STATEMENT BY TALK RADIO NETWORK
ON MICHAEL SAVAGE'S AUTISM COMMENTS
There have been numerous calls in recent days for Michael Savage, who
hosts "The Michael Savage Show" for Talk Radio Network (the "Network"),
to be fired or suspended for his brief 84 seconds of commentary
concerning autism during the July 16th broadcast of the Show.
Promptly after the Network's management learned of the comments in
issue, the Network commenced an investigation into the particulars and
the circumstances of those comments. This investigation began with the
Network's CEO, Mark Masters, personally contacting Dr. Savage to
address the concerns and obtain an explanation of the comments directly
from Dr. Savage.
In that conversation, and other subsequent conversations between Mr.
Masters and Dr. Savage, Dr. Savage explained the circumstances and
intent of his statements in considerable detail. The Network also
carefully monitored subsequent broadcasts of the Show, on Monday, July
21st and Tuesday, July 22nd, which were devoted to the subject of
autism and further explanations by Dr. Savage of his views on the
subject.
Dr. Savage has clarified that his July 16th statements concerning
autism were not directed at those who are in fact challenged by this
horrible affliction, but were instead addressing efforts to broaden the
concept of autism beyond those who truly are autistic to a broader
"autistic spectrum" of behavioral symptoms which are also manifested by
persons who do not suffer from autism, and his concern that many
children are being misdiagnosed as autistic due to the subjective
nature of autism diagnosis (due to the lack of known biomedical
indicators, such as blood tests, to definitively confirm or deny the
actual existence of autism). Dr. Savage has also explained his belief
that there have been efforts by certain professionals and professional
organizations to expand diagnoses of autism more broadly, for various
reasons, and his concern that this victimizes and stigmatizes children
who are misdiagnosed as autistic. On multiple other occasions Dr.
Savage has expressed his concerns that other conditions, such as ADD
and ADHD, are overdiagnosed and result in improper medication of young
children, which Dr. Savage regards as abusive.
In the context of his broader concerns, it is clear that Dr. Savage's
comments were intended to suggest his opinion that, in the vast
majority of cases, most children throwing tantrums, or refusing to
communicate, are not autistic. Unfortunately, by condensing his
multifaceted concerns into 84 seconds of commentary, the necessary
context for his remarks was not apparent, and the few words he used to
express his concerns were, in this instance, inartfully phrased.
As a result, Dr. Savage's comments did facially appear to be directed
at children who suffer from autism, and clearly could be perceived as
such. This has, in turn, caused understandable pain and distress to
those who have a child or family member who is challenged by autism.
This was not Dr. Savage's intent, and, on behalf of the Network and all
persons associated with the Network, we wish to note that our hearts go
out to all families who are forced to face the realities of autism
every day of their lives, and to sincerely apologize to these families
for any increase in these burdens resulting from inartful commentary
appearing in the Network's programming.
While the phrasing of Dr. Savage's remarks was inartful, after the
aforementioned investigation, as well as personal knowledge of Dr.
Savage's strongly held views towards children and those dealing with
special challenges, the Network is satisfied that he did not mean any
disrespect to autistic children or their families but was instead
reiterating his longstanding concerns on public health issues. Indeed,
on these points, Mark Masters, the Network's CEO, notes that:
"I have known Michael Savage for nine
years now. Over those nine years, we have had occasion to disagree on
many issues. However, I have always respected Michael as a man of
conviction, and I have noticed throughout our relationship that he has
always been passionate and intense in his opposition to persons who he
perceived to be disrespectful of persons dealing with special
challenges.
I once asked him about his passion in this area, and he noted that it
was because he had a brother who was disabled, but that he did not want
to discuss it. Michael never shared any particulars on this with me
until he shared with his audience on Monday that his brother never
spoke during his lifetime, was institutionalized at 5 or 6 years old,
and died in that institution in his 20's.
My observations of Michael's consistent opposition to what he viewed as
abuse or disrespect of persons dealing with special challenges, and of
his interest in children, as well as his 1982 book, Healing Children
Naturally, are completely inconsistent with Michael attacking children
who are truly autistic. In contrast, his belief that misdiagnosing
children as autistic will damage those children who are misdiagnosed
and stigmatize them for life, his aversion to what he sees as improper
medication of young children, and subjecting them to a lifetime of
chemical straight jackets, and his recent sharing of his belief that
the medical profession failed to properly care for his brother prior to
his brother's death, do explain his passion in challenging what he sees
as improper efforts by some in the health care industry to brand and
treat as autistic persons who are not."
