‘Spocko’ radio controversy hits the mainstream

The New York Times has picked up on the “Spocko” story. Recall that he’s the blogger whose site was pulled down by a C&D letter from Disney. His crime? Posting clips from radio talk shows he found offensive. The station, KSFO, is Disney-owned, and Spocko’s site host simply couldn’t hope to cover the cost of a SLAPP suit. Well, Spocko has found a new host and the clips have found a whole new life. They are viral audio. After Spocko contacted 30 of the station’s advertisers, KSFO had no choice but to respond. On Friday four KSFO hosts dedicated three hours of its airtime to the matter. The hosts played the clips and, in some cases, admitted they were a little rough. On the other hand, they were far from apologetic. From the Times: … the hosts were uniformly defiant against the bloggers, who were called “crackpots with keyboards” and accused of using “guerrilla tactics.” (As opposed to crackpots with microphones?) And at the KSFO site, the Friday shows are available for listening. Does this page introduction sound like an apology? “KSFO hosts responded to the anonymous Internet smear campaign during a special broadcast on, Friday, January 12th, at Noon, for three hours.” How, exactly, does playing clips from their own air constitute a smear campaign?