Was Keyshawn Johnson Sirius?

The following exchange of letters took place after Keyshawn Johnson of the Dallas Cowboys let it be known on his Sirius Satellite radio show that he did not approve of Fox sideline reporter Pam Oliver's coverage of his sideline behavior last season, when he was with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

Monday, November 1, 2004 (to Ron Rodrigues of Sirius Satellite radio)

Dear Ron -

My name is Joanne C. Gerstner, and I am the president of the Association for Women in Sports Media. (I am also a sportswriter at the Detroit News).

I am writing to you to convey my group's concern over Keyshawn Johnson's remarks about Fox sports reporter Pam Oliver. We feel the remarks are classless, insensitive, and sexist. Mr. Johnson has a right to disagree with what Ms. Oliver reported, but he should not base the remarks on her gender and to advocate violence on women.

We would like to know how Sirius will be handling the matter and what steps will be taken to ensure that your airwaves will not be a font for sexist and classless remarks against female sports reporters.

Thank you -
Joanne C. Gerstner
The Detroit News
President, AWSM

Tuesday, November 2, 2004 (Rodrigues' response)

I thank you for your email.

I can say with a fair amount of certainty that all of us at Sirius agree that Keyshawn's comments were "classless, insensitive and sexist." I have already heard follow-up programming on Sirius that has focused on the remarks including plenty of feedback that was critical of what he said. I also understand that he will be making some additional comments on his next show, hopefully to clarify his points.

As for the future, I simply can't guarantee that listeners won't be offended by our hosts, guests or callers. Talk radio is full of opinions, and the nature of SIRIUS' uncensored platform allows for an even wider variety of viewpoints than you might get from traditional radio. Our mission is to broadcast the widest number of viewpoints without advocating any of them, and that includes both Keyshawn's opinions and the larger number of listeners who take issue with his opinions.

Tuesday, November 2, 2004

Ron -

Thanks so much for the quick reply.

We are all for free speech, and appreciate the platform that Sirius affords to broadcast that right.

We just want to make sure hosts such as Keyshawn are also held responsible for their statements, in cases of crossing the line. We are glad you are taking this issue seriously, and we hope Keyshawn will also take the opportunity to be more salient in his remarks.

We, the women of AWSM, take our jobs very seriously and are regarded as true professionals. We would hope Keyshawn would take a different approach to his criticism and not stoop to the gender card in the future.

Thanks so much - and if there is anything my group can do for you, please let me know.

Get some female sportswriters on your shows! :)

Joanne C. Gerstner
President, AWSM