ABSTRACT
A pervasive and disturbing brand of hate speech has found a place on the nation’s AM and FM airwaves. Supporters of talk radio include listeners, advertising sponsors, station managers, and public figures who either implicitly or explicitly embrace the host’s message of hate. A number of studies have sought to identify the demographics of talk radio fans. In general, these studies have found that the majority of listeners are college-educated white males over the age of thirty who fall in middle- to upper-income brackets. Responses by opponents to hate radio include calls for censorship, concerted action such as boycotts and protests, legal action, and calls for regulatory intervention. Specific acts of violence perpetrated on targets of hate radio are surely one of the more serious harms. To opponents of hate speech, it is no small irony that the Federal Communications Commission draw a distinction between “indecent” and hate speech.
