By Jaz McKay
As a retired radio talk show host, my journey actually began as a disc jockey in the 1970s, gradually progressing from a regular, run of the mill, time and temp midday and afternoon jock to hosting full blown, morning drive extravaganzas in the 1980s. Throughout my 47 year career, I encountered three instances where my competitors, unable to surpass my ratings with a better morning radio show, resorted to dirty tricks taken against me and another where an elite, holier than thou member of the city council attempted to get me fired because the content of my program wasn’t what she considered suitable for the citizens of the city.
One station set me up with a phony complaint to the FCC and even had me arrested on baseless charges, while another filed a fabricated slander suit against me, aiming to tarnish my reputation and credibility with listeners and my employer. However, these cases were promptly dismissed by the courts and the FCC after the truth was revealed. Contrary to their expectations, not only did my listeners stand by me, but my employer maintained faith in me as well. I not only bounced back but also surpassed all expectations, achieving even stronger ratings after each incident.
My circumstances back then bear a resemblance to the unending and ongoing endeavors by Democrats to undermine Donald Trump. Recognizing their inability to defeat him or the MAGA movement through the electoral process, they have turned to deceitful legal actions in an attempt to tarnish his reputation. While they may harbor hopes of stopping his agenda while in office and someday imprisoning him afterwards, they are well aware that such an outcome is highly unlikely. Their primary goal right now, is to disillusion the Trump supporters in regarding Trump’s popularity by regurgitating the foolish notion that we are starting to regret our votes, which couldn’t be further from the truth. Yes, we voted for this!
Then they’re also counting on the public’s weariness with the continuous controversies and lies being spread about Elon Musk and the agenda of DOGE to upend the midterm election and the next presidential race in 2028. However just as my listeners and employer did not abandon me, I remain steadfast in my commitment to stand by Donald Trump and have no intention of abandoning him or the MAGA movement that has gotten us this far.
If you’ll indulge me for a moment, I’d like to share the details of these incidents that all occurred in Lansing, Michigan and how they relate to Trumps situation.
Starting back in 1989 I was hosting a hugely successful morning show on a classic rock station called WMMQ when a slander case was filed against me by WVIC, a competing top 40 station. The case arose from my explanation to my listeners about the questionable nature of a contest conducted by WVIC, which I believed was bordering on fraud. While I provided factual information on how the contest worked, WVIC alleged that I had damaged their brand by suggesting they were “ripping off their listeners” and calling their management “dirty rotten liars.” However, in the preliminary hearing, the judge recognized that my statements were protected, as they were my opinions and under the First Amendment, opinions are protected. As a result, the case was dismissed; leading to a surge in my ratings and eventually WVIC changed its format.
During my tenure at WMMQ, another notable incident unfolded surrounding the station’s cherished “Brown Bag Lunch Concert Series.” This free concert series had been a beloved tradition for seven years prior to my arrival. Held in downtown Lansing, it provided a delightful respite for the working folk’s during their lunch hour every Friday throughout the summer. People would gather at the town square, just a block away from the Michigan State Capitol, where they enjoyed the musical performances of local musicians while eating their lunches under the shade of trees and on benches. Food trucks were always a part of the event and everyone always had a good time.
Obtaining a permit from the city was a routine procedure for the event, and no issues had arisen in the past. However, in my first summer in town, city councilwoman, Alfreda Schmidt objected to granting the permit to the station. She insisted that WMMQ should first terminate my employment and publicly apologize for hiring me in the first place, asserting that the content of my show was unsuitable for the airwaves of the Michigan capitol city.
In those days, I was often labeled a “Shock Jock,” although I personally referred to my show as “Reality Radio.” Admittedly, my style of broadcasting may not have appealed to everyone, but it did garner a significant following among blue-collar factory workers from the General Motors plant, college students at Michigan State University, and the thousands of state workers in town.
This unexpected backlash from the city council surprised both me and the management at WMMQ, given that the “Brown Bag Lunch Concert Series” had never faced any challenges before and I wasn’t even scheduled to make any personal appearances there.
In response to Councilwoman Schmitt’s objection, the City Council scheduled a public hearing one week later. On the night of the hearing, the council chambers were packed with over three hundred individuals, with some people even spilling into the lobby. Community members formed a line, patiently waiting for their turn to speak for one minute each. After nearly an hour of public comments, the council president decided to halt the proceedings and call for a vote. Out of the dozens and dozens who spoke, only one single solitary person sided with Councilmember Schmitt and the final vote tally that night stood at 8 to 1 in favor of granting WMMQ the permit for the concert’s that year.
In the face of opposition and a consequential public hearing, the indomitable support of the community emerged triumphant, ensuring the continuation of the beloved “Brown Bag Lunch Concert Series.” A remarkable testament to the significance of civic engagement, this episode exemplified the profound impact individuals can have when they actively participate in shaping their community. The resounding voices of the people resonated with the city council, underscoring the importance of getting involved and making one’s opinions known. In this instance, the will of the people prevailed, reinforcing the transformative power of civic activism.
