Kerry says radio stations have a right to pull Stern

NEW YORK (AP) — Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry said radio stations are within their right to pull Howard Stern off the air if they object to the shock jock’s racy show.

“Howard Stern does have the right to say whatever he wants anywhere, but he doesn’t necessarily have the right to say it on that station if the people who run the station don’t want him to,” Kerry said while campaigning in New York, where Stern’s show is broadcast.

A questioner at the town hall meeting in Brooklyn asked Kerry to stand up for Stern’s right to say what he wants because the Republican-led government is repressing his right to free speech.

Kerry said he disagrees that Stern faces repression.

“If you are working for somebody and they have a set of rules, that’s the deal,” Kerry said. “And it doesn’t mean he can’t go out and say it somewhere if somebody else wants to have him say that.”

Clear Channel Communications this week yanked Stern off stations in San Diego, Pittsburgh, Rochester, N.Y., Louisville, Ky., and Fort Lauderdale and Orlando, Fla. Clear Channel said the suspension would last until the Stern show met its programming guidelines.

Stern’s nationally syndicated show appears on more than 40 stations across North America and draws millions of listeners.