Slappie 9 #1 April 28, 2004 The more I read or hear about these bastards the more I loathe their power and morality. Radio Hosts to Pay Price for Fooling Fidel MIAMI (Reuters) - Two Miami radio hosts who duped Cuban President Fidel Castro with a prank call are soliciting pennies from their fans to pay a $4,000 fine proposed by U.S. regulators because of the on-air stunt. Talk radio host Enrique Santos said the fine made no sense, so he and co-host Joe Ferrero will pay it with 400,000 cents, delivered in person to the Federal Communications Commission in Washington. "We prank-called a head of state in a country that is considered hostile to the United States. He's a violator of human rights and they're fining us $4,000," Santos said on Tuesday. "We just find it absurd." Santos and Ferrero host "El Vacilon de la Manana," or "The Morning Joker," show on Spanish-language radio station WXDJ-FM in Miami. On June 17 they phoned Cuba's foreign relations ministry and pretended to be aides to Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, an admirer of Castro. They said Chavez needed to speak urgently to Castro because he had lost a suitcase full of sensitive documents during a recent trip both leaders made to Argentina. The call was transferred through several government officials and when Castro came on the line, the pranksters used recorded snippets from a Chavez speech to make it seem the Venezuelan leader was calling -- phrases like "Fidel," and "How are you?" After getting Castro to agree to hunt for the suitcase, they called him a killer and told him he was on a Miami radio show. Castro replied with a string of curses and hung up. The call was broadcast five times over two days, to the delight of Miami's Castro-loathing Cuban exiles. But the FCC (news - web sites) ruled last week that the station violated a regulation requiring that participants in phone conversations be told in advance if the call is being broadcast. "It was in fact the intention and result of WXDJ's actions to fool and surprise the recipients of the call," the FCC said. The commission proposed a $4,000 fine against WXDJ and gave it 30 days to pay it or contest it. Santos said station managers had not decided which to do, but that he and Ferrero would hold an on-air penny drive outside a furniture store on Thursday to raise money for the fine. "The listeners are just outraged," he said. "We're asking people to just go through their drawers and cars for any old pennies and drop them off." The FCC said it acted because it received an informal complaint about the call, but did not say who complained. http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=573&ncid=757&e=2&u=/nm/20040428/od_nm/odd_castro_dc Free Howard Stern "Find out just what any people will quietly submit to and you have found out the exact measure of injustice and wrong which will be imposed upon them." Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
wmw999 2,527 #2 April 28, 2004 If it's a rule, it's a rule. The most depraved criminal deserves a fair trial, too. Castro is no bargain, but we helped make him who he is. So yes, they pay the fine. And there is no problem with it being in pennies, even if they're not sorted or anything. Or with talking all about it on the station. This is great publicity for the station, especially when you consider there's no such thing as bad publicity. Wendy W.There is nothing more dangerous than breaking a basic safety rule and getting away with it. It removes fear of the consequences and builds false confidence. (tbrown) Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
lawrocket 3 #3 April 28, 2004 I also disagree with the paying of the fine in cents. Do they think that the bureacrats who made the decision that they are protesting will be put out by the pennies? No. It is the low level counter clerk who will have to deal with it, and not the guys they are worried about. My wife is hotter than your wife. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
ChasingBlueSky 0 #4 April 28, 2004 QuoteI also disagree with the paying of the fine in cents. Do they think that the bureacrats who made the decision that they are protesting will be put out by the pennies? No. It is the low level counter clerk who will have to deal with it, and not the guys they are worried about. I think they are just milking this for more publicity. Also, everyone in broadcasting knows you need to let the other side of the call they are on the air. Its part of broadcasting 101....and most broadcasters break that rule. I used to get around it by saying "Hiyouareontheairhowareyoutoday" ....100% unethical, but it was legal...most people never knew what hit them or that they were on the air._________________________________________ you can burn the land and boil the sea, but you can't take the sky from me.... I WILL fly again..... Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Gawain 0 #5 April 28, 2004 If anything, it helps the publicity of their "prank"...If I were the station owner, I'd pay the fine, give the jocks a raise and account for it as cost for doing business and marketing enhancement. I know I'm spinning it, but hell, if I ran a business and I had the opportunity to stick it to Castro...I'd do it. Cost $4000? Where's my check-book....So I try and I scream and I beg and I sigh Just to prove I'm alive, and it's alright 'Cause tonight there's a way I'll make light of my treacherous life Make light! Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
