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Posted By	Discussion Topic: Boston Herald O&A Article
WWFallon	posted on 05-17-2002 @ 9:15 AM
Hanger-On Registered: Jun. 01	(I hope this hasn't been posted already, I only visit the SU forum.) Possible hoax on Opie & Anthony Demonstrates power of medium Boston Radio/by Dean Johnson Friday, May 17, 2002 You expect riveting programming on Opie and Anthony's syndicated radio show about as often as an ``In Praise of Bill Clinton'' program from Rush Limbaugh. But Tuesday's notorious O & A show featuring ``Eddie,'' the caller who confessed to a 1977 double murder, was terrific radio. New York police have since labeled Eddie a hoax, and Opie and Anthony's involvement in the scam is up in the air. But the program was a powerful testimony to the way radio still can be the theater of the mind. Eddie (we still don't know who he really is) was good. Neither too smooth nor too crude, he laid out a ``Sopranos''-style tale with matter-of-fact, vivid and unflinching detail. O & A played it beautifully, sounding at times ecstatic at their good fortune. (``We thanked the radio gods,'' Anthony said Wednesday.) There were big chunks of dead air right where where you'd expect them. Yet the show was so messy in places, it was difficult to believe it had been planned. Are Opie and Anthony in trouble? Maybe. But if the FCC decides to do any spanking, the stations would get the first slap. The Federal Communications Commission prohibits the broadcasting of false information ``if the licensee knows this information is false, it is foreseeable that broadcast of the information will cause substantial public harm, and broadcast of the information does in fact directly cause substantial public harm.'' ``Public harm'' includes causing ``diversion of law enforcement or other public health and safety authorities from their duties,'' according to FCC guidelines. The NYPD checked out Eddie and O & A and listened to tapes of the show. So the ``public harm'' clause could apply if it's decided O & A were in on a prank. Then the licensees, i.e., all the stations airing the show (including WBCN-FM, 104.1), could be fined for airing the broadcast, though that isn't likely. More likely, WNEW-FM, the duo's home station, would take the first hit. As for Opie and Anthony? The FCC or their home station could take action against them. But that's not likely, either, as long as they keep playing the innocents. None of that changes the fact that Tuesday's show was great radio even if it was not honest radio. It also generated a ton of publicity - including this column - and listeners during the radio year's biggest ratings sweep. Visit this Website
Emodius	posted on 05-17-2002 @ 9:23 AM
Hanger-On Registered: May. 02	Dean Johnson is clearly a moron. I have never seen a finer master of the obvious, and I dare say there are several high school newpaper writters who own him in writting skills. They should fire that idiot. Confuscious say: Baseball have it all wrong. Man with 4 balls CAN'T walk!!!
TeenWeek what's a status?	posted on 05-17-2002 @ 9:49 AM
O&A Board Regular Registered: Oct. 00	this guy is a fucking douchbag.
Syndrummer LOOK!! All my "N"s are capitalized!!!	posted on 05-17-2002 @ 11:34 AM
Psychopath Registered: Mar. 02	its all about having an agenda

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