Pete Schartel (pictured here) is the Owner of KCXL Radio in Liberty, Missouri, a suburb of Kansas City. His station carries Radio Sputnik, a radio service funded by the Kremlin.
Schartel tells Radio Ink that, as a result of the letter the NAB sent out calling on stations to stop carrying programming with ties to the Russian Government, he and his family have been receiving threats.
Here’s a letter Schartel sent to us yesterday…
“It is my patriotic duty alert fellow broadcasters that last week the new driver of the National Association of Broadcasters threw both our cherished first amendment right of free speech and the preservation of independent broadcast voices under the bus by calling for the silencing of broadcasters which carry Russian sponsored programming.
“New NAB CEO Curtis LeGeyt states that “the NAB s a a fierce defender of the first amendment”; perhaps he should have used the word farce instead. Advocating to shut down independent radio stations, such as my own which has zealously practiced the American ideal of creating a fully informed electorate, doesn’t strike me as being a “fierce defender.” Since his statement came out during meetings with 300 lawmakers it seems more plausible that that this was a knee jerk attempt to make them like him by playing on public sympathy and emotion.
“In reality the only lawmakers who should support his lack of conviction, to uphold our right of free speech, are those of the foreign government who launched the reprehensible attack on innocent citizens of the Ukraine. Many brave Americans have given their lives for the freedom to be an open and just society; it should not be so easily ignored.
“By stating that ”airing of such programs are extremely limited” LeGeyt demeans and minimizes the importance of preserving the voices of independent broadcasters. Although it would be naive to have ever believed that the NAB valued independent stations as much as large, powerful chains, I always felt that the NAB genuinely tried to be inclusive. Now, independent broadcasters need to be warned that the NAB is no longer there to cover your back.
“On a personal note, the irresponsible action of sending out this press release to unfriendly media outlets has subjected my wife and I to an outpouring of hateful, profanity laced letters, emails and phone calls. Although it is actually encouraging that people still feel free to express their opinions without fear of reprisal, I pray that the NAB will do some soul searching and vow to fully think.”
Reach out to Pete by e-mail at [email protected]
How ironic that KCXL is licensed to a town called Liberty when it broadcasts propaganda supporting the worst dictator since Hitler! Putin’s troops and air force are shelling and bombing hospitals, schools, civilian residential areas, and they even shelled a nuclear power plant, setting the stage for the worst disaster since the meltdown of the Chernobyl power plant. Putin is even worse than Hitler, since he is Hitler with nukes. And he won’t hesitate to use them against any Western democracy.
Mr. Schartel, you are just as despicable as someone who would rebroadcast Hitler’s Reichsrundfunk during World War II. By carrying Putin’s propaganda, KCXL has forfeited its right to exist. I also noticed a crucifix in the Radio Ink picture of you. How hypocritical! Would Jesus support the murder of women and children by a ruthless tyrant?
The world won’t be safe until Vladimir Putin is hanging by his neck from a lamppost in Moscow. And the air over America will smell a lot better when radio stations that rebroadcast his propaganda, such as KCXL and WZHF (Capitol Heights, MD) are silenced.
The First Amendment does not protect the giving of aid and comfort to the enemy.
Mr Schaetel
No one denies your first amendment rights and no serious person supports personal threats to you
But get off your high horse, you can do this because you live in the United States try it in Russia
You aren’t breaking any laws you are simply morally corrupt, clearly you are profiting from Russian propaganda
Children are literally dying at the hands of the Russian military
You now share responsibility for those deaths by providing a megaphone for the obvious lies.
You should look in the mirror and ask yourself, is the money really worth it
Meanwhile, Ukrainian kids are getting killed by Russian bombs, and Putin’s radio propagandists deny culpability.
Like shouting fire in a crowded movie theater, there’s free speech and there’s irresponsible speech. KCXL is being irresponsible, period. Also, don’t kid yourself, Russian state controlled media has a long history of being the propaganda arm of the KGB. Rebroadcasting their lies is is simply irresponsible. Hello! Any legitimate journalism requires the source of information to be validated. Looking at the preponderance of relatively unbiased reporting from the Ukraine it is apparent that virtually everything flowing from Russian sources is untrue.
Back when shortwave radio was a thing here in the US, I listened to shortwave radio and was fascinated by news reported by the BBC, CBC, VOA, Radio Moscow, etc. You could detect nuanced differences between all of them except Radio Moscow. In fact, Radio Moscow’s broadcasts often tickled my funny bone with their absurdity.
Are we domestic broadcasters free of bias and propaganda? Not totally. In college I was an intern at the Huntley Brinkley Report and had the opportunity to be a fly on the wall. This was during the Vietnam war. Most of the reportorial film footage never made it onto the show. When I asked executive producer Robert Northshield why, he said in part as a favor to President Johnson and in part due to his own sense of duty to protect America’s ability to fight the war! He claimed his correspondents were getting too emotional. That war was hell and they were not seasoned war veterans. Of course, the reality was, if American’s could see the real day to day horrors of that war, it would have been impossible politically for Johnson to continue to wage it.
Putin cut off most digital media access to Russia and has forced the shut down and pull out of any media attempting to maintain frees speech, knowing full well that reporting could start a uprising to dethrone him. And those Russian casualty numbers is fake news. Right?
Seriously, why would any American broadcaster want to carry Radio Sputnik? What huge audience is there for it?
None.
Hahaha, that’s what I was wondering too. Is there some sort of large Russian immigrant population in and around Liberty Missouri? Maybe it’s a leftover from the cold war… sponsored by Russia to combat the negative propaganda being put out by Yakov Smirnoff… LOL