Three years later in another incident, upon my return to WMMQ in Lansing after a short time I spent working in Florida, a rock station called WJXQ discovered a three-year-old bench warrant I had for a failure to appear over a traffic citation. They orchestrated my arrest live on the air, with the Lansing Police Department taking me into custody while I was on the radio. Little did they know that I had already made arrangements with the Ingham County District Attorney’s office to resolve the matter. In court, the judge reprimanded the arresting officers for unlawfully removing a licensed operator from a federally licensed broadcast facility. The assistant district attorney informed the judge of our pre-existing arrangement, and I agreed to pay the fine for running a stop sign three years prior. Once again, my listeners remained loyal, and my employer stood by me.
Finally in another incident a few years after I moved across town from WMMQ to WVIC, (yes the same WVIC that had gone after me in court some time before), WJXQ again attempted to disrupt my ratings dominance. This time by persuading an overnight disc jockey to record himself calling in to my show and dropping a few “F” bombs and sending the tape to the FCC.
I never recorded phone calls and aired them later like some DJ’s did, I always took live calls because I enjoyed the challenge of the spontaneity of live callers and while I’d asked management to install one, we didn’t have a seven second delay system and so we were pretty much living dangerously.
This particular time as I recall it was Bong Hit Monday on the show, the day of the week we invited our listeners to call and do bong hits live on the air.
Yeah, I know, pretty juvenile right? Oh well, anyway, I was running through the calls and as it turned out one fellow we brought up wasn’t calling for the “Bong Hit Bit” and so we talked about whatever it was he wanted to discuss and moved on and went to a break after his call. Upon getting back from the break we covered a few more topics played a song or two and after wrapping up the back announce of the set I went back to the phones, this time the first caller wanted to complain about the previous caller, “Tell that motherfucker who wouldn’t do a bong hit to suck my motherfuckin’ dick.”
BOOM, I hung up on the call and moved on as if nothing happened. That’s the usual way of dealing with such an eventuality. Yeah, it had gone over the air but that’s the danger of doing live radio and there was nothing I could do about it so why draw attention to it? “Thanks for the call buddy, now let’s check weather, Katy anymore snow coming this week?”
Katy, my news anchor in those days was a pro and she knew what to do and she just went right into the weather forecast. As I said, that sort of thing happens so we just carried on the rest of the show and after getting off the air even the station manager, who heard it told me I handled it perfectly and we never heard a thing about until about a month later, when we got a notice from the FCC that they were conducting an investigation into the incident.
Before the FCC can look into a possible violation of its obscenity laws there has to be a complaint filed by a member of the local community in the form of a signed letter and a tape of the broadcast in question. Then after being notified of the situation the station is allowed to send a representative, such as a program director, station manager or a lawyer to Washington DC to review the evidence in the case.
Most of the time stations will just pay the fines because back then it was usually just $2000, but the company I worked for was a staunch supporter of the first amendment and so they wanted to know exactly what evidence there was so they sent both the general manager and our lawyer to DC a week after getting the notification to listen to the actual tape as well as review the letter from the “listener” in Lansing who was offended enough to actually tape my show, and take the time to write a letter. And it was a good thing they did because when they reviewed to file at the FCC office they discovered something important. The label on the cassette tape recording of the break in question was from WJXQ.
There, as big as day, on the label of the most important piece of evidence, the tape of a caller to my show, not just dropping “F” bombs but also talking about an unnatural sex act was the logo of our biggest competitor at the time. Our station lawyer immediately demanded the tape be thrown out as it was obvious who had sent to complaint and it was his contention the tape could have easily been altered by WJXQ and without any recorded proof of the violation the FCC had no case against us, well the FCC agreed and decided to drop the case against us entirely if the owners agreed to install a seven second delay system, which they did.
Three months later the young man who called in and cursed on my show came by the station as I was getting off the air one day to confess that it he was the one who had done it. He didn’t actually have a come to Jesus moment though, he was just looking for a job because he’d been let go from WJXQ and he thought if he told us the truth we might reward him with a gig. My station manager thanked him for coming in and on our lawyers advice had him sign a full confession in the event we decided to take WJXQ in court in the future, but they turned him down for a job.
In all four of these cases, the politician and the stations involved in the plots against me believed that my listeners and my employer would abandon me. However, they misjudged the situation, and the subsequent ratings proved them wrong. It became evident to me that the radio stations resorted to such tactics out of desperation and a lack of faith in their own abilities to simply beat me in the court of ratings acquisition by way of producing a superior broadcasting product, and the city council member thought her tastes should be forced on the community rather than allow the people to decide for themselves. Similarly, the Democrats’ attempts to crush Donald Trump have so far all failed, just as my competitors’ efforts did.
Trump has so far possessed the same potential to achieve what I accomplished in Lansing, Michigan over thirty years ago, and we must never lose faith in our pursuit of a righteous resolution to our grievances against the tyranny perpetrated on us by the elites of the world. Let us always remain resolute, hopeful, and unwavering in that faith. Regardless of the task at hand, let us embrace our strength and actively engage in the necessary work it will take to win. Together, we can emerge victorious, upholding the spirit of “Where We Go One, We Go All.”