HOT 97 NY Daily News Errol Louis

Hot 97 feeling a cold snap

Hot 97, the hip-hop radio station whose offensive antics have resulted in community petitions, protest rallies and calls for a crackdown by government regulators, just got more bad news - this time from state Controller Alan Hevesi, who as sole trustee of the state's $120 billion Common Retirement Fund controls 225,000 shares of Emmis Communications, the parent company of Hot 97. Hevesi has fired off a heated letter to Jeffrey Smulyan, the president of Emmis, essentially telling him to clean up Hot 97's act - or else. "As a shareholder, I am concerned that the judgment displayed by management as of late [at Hot 97] has not been in the best interest of the business," Hevesi says in the letter. "Are the directors of the board aware of the station's programming and the subsequent public outcry?" The letter goes on to ask pointed questions about drops in ratings and advertising that have cost Hot 97 money in recent months. Emmis has publicly acknowledged losing millions because companies like Sprint pulled their advertising from Hot 97's morning show in reaction to a song parody ridiculing victims of December's tsunami in openly racist terms. Three cheers for Hevesi. It's about time Emmis was held accountable for the lax or nonexistent supervision of its deejays and producers, who have written and aired disgusting, demeaning material like the song parody. Emmis also has to answer for the real-world violence that has taken place at Hot 97, including two shootouts in front of the station by groups egged on by its deejays. Not to mention the sickening, now-discontinued, in-studio "smackfest" contest, in which listeners were offered cash to smash one another in the face. Smulyan still doesn't get it. "While we will be providing a prompt response to Controller Hevesi, many of the questions raised in his letter have already been publicly answered," an Emmis spokesman says. Although two low-ranking employees were fired after the tsunami incident, the Coalition Against Hate Media - the group that alerted Hevesi in the first place - is still calling on Hot 97 to fire Miss Jones, the hostess of the morning show that aired the song. Also missing is a clear, public, zero-airplay policy by Emmis for staffers and guests who engage in, or encourage, violence. There is a long, honorable tradition of pension funds using their clout to make callous companies adopt, and live up to, a higher standard of corporate behavior. Shareholder pressure persuaded major corporations to pull out of South Africa during the apartheid era. Right now, a coordinated campaign is underway by a major shareholder coalition, the Social Investment Forum, to make big corporations lower pollution emissions as a way to fight global warming. A shareholder campaign targeting irresponsible media firms may be the fastest way to show out-of-control companies like Emmis that filling the airwaves with thoughtless, offensive garbage isn't a viable way to do business. Originally published on April 28, 2005