory remark about Alaska aboriginal women made on their show (April 9 2008), a comment that has Alaskans comparing the shock-jock duo to Don Imus.

The Anchorage DJs, known as Woody and Wilcox, were joking about what makes someone a real Alaskan, when one of them said it's somebody who makes love to the Yukon River and urinates in an aboriginal woman.

It's a twist on an old saying, also offensive to many, that real Alaskans have urinated in the Yukon River and made love to an Alaska native woman.

Some Alaska natives are calling for sanctions against KBFX-FM, the hard rock station that features Woody and Wilcox on its morning show.

Michelle Davis, who is part Tlingit, said she was listening to the show April 9 while stuck in traffic on her way to work when she heard the comment.

"I was horrified," she said Tuesday. "It was a very ugly image."

Natives are likening the remarks to those made last spring by Imus, who called the Rutgers University women's basketball team "nappy-headed hos."

CBS Radio fired Imus on April 12, 2007, and pulled the plug on his nationally syndicated show. He returned to the air in December at WABC-AM in New York after a series of public apologies.

State Representative Mary Nelson, a Bethel Democrat who is part Yupik, voiced her disgust on the floor of the state House on Sunday, the last day of the legislative session.

She labelled the Anchorage DJs's comments "abhorrent to the highest degree" and called for an apology, as well as punishment by the Federal Communications Commission.

Gary Donovan, a market manager for the station, said he couldn't recall which of the two disc jockeys - whose real names are Greg Wood and Chris Wilcox - made the derogatory remarks.

He said station officials reviewed the tape before deciding what action to take, but declined to elaborate, noting he stood by a statement posted on the station's Web site.

"KBFX wishes to apologize to everyone in our audience and the community who was offended by the insensitive and inappropriate comments alluding to native women," the statement reads.

There is no listing for Wood or Wilcox in Anchorage.

A voice mailbox for Clear Channel Communications Inc., which owns KBFX, was full Tuesday evening, and an e-mail sent by The Associated Press was not immediately answered.

The station said it has indefinitely suspended the disc jockeys while they get sensitivity training (and their pay in the interim donated to an appropriate charity.)

as abhorrent as the comments may be, these demands for punishment are simply chipping away at free speech. soon, or is it already here?, we will have to do like they do in china and dictatorships and look around to see who might overhear what we say and report us to the authorities for punishment.

comments on native women today, comments on government authorities tomorrow.

chip chip chip chip and soon it's GONE.

if you find the comments of a shock jock offensive, why the flock are you listening?