Torricelli on 101.5 and "hateful and divisive speech"

The eloquence of their words and the powerful example of their lives has given the Rutgers Women's Basketball team an important victory over ignorance. An important element of this success was public reaction and another was economic power. Advertisers decided that subsidizing ignorance was bad business.

Removing Imus from the air is hardly enough to solve a national problem. Entertainment by divisive, hateful speech is an epidemic. It is also a disease that can be found in New Jersey.

When 101.5 began to build itself into a state-wide forum for news and ideas, I was a willing conspirator. I wrote to the FCC in support of expanding the station's license and even assisted with a new station acquisition.

It was an exciting idea. New Jersey would have its own station with our own news, traffic and sports. It was a chance to build a community of ideas and create a forum for discussion of our problems.

How did it all go so wrong?

Thoughtful discussion became name calling. Our new forum sounded more like a screaming match. Increasingly elected officials just decided to ignore them but when "the Jersey Guys" launched into a hateful assault on Mary Jo Codey, that wasn't good enough.  It became worse when my friend Ray Lesniak's Polish ancestry became a target of their bigoted assaults.  Now I've learned of their mocking of our neighbors of Latin origin.

What they said on each occasion does not deserve being repeated. There's only one question that remains. Why do so many good institutions still subsidise this disgrace? I was proud to hear that corporate sponsors Dunkin Donuts and AT&T withdrew their advertising. But, yesterday afternoon, the following advertisers were still choosing public exposure over public principle.

-Thomas Edison State College

-STS Tires

-Ford/Lincoln Mercury dealer

-Walgreens

Let these advertisers know that they've made the wrong decision and keep checking this web site. I'll keep updating the list of those who would profit by hateful and divisive speech.