UCLA Study Highlights John & Ken Show's Anti-Latino And Anti-Immigrant “Hate Speech”

A recent study by the UCLA's Chicano Studies Research Center titled “Quantifying Hate Speech On Commercial Talk Radio” looked at the prevalence of hate speech in Los Angeles County talk radio programs and found numerous “instances that met the study's criteria for statements targeting a vulnerable group or their supporters” in LA's John & Ken Show. In particular, the study found that the show disproportionately targeted Latino, Mexican and immigrant groups. The study looked at instances of hate speech from 2008 and found that the John & Ken Show repeatedly targeted immigrants, Latinos and Mexicans.

From the study, which looked at The John & Ken Show as well as The Lou Dobbs Show and The Savage Nation:

UCLA Tables

The report found that John & Ken had only a 55 percent accuracy rate and that it's “unsubstantiated claims related either entirely or predominantly to undocumented immigrants and governmental agencies or public officials that were characterized as supporting them or facilitating their negative impact on society.”

The study comes as the National Hispanic Media Coalition announced more advertiser pullouts in their campaign “Take John and Ken Off The Air” which was formed after the program targeted immigrant rights activist Jorge-Mario Cabrera by giving out his personal cell phone number on the air, leading Cabrera to receive violent voice messages and death threats. In addition to receiving pledges from GM, Verizon, and AT&T, the NHMC has announced several other companies have announced that they are pulling their advertisements from the show.