I Tried to Turn it off, but Damn That Anal Sex

Viacom chief Mel Karmazin defended Howard Stern's right to discuss sodomy over the airwaves, in an interview yesterday with Ken Auletta.

"We are fighting in Iraq for freedom. … If it doesn't appeal to you, shut the radio off. Just because you don't like the words 'anal sex,' doesn't make it indecent."

Mad Mel also took a swipe at the reaction from his media colleagues:

"We think it is a very slippery slope," he said. "So many journalists have not been supportive of the first amendment."

In other news, some nervous public radio lawyers are pre-emptively eliminating the word "suck" from their vocabulary. (Links via I Want Media and Jeff Jarvis.)