Among the many churches that operate for profit subsidiary corporations is the Latter Day Saints or LDS (Mormon) church. The church's for-profit subsidiary, Deseret Management Company (DMC) (and here), owns a number of businesses including Bonneville International Corporation (BIC), a national broadcasting group including radio and television stations.
BIC operates 29 radio stations across the country one of which, KTTH broadcasting out of Seattle, Washington, includes six miserable hours weekdays of Rush Limbaugh programming plus addition programming on the weekend.
Many of you familiar with the LDS Church may also be familiar with a church-run newspaper, the Deseret News. In a 2010 Deseret News article (and here) addressing management and corporate changes to Deseret Management Company, the paper published the "new" corporate values:
DMC values
Align actions: I honor principles espoused by our owner in the products and services I provide.
Pursue excellence: I am passionate about innovation and about delivering extraordinary results.
Champion virtues: I promote integrity, civility, morality and respect for all people.
Improve lives: I seek to lift, inspire and help others find enduring happiness.
Work together: I look for opportunities to productively collaborate with my fellow DMC employees.
Invest personally: I seek to instill light and knowledge in my work.
A letter writer to BIC protesting the continued running of the Limbaugh program on KTTH published the corporation's reply at
democratic underground:
Thank you for your email.
AM 770 The Truth is committed to providing its listeners with access to a broad range of opinion and commentary. The contraception debate is one that sparks strong emotion and opinions on both sides of the issue. Radio can be and has been a great platform for a lively exchange of ideas as we seek to provide understanding. In this case, we wish Mr. Limbaugh would have been more civil in his treatment of the topic and his characterization of those involved, but we respect his right, as well as the rights of those who disagree with him, to express those opinions.
Over the weekend, Rush realized the words he used crossed a line and issued the following apology.
“For over 20 years, I have illustrated the absurd with absurdity, three hours a day, five days a week. In this instance, I chose the wrong words in my analogy of the situation. I did not mean a personal attack on Ms. Fluke. I think it is absolutely absurd that during these very serious political times, we are discussing personal sexual recreational activities before members of Congress. I personally do not agree that American citizens should pay for these social activities. What happened to personal responsibility and accountability? Where do we draw the line? If this is accepted as the norm, what will follow? Will we be debating if tax payers should pay for new sneakers for all students that are interested in running to keep fit? In my monologue, I posited that it is not our business whatsoever to know what is going on in anyone's bedroom nor do I think it is a topic that should reach a Presidential level. My choice of words was not the best, and in the attempt to be humorous, I created a national stir. I sincerely apologize to Ms. Fluke for the insulting word choices.” – Rush Limbaugh
Best Regards,
Vanessa Szczachor
Programming Coordinator/Front Desk Manager
Bonneville Seattle Media Group
vszczachor@bonneville.com
I am listening to the Rushbag, in fact, right now on KTTH at 2:15am on the net here in CA. Blah.
Action to take
Contact LDS Seattle radio station KTTH AM 770, below. And if you happen to be LDS, well, you know what to do:
Bonneville Seattle
1820 Eastlake Avenue East
Seattle, Wa 98102
(206) 726-7000
vszczachor@bonneville.com
Moreover, it is entirely appropriate to contact LDS-owned DMC, which owns Bonneville International:
Deseret Management Corporation
55 North 300 West, Suite 800
Salt Lake City, UT 84101
Phone: (801) 538-0651
FAX: (801) 517-4600
In fact, I would even contact the LDS Church and gripe (they are, afterall, the financial beneficiary):
Public Affairs Department
Joseph Smith Memorial Building
15 E. South Temple Street Room 2W10
Salt Lake City, UT 84150
P: (801) 240-2205
F: (801) 240-1167
A couple of Asides
I suspect, as a business man and LDS member, Mitt Romney is quite familiar with the for-profit structure of his church which no doubt contributes mightily to the estimated $3 billion to $6 billion raked in annually. Romney may or may not know that one of the stations runs over 36 hours/week of Limbaugh (and other right wing radio) programming. It would be an interesting question in light of the corporations Mission Statement and Limbaugh's three-day verbal assault on Sandra Fluke.
When asked about the Fluke conflict, Romney simply replied, "It's not the language I would have used." This, of course, begs the question what language he would have used.
And as a rather humorous aside, there is a station in Salt Lake City (not owned by the church) KNRS. The station's weekday (and Sunday, ironically) programming includes Rush Limbaugh.
During Limbaugh's programming, three public service announcements played for the LDS Church which upset a number of local listeners.
And what did one of those LDS spots espouse?
One spot urged parents to "talk to your daughter about her day" during the show hosted by the man who called the law student a "slut" and a "prostitute" for testifying before a congressional committee in favor of insurance coverage for contraceptives. source
Now there's some irony.
PS: KTTH just played a PSA from the American Traffic Safety Assoc. and a PSA from Washington Traffic Association in commercial space on Rush's show. He just said the left has driven a number of new listeners to his show. Uh huh.
Hahahahahaha.