Anchorage Daily News

The other day a couple of radio DJs attacked me. Well, they didn't attack me personally; they attacked people who share my political philosophy. My views are, broadly-speaking, "liberal," though I am not easily categorized. I subscribe to Mike Doogan's theory that self-reliance, personal responsibility and helping out your neighbor are neither liberal nor conservative; they are Alaskan. But I am also tolerant and believe in privacy and equality under the law, so I guess that puts me into the "liberal" end of the spectrum.

"JJ and Rowdy" are the names of the DJs, and they work for KZND-FM The End. For several minutes I listened to a rant by one of the DJs about KUDO, a liberal talk radio station here in Anchorage. I will reference the ranting member of the duo as "the Jock."

The Jock said that liberal radio makes his "head explode." He told his audience that people who listen to liberal talk radio are "idiots" and that liberal ideas destroy the brain like syphilis, only they are worse than syphilis because you don't even have the pleasure of "getting laid."

The Jock went on to inform us that the whining of liberals and/or liberal radio doesn't even have the virtue of causing the person, brain-damaged by the liberal affliction, to wet himself for the amusement of family and friends.

Pretty funny stuff, eh?

The Jock also joked that he "wouldn't mind" if the KUDO tower got "taken out." Finally, things ended with a joke about liberal talk radio being proven to make you "kill your parents" as the station segued to an announcer welcoming Woody and Wilcox listeners over to KZND. The announcer sounded like a missionary from The Church of Bad Taste welcoming stray trolls questing for a morning fix of sophomoric humor.

I expect to hear the spewing of anti-liberal nonsense from a right-wing talk radio station but not KZND, an "alternative" rock station.

I tried calling the station, but the number in the phone book wasn't current. I checked the Web site, but the site was down. I got the address and drove there. The offices are ensconced in a business park under the aegis of TATI Broadcasting. I was further surprised to see that TATI either owns or manages several stations, including KZND and KUDO.

Apparently the vitriol aimed at KUDO is a silly family squabble, and I was there to talk to Mom. I asked for the station manager for KZND and was ushered into an adjoining room, where "Mom" turned out to be none other than Cary Carrigan, whom I knew from news reports was engaged in a controversial reorganization of KUDO, the target of the Jock's wrath.

I felt like Dorothy staring at the man behind the curtain. We exchanged pleasantries, and I gave Cary my cell phone number and e-mail and asked to talk to the DJs. By then I was wondering why I was even doing this. These DJs, it turns out, don't even live in Alaska: JJ lives in Hawaii, and Rowdy lives in Blacksburg, Va. They are brought together by the Wonderful Wizard of Satcom. When I talked to JJ, he quickly made the point that I was approaching him with a bias, which I didn't deny, any more than he could deny his own. He told me that he has been in radio for 25 years and finds the job fun and entertaining. I'm guessing that puts JJ well into his 40s.

A study by Zogby Research commissioned by the National Association of Broadcasters in 2003 found that the single most-important quality of radio to listeners was its community orientation and local roots. So here are a couple of questions to ponder:

If "local" radio is important to Americans, how have we evolved into the McMedia structure that TATI Broadcasting appears to personify?

And finally, in light of our community's struggle with school vandalism, violence and disrespect among the very demographic that KZND is reaching, why does this radio station pay middle-age adult males to mirror the mocking and hurtful behavior that we are trying to discourage in our kids?

Elstun Lauesen is a rural development specialist. E-mail elauesen@oz.net.

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