A sharp protest was lodged with the Federal Communications Commission, in Washington, against Radio Station KNX-CBS of this city, for broadcasting a program lasting three and a half hours, featuring George Rockwell, leader of the American Nazi Party.
The complaint to the FCC, coupled with a request that the Commission investigate the occurrence, were filed by Rabbi Hershel Lymon, president of the Southern California Association of Liberal Rabbis. Rockwell was the “guest” on the station’s “Michael Jackson Program,” which occupied the air on its beam on April 27, from 7:30 to 11 p.m. When the show was over, Rockwell himself thanked the moderator for “the greatest opportunity ever given me.”
In his letter to the FCC, Rabbi Lymon noted that a telegram had been sent to the station, protesting the scheduling of the lengthy Rockwell exposure, telling the station it was “irresponsibly presenting the man whose uniform and philosophy are a desecration to the American dead of World War II.” Rabbi Lymon charged in his complaint that KNX-CBS provided for the American Nazi “the largest audience he ever had in his life,” giving him “the opportunity to endanger the public safety with his incitements of hatred against minority peoples who are part of the general community.”
The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
