Talk Radio

Station Manager, WPGB

I am writing this letter to you to file a complaint regarding something I had the misfortune to hear on 104.7’s “Quinn & Rose” show this morning (roughly 8:45 EDT 7/13/07). I should preface by saying that I listen to many programs on 104.7, so while my politics may not be 100% aligned with the content, I do respect and enjoy hearing a range of opinions.

This morning “Quinn” misused a historical quote to imply that Margaret Sanger, the founder of planned parenthood wanted to kill Black people.

I was stunned.

The quote goes along the lines of “we do not want Blacks to get the idea that we are trying to kill them, Black ministers should be used to dispel that impression” or something close to that. He made it out as if wiping out Blacks was her goal, and she was seeing that ministers could be used to keep it a secret. A more likely interpretation would be that a historically oppressed population – one that was still well put down at the time of the statement – might interpret any family planning effort in a devious way and that since the ministers were typically forward minded that they could be recruited to help explain the truly beneficial initiatives.

This type of willful misinformation is despicable. It serves no purpose but to sow hatred and to drive Americans apart, and it certainly has no place on any station that calls itself “NewsTalk.” I was personally offended by this grossly false assertion, and the only reason I am not going to include a demand for an on-air apology is that my true hope is that this show never return to the air in Pittsburgh, ever. I’ll be copying this message to Clear Channel and to the FCC as well as to many other Pittsburghers who may have not had the misfortune to have heard the show.

By the way, in these situations there is usually some room to assume that I simply misinterpreted what he said. Since he finished up the bit by saying “At least the slave masters had a reason to keep you alive.” I am fairly certain that’s not the case here.

David Boevers
Forest Hills

cc: Planned Parenthood, NAACP, Clear Channel, Media Matters, FCC