Reaction to David Foster Wallace Quote

This quote in my mind represents all of what is wrong with the entertainment and media businesses in America nowadays. People need to be held accountable for the things they say. I completely understand that radio personalities are trying to keep audiences (if you don’t believe me you should read my last post) and that maintaining an audience is difficult. But under no circumstance should radio hosts not be held responsible for what they say during the air time they have been granted.

When radio hosts do hide behind their words this shows just how (for lack of a better word) disgusting the entertainment industry has become. Talk radio has become more about trying to keep an audience and less about informing the public. The main reason radio was put into use in the first place was to serve the public interest. If radio hosts are only saying the things they say in order to “stimulate” the audience and get higher ratings than something is seriously wrong with the telecommunications system in this country.

“Shock jocks” like Howard Stern and Don Imus know exactly what they’re saying when they say. Do they think about what they’re saying before they do? That’s debatable. Howard Stern was smart enough to realize that instead of having the FCC breathing down his neck constantly he should move to satellite radio where regulations are much much lower. If other radio hosts can’t take responsibility for the things they say (or are about to say) they should learn from Howard Stern and do exactly what he did: get the f*ck out.