RADIO HOST STANDS BY POLICE SHOW Agrees email address is offensive, plans to change it… Move comes after Fantino raises issue of 'hate mongering' Dale Anne Freed – Toronto Star The producer of a local radio program that airs negative stories about police says he's changing the controversial email address for the show, which drew the ire of police Chief Julian Fantino this week.
Fantino called it a "hate-mongering" program, but Ron Anicich, the show's volunteer host and producer, stands by the content of Bad Cop, No Donut! which airs Thursday mornings on CKLN 88.1-FM, a Ryerson campus radio station.
Anicich, 38, has concluded his show in the past by inviting listeners to "email your comments and story ideas to ihatepigs@hotmail.com." He agreed in an interview that the address might offend some listeners and has since changed it to ron@ckln.fm.
"While I'm not offended by it personally, I can see why people would be," Anicich said.
The university hasn't contacted the radio station to ask for the change and any complaints would be referred to CKLN, said Ryerson spokesperson Bruce Piercey.
Fantino has pressured Ryerson to ban the program.
"I'm disgusted that this kind of hate mongering would be directed at our police officers," Fantino said this week.
But even though students financially support CKLN through their annual levies, Piercey said the station is a separate entity from the university.
According to its website, the show is picked up by stations in Vancouver; Nelson, B.C.; Los Angeles; Pittsburgh; Washington, D.C.; Idaho and New York.
A long-time supporter of Anicich at one of those stations said she was relieved the email address was changed.
"The `ihatepigs' thing, that was too much for me," said Dustin Sunflower, a host at CJLY, a community radio station in Nelson, B.C.
"I totally respect his (Anicich's) work. But after I played his segments I'd be like `Listeners, we don't hate anybody.'"
Anicich isn't a Ryerson student but said he's been a programmer at the station for 15 years.
He said he gets his material, which is "a list of different stories about police abuse that happens through North America each week ... from mostly local newspapers."
He said he reads all the local Toronto newspapers and then goes to the Internet using keyword searches such as "police misconduct, police corruption or Taser" to find his material.
He said he sometimes gets his stories from tips sent in by listeners.
Anicich said this week he plans to concentrate his Bad Cop, No Donut! segment on the death of an 18-year-old man who was killed by an off-duty U.S. Customs and Border Protection officer during an altercation on Feb. 5 in Mission Viejo, Calif. The controversial topic of whether police should be given Tasers may also be raised.
Next week, his theme will be domestic abuse among police officers.
"Big problem," he said. "It's rampant."
Bad Cop, No Donut! runs in 15- to 30-minute segments during two shows: The Bitter End from 2 to 6 a.m. and Rude Awakening from 6 to 7 a.m.
CKLN is licensed to broadcast at 250 watts and can be heard across Greater Toronto. Depending on weather conditions, it can also be heard in New York State on a clear day, according to the station's website. CKLN, like most college stations, doesn't belong to the Canadian Broadcast Standards Council.
And even if the station were a member, the broadcast council would not be able to intervene on the question of hate mongering because the police aren't considered a protected group under the code of ethics. |