Letters To The Editor No Off Switch?

Howard Stern's irreverent, and sometimes bizarre, form of entertainment is not for everyone, and is not meant to be. However, there are those who enjoy his 6-10 a.m. show on WYSP radio, and Mr. Stern should have the opportunity to broadcast his program free of the fanaticism that greeted his arrival in Philadelphia.

A small number of people, including a minister from Mississippi, hardly within the WYSP broadcasting range, have banded together as a moral police force. The group has unilaterally taken on the responsibility to "clean up" our radio airwaves. Through formal complaints to the Federal Communications

Commission, these people are trying to have Mr. Stern dismissed on grounds of his "obscene" behavior and "crude" demeanor.

Judging by the show's increased ratings, however, this group neglected to ask a large percentage of the public permission to be their moral guardian. The fact that these people think their beliefs should be superimposed upon the general population is more obscene than anything Mr. Stern could say on the radio. Don't these fanatics own radios with off switches, or at least dials to change stations? No one is forcing them to listen to Howard Stern, so why should they attempt to force anyone not to?

In the final analysis, the marketplace will decide who works in radio. Apathy is one's loudest voice, and, ironically, all this group has accomplished is to create controversy and heighten interest in Stern, which translates to higher ratings for his show. By choosing to ignore him, the group would be making its most effective statement, and the rest of us would be better off.

Morris J. Lebidine

Atco, N.J.