Shock jock signs off

The self-proclaimed "King of All Media" has been pulled from the radio. What some deem as the end of an era, others consider a step toward moral progress. \nFor fans and foes alike, the demise of Howard Stern's radio show is actually old news. In two months, Stern will be launching a new show on Sirius satellite radio, and "experts" have claimed no one could possibly fill his obnoxious shoes on public radio -- until now. \nI find it hard to believe that our nation is lacking Howard Stern imitators. But according to Michael Harrison of Talkers magazine, the job might be difficult. \n"Howard is a one-of-a-kind broadcasting phenomenon who has not just a brilliant intellect and personality but an enormously well-honed set of radio skills and natural talent," Harrison told USA Today. \nBrilliant? Naturally talented? I would have to disagree.\nIn all honesty, how difficult could it be to find a sophomoric, misogynistic man who all too often portrays women and various religious and ethnic groups negatively ? Off the top of my head, I can think of one: Adam Carolla, co-host of Comedy Central's "The Man Show."\nCarolla's show focuses on one central topic: sex. Not sex in the affectionate, lovey-dovey, mutually consenting way I like to think of it as, but sex in the I-like-to-do-it-as-much-as-possible, one-night stand sort of way. It's not the fact that the all-male audience guzzles from mugs of beer throughout the show that bothers me. It's the fact that the show, along with its hosts, lacks class. Perhaps it is the scantily clad, trampoline-jumping girls that drew me to this conclusion. Or maybe it was the season premiere appearance of porn star Jenna Jameson performing a visibly sexual number with a candlestick. \nYou can only imagine my astonishment upon learning that the very same Adam Carolla, the host of a show that focuses on boozing, peeing and sex, will take over 12 of Howard's 27 former markets. \nWhen Howard was yanked from Clear Channel Communications Inc. after breaking the company's zero tolerance policy on indecency, he was released only to join the world of satellite radio. Radio's bad boy will soon enter a five-year, $500 million deal that features a stripper pole and all. With a movie that made more than $40 million in one month, a television series that pays $4 million a year and two books previously on bestseller lists, Stern was ranked No. 30 on Forbes' 2004 Power Rank list. Can society really be this shallow?\nThere is still hope for American society. While Stern might be the highest-paid radio personality in the United States, he is also the most fined in radio history. On Howard's new format, radio fans will have to pay to listen to his sexist rants. Now if viewers want to watch an episode of his television show, they will have to tune in to reruns. \nWhile I do not promote censorship within the media, I do support Clear Channel's move to clean up the airwaves. Listeners no longer have to vicariously experience the breast cancer exams Howard gives to young women on his show -- unless they really want to. That, my friend, is truly the power of freedom of speech in the most just and ethical sense.