Stern: Hey, here's a serious topic for a second, okay.
Robin: Serious! (Laughter)
Stern: Come on, let's get serious for a minute. Ashton is on the line. He is an advertiser of mine on our St. Louis radio station.
Robin: Okay
Stern: And this is something I think everyone should be aware of that goes on, on a daily basis around our show. Ashton, you got a letter from a group, a religious group, right?
Ashton: Yeah, Bill Johnson, National Campaign Coordinator of the Stern Project..
Stern: Yeah
Robin: Oh, no! The Stern Project.
Stern: And he threatens you. He doesn't want you to advertise.
Ashton: Right
Guest: We got the same letter about our show!
Stern: Did you?
Guest: Yeah, the same letter. And it's written really poorly. It looks like they typed it with their feet or something like that.
Stern: Well I want to tell you guys, I want to give you some advice. These letter writers are effective. Some sponsors will cave in.
Guest: Yeah, I know.
Stern: And it's really friggin' sad, it's like another form of terrorism. Certainly not as bad as the terrorism at the World Trade Center, but it's like pressuring people not to put their dollars on a show. I mean, why?
Guest Host: What does that letter say?
Ashton: It says 'Dear Sir/Madam, recently your company's advertisement was heard on the Howard Stern Show. I am writing to request that you withdraw you advertising dollars from the Howard stern Show because of its perverse nature. Thousands of advertisers nationwide have decided that integrity, decency and a good name are for more important than placing advertisements with a program...'
Guest Host: We got exactly this letter.
Stern: And by the way, they even lie about what advertisers they get to cancel. You know that advertisers buy flights.
Guest: Right
Stern: Sometimes they advertise for 13 weeks or 20 weeks or whatever. And then when they cancel they add their name to the list saying 'Oh we got them to cancel'. And it really pisses me off because sometimes they're really effective and I'll tell you where they're effective - not in a market like St. Louis, but some of the smaller markets. We could be number one on a radio station, and the sponsors get scared because they think that something's going to happen to them. Nothing's really going to happen to them, but they get scared. They're in small communities. And I'll tell you something, it's a form of terrorism.
Guest: It definitely ...
Ashton: And you made a point the other day about how, you know, all this stuff is going on in the world and you say a word like vagina and they're all over you. This letter is dated the 19 th of September, you know, it just came in the mail, and all this crap that's going on in the world right now and they're worried about, you know, my advertisement on ...
Guest Host: These sponsors should look at these letters and about how many spelling errors there are in them and that's how they should judge them.
Stern: They should evaluate them, but unfortunately people don't know how to spell themselves so they can't really ...
Guest: ...this letter, right, looks really crude and everything?
Ashton: Yeah, oh yeah it's nasty.
Guest: Yeah
Ashton: And, ya know, they go back to 1998, it says 'we are enclosing a Stern summary to assist you in understanding what you are helping to keep on the air'.
Guest Host: We got one of those, too.
Stern: I've got to tell you the funniest d-n thing, not even funny, sick. I'm on the air, right after the World Trade Center thing goes down and, you know, there was no room for humor, everyone was shocked. And I'm doin' a show, and I'm staying on the air, because everyone's telling me it's giving them some comfort or whatever, just to hear my voice or whatever. And, uh, I'm even questioning what the h-l I'm even doing on the air. So I'm doing the show and this and that, and, um, one of the guys says something about vagina, like, like trying to lighten up the situation. I don't even know what the comment was, it didn't even matter. Two seconds later, uh, some guy gets some letter writing campaign. It was just some guy, and then he gets all his friends to write in, and they start this barrage. Here we are in the middle of a tragedy and you know what the guy decides to do, write a letter about me, not even me, someone saying vagina. This is what I'm talking about!
Ashton: It's just ridiculous.
Guest Host: It's easier to be angry than sad, is what it is ...
Ashton: Like that d-m kook Jerry Falwell.
Robin: Well, it's sort of like that. They're trying to say God is angry at us for having shows like this and this is how we've got to fix our problem.
Stern: And the Easter Bunny's coming next week.
Robin: Yeah
Guest Host: But it's the minority voice that is in charge of the majority and that is something this country suffers from just a little bit.
Stern: Well, we'll change that.
Guest Host: We're so worried about, ya know, a handful of people, even if it means setting aside the safety of a large group or the entertainment of a large group. We're so worried about a vocal few that we shut everything down.
Guest: ... is a very strong proponent of profiling.
Guest Host: Oh, absolutely.
Stern: Oh, I'm for profiling.
(Later)
Stern: So you're a sponsor of ours?
Ashton: Yeah
Stern: Please hang in there with us.
Ashton: Yeah, I will.
| Stern: I appreciate my sponsors ...
Ashton: ... I love you guys.
....