In this context, for multiple reasons, the Network does not believe
that it is appropriate to take adversarial action to suspend or
terminate Dr. Savage for not phrasing his comments in this instance
more carefully.
First, the Network recognizes, and those who are calling for action
against Dr. Savage should recognize, that live talk radio is
unscripted. Hosts do not read from prompters. Regardless of the
abilities of any individual host, it is impossible to expect that hosts
can in all instances avoid any instances of failure to provide full
context and caveats for every statement made in three hours per day,
five days per week, of a live talk program.
The Network also believes, as a policy matter, that it is not
appropriate to censor the opinions of its hosts on legitimate issues.
Neither the Network nor its management personnel agree with all
positions asserted by all hosts on each of the Network's shows.
As a policy matter, the Network neither supports nor rejects individual
policy statements asserted by its hosts. It does, however, support the
rights of its hosts to express their views on public policy issues.
The purpose of talk radio is to raise the level of public discourse by
introducing commentary on controversial issues. If the Network were to
require hosts to refrain from stating views which others disagree with,
or discipline hosts for holding unpopular views, its hosts would be
intimidated from exercising their freedom of expression. Should this
ever become the standard for talk radio, the interchange of ideas and
debate which is the lifeblood of talk radio would be destroyed, and the
freedom of expression which is a hallmark of American democracy would
be eroded.
The Network is particularly concerned with respect to efforts to remove
Dr. Savage from the airwaves by persons or organizations who disagree
with his political views. In the case of the underlying July 16th
autism clip comments now in issue, the Network must be cognizant of the
fact that the initiation of a campaign to remove Dr. Savage from the
air for those comments was instigated by Media Matters, an organization
which regularly tapes broadcasts of The Michael Savage Show for the
purpose of finding sound bites which could be used in an effort to
remove him from the airwaves, for their own political ends.
In this case, the Network does believe that there has been an effort by
Media Matters to take advantage of an inartful lapse on the part of Dr.
Savage in failing to supply full context, caveats and explanations in
the 84 seconds of comments at issue. While the Network and Dr. Savage
regret any pain to families of autistic children as a result of
inartfully phrased comments intended to enhance the welfare of
children, it does appear to the Network that Media Matters and others
now seek to cynically exploit this particular sound bite, out of
context, to harness the pain of parents with truly autistic children,
for their own self-serving agenda, in a broader political effort to
remove a voice they politically disagree with from the airwaves.
In this context, the Network does question, if such efforts were to be
successful with respect to Michael Savage, which other hosts will be
the next targets. This is not the first, nor will it be the last,
attempt by Media Matters to exploit any issue for their own self
-serving political and social agenda.
Despite the concerns on the Network's part as to the motivations of
Media Matters and other organizations which seek to remove those hosts
they disagree with from the airwaves, and its belief that no action
against Michael Savage is warranted under all applicable circumstances
of this situation, the Network does want to take some positive action
to address the fact that inartful statements concerning autism were
made on one of its programs. As a result, the Network will begin
broadcasting public service announcements with respect to legitimate
autism issues, subject to spot availability, without charge, and will
be encouraging other networks to do the same. In this regard, the
Network invites organizations which would desire to submit public
service announcements to forward them by email to
PSA@TALKRADIONETWORK.com, or by mail to P.O. Box 3755, Central Point,
OR 97502.
In contrast to the cynical efforts of Media Matters to manipulate 84
seconds of commentary out of context, for its own ends, the Network
does believe that the issue is about the children. While the 84 seconds
at issue has created intense controversy, the Network welcomes the
opportunity to broaden the discussion on the important issues relating
to autism, the "autism spectrum", the validity of autism diagnoses, and
the ever-expanding drugging of America's children.
The Network commenced this discussion in the July 21st and 22nd
broadcasts of The Michael Savage Show. For those who believe that the
84 seconds cited by Media Matters defines Michael Savage's views on
autism, the Network recommends going to (or clicking)
http://www.savageonautism.com/ to view a representative sampling of Dr. Savage's views, as well as the applicable issues, in true context.
For all the audio clips
click here.
© 2008