width=83 align=left>The return of Howard Stern to one of the markets where he was once heard on Clear Channel stations caused at least one person to make an appointment with her radio in the morning. According to the Associated Press, Mary Ellen Edison will be tuning in, then asking advertisers to pull out from supporting the show. Edison is from Stuart FL, which is close enough to access Stern from his new home in West Palm Beach. She is organizing friends in an effort to get Stern off local airwaves, via letters to advertisers and stations. Her group is even considering picketing. She is affiliated with the Parents Television Council.

RBR observation: This is why the FCC's look at the highly-questionable requirement that broadcasters tape themselves as part of its indecency enforcement regime may be unnecessary. Why tramp about on unsure legal footing in First and Fifth Amendment territory when watchdog groups are getting so good at collecting evidence without any government intervention? Although the case can still be made that often a shocked member of the audience will not have a recording device in operation when an indecent incident takes place, increasingly, there are dedicated and well-organized private decency vigilantes lying in ambush. Broadcasters who consistently operate on the edge had best expect that the tapes are running.