Liberal Radio Show Gets Static in Silver City, New Mexico

URL: http://abqjournal.com/news/state/200690nm07-22-04.htm
Thursday, July 22, 2004
Liberal Radio Show Gets Static in Silver City
By Rene Romo
Albuquerque Journal Southern Bureau

An hourlong liberal talk show was apparently too much for some weekday listeners of a Silver City radio station that also broadcasts seven hours of conservative talk from Rush Limbaugh, Bill O'Reilly and Michael Savage.

The owner of radio station KNFT, Matt Runnels, went on the air Monday morning to announce that he was canceling two-month-old local talk show "Radio Free Silver." He cited pressure from more than a dozen advertisers unhappy with the show's generally liberal content.

Runnels, who is chairman of the Grant County Democratic Party, said local ranchers applied pressure to some businesses to pull advertising from the station unless the show was dropped?- a charge one rancher and a few advertisers denied.

"It's the hardest decision I've had to make in 20 years," said Runnels. He said placing pressure on advertisers would be "economic terrorism."

"It's about as close to blackmail of the First Amendment as I've ever seen," Runnels said, while declining to name any of the advertisers.

The one-hour morning show, which was broadcast five days a week, was hosted by Kyle Johnson Jr., a member of the Grant County Peace Coalition. Johnson said he focused on issues, such as the war in Iraq, the upcoming presidential election and voter registration, environmental issues, the Mexican gray wolf reintroduction and President Bush "and his transgressions."

During its run since mid-May, Radio Free Silver was followed immediately by three hours of Limbaugh and four hours of O'Reilly and Savage later in the day.

During the on-air announcement about the cancellation of "Radio Free Silver," Runnels also blamed Kevin McCauley, president of McCauley Broadcasting Inc., which owns rival radio station KWNM, FM 105.5.

McCauley denied Runnels' on-air charge that McCauley urged some businesses to drop advertising on KNFT because of "un-American" content on Radio Free Silver.

"I've got all I can handle taking care of my own business," McCauley said in a telephone interview with the Journal.

McCauley, a former KNFT employee, acknowledged talking to several members of the Grant County Area Cattlegrowers Association, who asked him how advertisements were placed on particular radio shows.

Jason Dobrinski, president of the Grant County Area Cattlegrowers Association, said several weeks ago he contacted two businesses to inform them their ads ran during Radio Free Silver.

Dobrinski said he never threatened to boycott any business if it did not withdraw advertising from the show or pressure KNFT to drop Radio Free Silver.

"My concern was that those advertisers were not knowingly advertising in that block of time," Dobrinski said. "I made no implication that we were going to boycott (the businesses) or cause them any kind of hardship. It was strictly for information purposes only."

Runnels first told Johnson on July 7 that he would have to cancel Radio Free Silver because no one would sponsor ads in its time slot.

Johnson then appealed for listener sponsorship and a group of locals pledged funds, about $600 per month, to pay for the slot.

But when advertisers still reportedly threatened to pull out of KNFT unless the show was dropped, Runnels said he had no choice.

Johnson said he did not blame Runnels for canceling the show under the threat of "unbearable" income losses.

"There's a much broader principle here, but I don't think the way to fight it is to put the station in jeopardy," Johnson said. "However, for those others, if this is what they consider to be the America they want, it has more the character of Germany in the '30s."

Dobrinski said he was "not shedding any tears" over the cancellation of Radio Free Silver. The show "incites controversy and only serves to polarize the community," he said.

If Runnels received calls from enough advertisers to threaten the station's viability, that could be because Grant County, while its voter registration majority is Democratic, is largely conservative, Dobrinski said.

"That's not censorship," Dobrinski said. "It's called free-market economics."

Under the heading "Black Monday" on its Web site Wednesday, the Grant County Peace Coalition posted a letter saying members were considering calling a community-wide meeting to air opinions about the cancellation.

"In light of the recent article in 'Outside' magazine, which portrayed Silver City as one of twenty 'dream towns' in America, we question whether our business leaders want to condone pressure tactics to silence voices of the community," the Peace Coalition said.

Neither Dobrinski nor Runnels would identify any of the advertisers they spoke to about Radio Free Silver. But three KNFT advertisers contacted at random said they never considered pulling ads over the show or heard complaints from customers.

"I told (Runnels) I don't care for the show, but I never, ever put pressure on him about anything," said Scott Mills,owner of the Mills Cooper Chevrolet Cadillac dealership. "I don't see why he can't have differing opinions (on the airwaves)."