kelpdiver 2 #6 April 29, 2004 given we're still at [economic] war with Castro and he isn't a US citizen, I don't see the great crime committed. $4000 doesn't seem bad - but look at the fines being lobbed at Stern to shut him up. We're (the FCC, actually) losing some sense of perspective. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
DrunkMonkey 0 #7 April 29, 2004 Quote...We're (the FCC, actually) losing some sense of perspective. It's because Washington DC is currently run by Kristian-Koalition-repressed Puritans who are terrified that someone out there does not share their inhibited Victorian views on life/sex/morals. Tightasses... Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
TheAnvil 0 #8 April 29, 2004 I heard about this. Those two dudes are comic heros. Vinny the Anvil Post Traumatic Didn't Make The Lakers Syndrome is REAL JACKASS POWER!!!!!! Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Malfunction 0 #9 April 29, 2004 QuoteAlso, everyone in broadcasting knows you need to let the other side of the call they are on the air. Its part of broadcasting 101.... So, I guess shows like Mancow (Mancow Phone Scams), Crank Yankers, Oblivious (Spike TV's version of TV Bloopers and Practical Jokes [Dick Clark and Ed McMahon]), and various "undercover live camera" investigations on 20/20, 60 Minutes, etc. will also be fined? Too many people make a living off of this and it is just that one person, probably from the FCC (i.e. the suit involving Mancow), that complains and all of a sudden it is an epidemic. I thought Castro was an enemy of the US, or did everyone just conveniently forget the Cuban Missile Crisis? These two radio hosts should not be fined, nor should this stunt be national headlines anymore. I am fed up with the FCC. I think they need to be censored themselves... there is WAY TOO MUCH POWER floating around an office that includes 5 people. QuoteTalk radio host Enrique Santos said the fine made no sense, so he and co-host Joe Ferrero will pay it with 400,000 cents, delivered in person to the Federal Communications Commission in Washington. Tom Green tried this once. The clerk on Rodeo Drive threw him out. Paying with pennies is more out of Spite than the principle of paying it. Besides, if the FCC wants to know how much money is actually there, they have to count it. The clerk at the bank has a coin-counting machine - makes easy work of 400,000 pennies. I may disagree with what you have to say, but I shall defend to the death your right to say it. - Voltaire Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
bodypilot90 0 #10 April 29, 2004 we agree, that's scary I fell bad for whoever patched the call to Castro. I wonder if the operater was shot then or at sunrise. Next call should be to Kofi Annan. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
ChasingBlueSky 0 #11 April 29, 2004 Quote So, I guess shows like Mancow (Mancow Phone Scams), Mancow's stuff is all fake. He uses a combination of comic services that he pays for, or his interns are the voices on the other side. He has a fantastic production crew that puts all of his stuff together. How do I know this - I have been in the room as they put the bits together. His entire show is scripted from start to finish every day....in fact he can leave the studio for a while to take a bathroom break while his producer runs his bits off of tape. He is even more over-produced than Rick Dees ever was. Quote Crank Yankers, Oblivious (Spike TV's version of TV Bloopers and Practical Jokes [Dick Clark and Ed McMahon]), and various "undercover live camera" investigations on 20/20, 60 Minutes, etc. will also be fined? Too many people make a living off of this and it is just that one person, probably from the FCC (i.e. the suit involving Mancow), that complains and all of a sudden it is an epidemic. A lot of these programs do contact the people afterwards and have them sign a release allowing the use of their image, voice, etc. What you don't see on these shows are how many people refuse to be broadcast. Investigative news shows push the limits on this and have been fined in the past - they skirt the law by hiding their face or changing their voice._________________________________________ you can burn the land and boil the sea, but you can't take the sky from me.... I WILL fly again..... Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
ChasingBlueSky 0 #12 April 29, 2004 Quote huh? what does kerry and his flip flops have to do with the FCC?_________________________________________ you can burn the land and boil the sea, but you can't take the sky from me.... I WILL fly again..... Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
bodypilot90 0 #13 April 29, 2004 hit the wrong button, lol Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