Stern: And, uh, if you're an advertiser of this show, don't, ya know, don't be afraid of these guys. Listen as Adam was saying ...
Robin: It's just a letter and they don't patronize your store anyway.
Stern: as Jimmy and Adam were saying, ya know, they get these letters, too, and they're written by, ya know, illiterates, quite frankly. Full of typos
Robin: and they're not even from your community.
Stern: I should read some of these letters.
Guest Host: have dot, dot, dots, all over them.
Stern: Dot, dot, dot.

April 30, 2001

Caller (Bob):  You know I called up Thursday to talk to you about your show.  Today's your last day in Charlotte. ... 
Stern:  Our show is real popular in Charlotte, NC but the religious groups have been so vehement in just hounding and racketeering against our sponsors that literally they could not keep up the good fight and I got to tell you something - this is a sad day when people aren't allowed to broadcast into the Charlotte area, and I don't know what to really say to you.
CALLER: It says in the article they couldn't sell the ads.  Couldn't sell time. 
Stern:  Well, because these groups actually go ahead and in small areas where it hurts us - in the big cities nobody pays attention to these religious wackos.  But literally we're targeted. You know I don't make much of it because I'm caught between a rock and a hard place with our show. It's like I'm the poster boy for everything bad in society.  And religious groups raise tremendous amounts of money trying to get me off the air. They keep most of the money for themselves. It doesn't cost money to get me off the air. I don't know why it would cost money.
CALLER: To quote the manager "He's been good for us, and we've certainly made money but it's not the most advertiser friendly show."
Stern:  Yeah. And that's the bottom line. You people in Charlotte are being railroaded. And this is why I thank my sponsors all the time in places like Orlando.  Our sponsors stand strong against the religious right that trys to take us off the air. And I have even said it's ah - I think it's racketeering because what they try to do is target people - like ah go after them or stand outside of their house. Robin: Destroy their businesses.
Stern:  Y eah. Our fans have to be loyal to our sponsors. You must stand up and fight. You must stand up and really say "Hey". We love the show. We're going to support the sponsors on the show. And for the most part in the big cities everybody does. It's just out there in yahoo land it's tough. You know you live in some place like Charlotte and you've got people controlling your life who want to go back to the middle ages.
CALLER: Right.
Stern:  And I don't know what to say to you other than it sickens me. Sickens me that people are such sheep and they take this crap. But, ah, look. You got to fight the war yourself.

