Holly Thomas, Self-employed, Seattle

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"I think that the public should monitor how 'hot' issues get. In general, morality is going downhill and people are making a buck. Basically, if nobody supported it, they wouldn't be doing it... I think that if the community is in charge of the moral climate they put up with, then they could monitor talk radio by not listening, not advertising."

Bill Weiss, Expert witness, Redmond

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"No. It's freedom of speech, so I think that they can pretty much do whatever they want. (KVI 570 Program Host) Mike Siegel should not have been suspended. If he was doing something malicious or libelous, he could be sued -- that's something to be taken to a court of law. I don't agree with him, but anybody has the right to express their opinion. It's in the Bill of Rights."

Betty Daggett, Retired, Bellevue

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"No, I don't think so. I think a lot of the things they bring up need to be brought up, brought to the attention of the people... And when it comes to a public figure, well, you're open to criticism... But boundaries need to be considered. There shouldn't be irresponsibility -- morals should always be considered -- and I think we've gotten away from that a lot."

Aviva Nelson, College freshman-to-be, Leavenworth

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"I don't know. I don't really listen to it that much. Every now and then my mom listens to Rush Limbaugh, but that's about it... If you're hurting someone, attacking someone, that's wrong. But if you're talking about their political ambitions and they're public figures, then it's okay... I do think some stations go too far -- some of it is gross. There should be limits, but I don't know how you'd set them because of freedom of speech."

Robert Allred, Sales and financial planning, Bellevue

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"In some issues, yes. Overall, I think it's pretty decent. But I think they were too quick to jump on the bandwagon about (Seattle) Mayor Norm Rice because I personally don't think he's guilty of what he was accused of. I just don't think they should send out bad rumors before they can prove anything. That was a cheap shot... I don't believe they should fire Siegel, but he should serve a suspension. In the sense of freedom of speech, he didn't do anything wrong. But what he did was damaging and he should've kept quiet until he could prove something."

Scott Seitz, Sign maker, Seattle

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"Sometimes I think they go over the top, but that's usually what people expect. It's always going to be 'hot', but sometimes they go too far. But there's the whole freedom of speech thing -- there's really no way to limit it... I'm pretty open and I've listened to Howard Stern and some of his stuff is offensive. But some of it really quite humorous... If you don't like what you're hearing, change the station."

Copyright © 1996 by the Bellevue, WA-based Journal American newspaper.

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