FRESNO, Calif. — A popular Fresno radio host on Thursday morning told listeners that certain members of the media should be hanged — then later issued a clarification about his comment.
Longtime KMJ talk show host Ray Appleton was discussing Wednesday's invasion of the Capitol by supporters of outgoing President Donald Trump, and how the media covered the incident compared to its coverage of protests-turned-into-riots in cities like Portland when he said: "certain news editors should be hanged ... maybe."
Appleton, 70, regularly discusses politics and current events while offering his opinion from a conservative point of view. He's been with KMJ for 34 years.
Later Thursday afternoon, he posted on social media about his message.
"I made a comment on the air today that has been taken a bit out of context especially as a standalone statement!" Appleton said on his Facebook page. "I spent a good deal of time talking about how frustrated I was with the news media for not reporting things in a fair and consistent way.
"I made the statement that because of this 'inconsistent way of reporting certain news editors should be hanged.......maybe.' I went in later in the segment to clarify and clear up that statement, which was clearly tongue in (cheek)."
By Thursday night, however, Appleton's explanation was deleted from his Facebook page.
It is unclear whether KMJ or Cumulus Media, which owns the radio station, accepted Appleton's clari fication or condoned his comments since neither entity immediately issued a statement or made a representative available for questions.
KMJ NewsTalk Program Director Blake Taylor, when contacted Thursday afternoon, declined comment on the incident.
Appleton, whose show runs 11 a.m.-2 p.m. on weekdays, made his comments regarding violence against media members around 11:15 a.m.
The show centered around Wednesday's incident when a mob of Trump supporters stormed the Capitol and disrupted a hearing among lawmakers to confirm the electoral college votes and certify Joe Biden's victory as the next U.S. President.
Toward the end of the programming, Appleton tried to further explain his position while apologizing.
"If you were truly offended by my comment, understand, that is not how I feel," Appleton said. "You, who are taking this and using it against me, you know I am not that kind of person. Me, trying to save every animal on the planet. ... Does that sound like somebody who would advocate for real?
"I feel like Victor Davis Hanson: Everybody take a step back; not everything said is necessarily gospel," Appleton explained further. "This was clearly set up as tongue in cheek .... And I put a full blown apology on my Facebook page. I don't know what else to say. Everybody knows me better, please. ... Rodney King: Can't we please just all get along?"
Appleton's comments were made during a time when media members have been targeted and attacked, and at times, killed.
All the while, Trump has insistently expressed distrust in the media throughout his presidency.
In 2015 when Trump was running for president and about two years before "Fake News" became a regularly used expression to insult the media, a TV reporter and photographer in Roanoke, Va., were shot to death on live TV.
In 2018, a gunman entered the newsroom of the Capital Gazette, a newspaper in Annapolis, Md., and killed five people.
During the Capitol invasion, protesters smashed cameras, threatened media members who were covering Wednesday's melee and scratched into a door of the Capitol with the words "Murder the media."
Jim Boren, executive director of the Institute for Media and Public Trust at Fresno State, said "even a tongue-in-cheek comment can be dangerous."
Boren, in reaction to Appleton's comments, cited data from the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker showing violence against the media. In 2020 alone, there were 328 journalists assaulted and 76 journalists had their equipment damaged.
"In the current environment, it is very dangerous to suggest that members of the media should be 'hanged' for reporting news that you don't like," said Boren, who previously worked at The Fresno Bee and concluded his lengthy newspaper career as the executive editor. "I have no problem with people criticizing the media, but don't suggest violence even if you are joking to make a point.
"If this was tongue in cheek, as Ray says in his Facebook post, I'm glad that he has cleared this up," Boren added. "That was the right thing to do, and I urge him to also explain it to his listeners on his next show. But even a tongue-in-cheek comment can be dangerous because some people these days take their cues from leaders in our community."