Howard Stern:  I just want to open up the show this morning by saying a few words about our sponsors. That in many of our towns that we broadcast in - now I think we're on in 60 (actually 46) something markets. I don't   know sometimes we lose sometimes we pick up some. Um, but we're on in a lot of markets - this radio show. And I have to say that our sponsors support us, and they are the reason that we are able to broadcast to you every morning.
   And as I always say - support our sponsors because we are under such violent attack from all different kinds of groups. All different kinds of government agencies.  I'm not like some other radio show making up some sort of crisis. You guys read in the newspaper about our crisis. You know the battles we're fighting.  I am the poster boy for everyone to attack. And the people who deserve the credit for keeping this show going - and the only people who deserve the credit - are our sponsors. Particularly I want to single out our beautiful sponsors in the Orlando area. Couple other places, too, I'll be singling out over the next couple of weeks, but as you listen to us in Orlando. Listen to every sponsor. Support them. If you got to buy something. You got to buy a bed.  Don't buy it from some jerkoff. Buy it from our sponsor. You got to buy this or that - you hear it on our show - if you love our show and you want to see it continue - support our sponsors. They are the lifeblood of this show. And I know some times people sit there and gripe and grouse and they go "Gee, the breaks are too long."
Robin: Too many commercials.
Stern: We don't have those commercials we're off the air. We're gone. They are not going to put up with this.  So I just want to say my hat is off to our sponsors who are brave and continue to fight the fight and understand that this show deserves to be on the air. And I cannot say enough good things about the good people who support this program. In any market. I'm singling out the Orlando sponsors today, but that doesn't mean I don't mean about New York, and Chicago, Boston, LA.
Robin: And that they don't need help.  That they get those letters too.
Stern: That's right. We want you to know that we love our sponsors. I mean that. It comes from the bottom of my heart. Everytime I do one of these live commercials or I hear one of our sponsors I try to make a mental note of it and I know to support them. Because we are at war. You know early on in my career I used to be at war with management all the time because they wouldn't understand the show. They  wanted me to play records. They didn't understand why I was taking phone calls. I mean now you hear everybody doing my show. But, back then, I was at war with management. That's what my movie was about. And then the war shifted from management to the government. It's really a crisis that we're in. I know you don't read about it much but the FCC is more viable than ever. And absolutely still in the business of censorship.
Robin: Despite what they say.
Stern: That's right. And a lot of times shows have language that - you know - my imitators have much stronger language than I do but I'm the one that's singled out. They want to get me off the air.
Robin: That'll control everybody else.
Stern: If the do get me off the air, everyone else will cave. Everyone else will behave. And they know and they just single me out and target me. And the only place that I can tell you where we get sort of a warm fuzzy feeling are our sponsors.

Stern: You know, it's just people have a weird agenda with show. It bothers a lot people that we're successful and there's a lot of people trying to bring us down. And I got to tell you something, I'm growing tired of it. The Religious Right has really targeted us to the point that I believe it's racketeering. I don't mind guys criticizing me, I don't mind people saying I suck, I don't even mind guys, you know, saying I don't have a right to be here. But when you start to hassle my sponsors and you start to spread lies about us, and by the way I have letters from these religious groups more or less blaming me for Dana Plato having a bad time before her death which is so opposite the truth.
Robin: Yeah, what were they doing?
Stern: They were doing nothin'. I have these letters and I'm telling you not only is it slander, but it's racketeering. And between the Religious Right and people within this company who are against
me.
Robin: Within the company?
Stern: Within the company. ...

Stern: I'm a disc jockey. I'm not gonna always say the politically correct thing. I'm here to make you laugh.
Robin: But that's the other thing about this show, it's a fun show, it's not a serious show.
Stern: I'm not the president. ...
Robin: We're not trying to change policy here. ...

Stern: ... So I want to make a statement here. ... I was talking to a great broadcaster - one of the greatest broadcasters that ever lived. ... I was fortunate enough to have a phone conversation with the great Rick Cummings from Indianapolis .... and Rick and I were talking and he said " Geez Howard I'm running this station in Indianapolis that you're on. And you're doing great. You just went from No. 7 to No. 4 or something like that (actually it was No. 11 to No. 7). I don't know we just started there. (They didn't just start there. Stern's been on there since January 30, 1998.) But, I'm getting killed by these letters from this religious group the AFA, the American Family Association. ... Three of our sponsors cancelled (Three. It's more like 300, but Stern spin control.) He said 'What should I do?' I said Rick 'Ya know what? I don't know what to do. Maybe we should keep quiet because otherwise this American Family Association sound like they are powerful. And what they do is write letters to all the sponsors. And some of the sponsors get scared and I understand why they get scared. I truly do. Because you're a guy - you've got a small business - it's like one of them was a car dealership.'
Robin: What is this letter I don't need this.
Stern: Gets the letter. I don't know. Religious people are upset. I'm scared.
Robin: Why should I have this in my life?
Stern: So merely by this guy taking his computer and writing twenty, fifty, a hundred letters. All of a sudden an advertiser goes 'Okay, I'm gone!' And the guy says it's a shame. The car dealership is doing great business. They saw an increase of 60% (spin) or whatever the h-- gives me as statistics. I go 'This is nuts. I'm going to talk about it, Rick. I'm going to get on the air and talk about it because it's going on in St. Louis. It's going on in Indianapolis. It's going on in Hartford. And I was even talking to the guys in Hartford.' They said 'Yeah. We get clobbered with this.' I said, 'Let me tell you about the AFA (and Howard proceeds further ....)