CAN THEY SHUT UP LARRY ELDER?

Byline: Fred Shuster Daily News Staff Writer

The battle over whether KABC radio is gagging conservative African-American talk-show host Larry Elder has heated up this week with his show being cut from four to two hours and his supporters fighting back with TV ads.

The fight has been building for many months as a secretive African-American organization organized a boycott that has cost KABC-AM (790) advertising revenue.

The station, a subsidiary of Disney, denies the boycott has anything to do with the cutback. The issue is pure personality, the station says, noting the self-styled ``Sage from South Central'' still has solid audience ratings.

Conservatives like author David Horowitz have rallied behind Elder and have launched a countercampaign, featuring supportive 30-second spots on cable and network television.

``Larry's message is work hard, study hard and anyone can succeed,'' Horowitz said Thursday. ``It's an important message.''

Efforts to reach Talking Drum Community Forum, the group attacking Elder over his views, were unsuccessful.

Elder, who recently got permission by KABC to syndicate his program nationally, refused to comment on the boycott.

``I am currently working on a syndication deal with people who have a great deal of experience in this area,'' he said. ``I'm confident I can put something together, and KABC has allowed me to do so.''

This is not the first time Disney, which owns the ABC Radio Network, has been the target of a boycott. Religious groups, right-wingers and Latino rights groups have called for action against the entertainment giant. In June, Disney pulled a just-released rap album from store shelves a week after the Southern Baptists Convention announced a boycott.

Calls to Disney's corporate communications office were referred to the ABC Radio Network's office in New York, which didn't return calls at press time.

``This is not a Disney matter,'' said KABC marketing director Bill Lennert. ``This is something we decided at KABC.''

In the Elder case, Talking Drum has waged a campaign against the radio host for at least 18 months, according to those familiar with the boycott. The group distributed pamphlets calling Elder an ``Uncle Tom,'' a ``traitor to his race,'' and promised to ``get'' the talk host. The shadowy organization also picketed KABC sponsors.

As a result, some two dozen companies, including American Savings Bank, Enterprise Rent-a-Car, Goodyear, Ford, American Airlines and others reportedly pulled their ads, causing KABC to lose around $3 million, sources said.

Lennert said the decision to slice Elder's show - now broadcast from 3 to 5 p.m. weekdays instead of 3 to 7 - had nothing to do with the boycott.

``Radio evolves, and we've added new personalities to the lineup,'' Lennert said Thursday. ``Has the station lost money? We don't disclose that information. We have not caved into any sort of pressure. Besides, Larry hasn't left. He's just been cut back.''

But Horowitz and other Elder supporters, including civil rights leader Joe Hicks, accused Talking Drum of using ``near-fascist tactics'' to silence the radio host, who provokes listeners by calling for the end of affirmative action and railing against racial demagoguery and the welfare state. Elder also frequently told his audience that he believed O.J. Simpson was guilty of murder.

Elder, 45, is a lawyer raised in South Central Los Angeles. Three years ago, he was working with an executive search firm in Cleveland when he met KABC talk-show host Dennis Prager, who recommended him to the station. Elder's first evening time slot proved so popular he was moved to the high-profile afternoon commute shift, where he has beaten cross-town talk rival KFI-AM's (640) ``John & Ken Show'' in ratings for the first time in five years.

``It's more of a personality issue,'' said KABC's Lennert. ``We're pleased with his (ratings) performance.''

Elder got some backing from the Center for the Study of Popular Culture, led by Horowitz, which launched the TV spots after a citywide direct-mail campaign drew $350,000.

``This is not an anti-ABC campaign,'' Horowitz said. ``I wanted to raise his visibility and encourage people to listen to his show. I heard the boycott caused a loss of revenue for the station and that's when I began my campaign.''

The 30-second ads show anti-Elder picketing and urge viewers to call a toll-free number to pledge money in support of the radio personality. In one of the spots, Horowitz declares that ``L.A. needs to hear his liberating voice.''

On Monday, Ed Tyll, most recently host of a radio show in Orlando, Fla., took over KABC's 5 to 7 p.m. shift.

``The Talking Drum group is basically a terrorist organization, short of violence, in every sense of the word,'' said Joe Gelman, a conservative writer who was an original sponsor of Proposition 209, the California Civil Rights Initiative. ``Their goal is to suppress freedom of thought and freedom of expression and they do it anonymously just like the Ku Klux Klan.''

Hicks, executive director of the Multicultural Collaborative and the next executive director of the Los Angeles Human Relations Commission, was furious Elder was being silenced.

``It's outrageous that KABC is cutting back the airtime of one of L.A.'s most extraordinary broadcasters,'' Hicks said. ``As someone who has supported Elder against the boycott, to try and censor someone's views and opinions frankly takes the wind out of the sails of people struggling to fight for their right to speak freely.''

ELDER'S VITALS 

Where to hear him: KABC-AM (790), 3 to 5 p.m. weekdays.

Where he stands: Anti-affirmative action, anti-welfare; for hard work and education.

Who supports him: The Center for the Study of Popular Culture, (888) LA-ELDER.

Who's behind the boycott: Talking Drum Community Forum.

The rap against him: Elder is a ``traitor to his race.''

His rap: He's the ``Sage from South Central.''

CAPTION(S):

Photo, box

Photo: no caption (Larry Elder)

BOX: ELDER'S VITALS (see text)