FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE October 9, 2012
CONTACT: Inez Gonzalez igonzalez@www.nhmc.org (213) 718-0740
The "Take John and Ken Off the Air" Campaign Applauds Responsible Corporations and Urges Others to Follow
Los Angeles, CA - Today, the "Take John and Ken Off the Air" campaign announces that Angels Baseball and University of Redlands have withdrawn their advertisement from KFI AM's "The John and Ken Show." The campaign, led by the National Hispanic Media Coalition (NHMC) and comprised of over 40 national and local organizations, has been educating advertisers on the numerous offenses shock jocks, John Kobylt and Ken Chiampou, have committed against the Los Angeles communities. The victories come at a significant time when hate speech, bullying and negative media portrayals are under public scrutiny. Earlier last month, the NHMC released the results of a national poll showing that media portrayals of Latinos and immigrants are fueling rampant negative stereotypes among non-Latinos. Beginning in November 2011, NHMC and the UCLA Chicano Research Studies Center released three academic studies detailing the role of the media in breeding hate. The poll results and studies can be found here. "We applaud Angels Baseball and the University of Redlands for joining the list of responsible companies who understand that hate radio is not good business," said Alex Nogales, NHMC President & CEO. "Time and time again 'John and Ken' have used hate to boost their ratings, and they do so at the expense of vulnerable communities. Advertisers must understand that supporting shock jocks that promote hate sends the wrong message to all communities and jeopardizes the Latino consumer who now represents one trillion dollars in purchasing power," said Nogales. Over the past year, the campaign has mobilized over 16,000 people to sign petitions asking Clear Channel to drop "The John and Ken Show." To date, nearly 50 advertisers have dropped their advertisement from the program and the campaign has managed to keep big national advertisers such as General Motors, State Farm Insurance, Verizon, and several others, off the show's list of advertisers. We salute their integrity.###
| About NHMC: The National Hispanic Media Coalition is a non-partisan, non-profit, media advocacy and civil rights organization established in 1986 in Los Angeles, California. Its mission is to educate and influence media corporations on the importance of including U.S. Latinos at all levels of employment. It augments the pool of Latino talent with its professional development programs. It challenges media that carelessly exploit negative Latino stereotypes. It scrutinizes and opines on media and telecommunications policy issues. Learn more at https://www.nhmc.org. Receive real-time updates on Facebook and Twitter @NHMC. |
