"Radio Free Silver Pulled Off the Air by Station Owner"
by Jim Owen
Silver City Daily Press
Free Press News
"Radio Free Silver" a one-hour, daily, liberal talk show in Silver City is off the air.
KNFT Radio owner Matt Runnels announced Monday he was canceling "RFS" because 20 to 25 of the station's advertisers threatened to pull their spots from all KNFT programming if the show continued to be aired.
Runnels said he was faced with a loss of nearly $10,000 in monthly advertising revenue.
Car dealers, bankers, pizza business owners, all-terrain vehicle sellers and furniture-store owners were among those who threatened to pull their ads, according to Runnels.
"It's a shame that, in America, we can't have someone with an opposing view," he said. "It wasn't like ('RFS' was) preaching anarchy. ... If you don't like what you hear, push the button. There's a lot of programming out there.
"I do a lot of conservative programming," Runnels continued. "We have (talk shows hosted by) Rush Limbaugh, Michael Savage and Bill O'Reilly."
Runnels said some advertisers objected to the liberal show's criticism of President Bush.
"Rush Limbaugh still badgers and belittles and degrades President Clinton, and he hasn't been in office for four years," Runnels noted.
"I thought, as a balance, we could put ('RFS') in a slot," he said. "But, after a month or six weeks, I started hearing rumblings."
Some customers didn't want their advertisements aired on "RFS." They "told us (an official) with the Cattle Growers (Association) came by and said it was an un-American show," Runnels reported.
Business owners said the association official told them the cattle growers would boycott KNFT advertisers if the show was not canceled, according to Runnels.
Ty Bays, southwest area vice president of the New Mexico Cattle Growers Association and a former president of the Grant County Area Cattle Growers Association, denied that either organization threatened a boycott.
"If (association members) want to support area businesses that advertise on that station, that's up to them," Bays told the Daily Press. "We have not made any official statement. We're not officially banning that radio station. Our members listen to country music; when they hear ('RFS'), they probably turn it off."
The president of the Grant County Area Cattle Growers Association, Jason Dobrinski, was not available for comment this morning.
Because of customer complaints, KNFT stopped placing any advertising on "RFS," instead requiring the program to pay for itself by collecting about $600 a month from supporters.
The fund-raising goal was met, and the program became self-sustaining, according to Runnels. He said "a lot of people" contributed, with checks ranging from $1 to $100.
However, KNFT advertisers continued "calling our sales people," threatening to cancel their ads because of "RFS," Runnels said.
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