Break Through the Savage Firewall Campaign

Break Through the Savage Firewall calls on citizens to take action by sharing their perspectives through the use of information and communication technologies (ICTs), that is, by sending email messages calling for an end to hate speech on publicly owned media.

Break Through the Savage Firewall is a follow-up to a May 2004 Media for Democracy 2004 campaign called "Defend Our Radio Waves from Hate". The latter initiative involved an effort to speak out against right-wing (conservative) radio hosts Rush Limbaugh and Michael Savage, whom Media for Democracy claimed were using the public airwaves "to spread ignorance and hatred". Campaign organisers told citizens that these talk radio hosts "have been hammering home the idea that our enemies are subhuman and, therefore, deserving of torture and death. This is typical war propaganda, which involves dehumanization of the enemy to the point where killing and torture seem not only justified but also downright patriotic." In the first 36 hours of that May 2004 campaign, citizen participants sent more than 20,000 emails asking these national broadcasters to apologise on air for what Media for Democracy 2004 described as "their calls for more torture and death of Arabs".

Soon after the launch of that first initiative, Media for Democracy 2004 learned that one of the talk radio hosts to whom the emails were addressed, Michael Savage, began blocking citizens' critical emails. In response, campaign organisers "found a way around Savage's blinders and up the ladder to the offices of his employer - Mark Masters, CEO of Talk Radio Network - who syndicates Savage's invective to more than 350 radio stations in the US." Having re-opened the lines of communication, Media for Democracy 2004 sent email messages to its citizen members asking them to re-submit the email message originally sent to Mr. Savage. Campaign organisers set up an email letter on behalf of citizen participants; among other things, the letter rejects Savage's "thoughtless attempts to demonize those in the U.S. who don't share this intolerant view of the world". Although a sample letter was provided in a mass email message, campaign organisers invited participants to edit the letter to fit their own voice and concerns, by visiting a page on the Media for Democracy 2004 website. (Citizen members of Media for Democracy 2004 were provided with a specialised link that already included their own name at the close of the letter, which could still be edited as desired). Participants were encouraged to click on a "tell-a-friend!" web link there to take action to spread the word. Organisers also indicated to participants that "We will send a duplicate to Savage via fax to be certain that he hears clearly our concerns."

Rights, Conflict.

Click here to read background about the campaign on the Media for Democracy 2004 website; this article begins, "For observers familiar with the rhetoric that dominated Balkan and Rwandan airwaves during the hate and war crimes in those two regions, hate-filled American talk radio sounds a troubling echo." Links are also provided to full coverage on the MediaChannel.org website.

Break Through the Savage Firewall was set to run through November 2 2004, which is Election Day in the United States. Click here to become a member of Media for Democracy 2004.