By Mary McKee
Star-Telegram Dallas bureau

DALLAS -- Howard Stern's return to the local airwaves in January was greeted with jubilation by fans, but the New York shock jock is receiving a much less cordial welcome from a local decency organization.

The Dallas Association for Decency, a nonprofit organization that fights pornography and similar material, is about to launch a letter-writing campaign urging advertisers to cancel their spots on Stern's program, which is airing on radio station KYNG/105.3 FM.

"From our perspective, everybody has a voice," said Dan Panetti, the association's executive director, who said his organization protested the program before it left the Metroplex in 1997. "If Howard Stern has a voice and can say something to offend people, then people have a voice to protest that."

Stern's fans criticize the effort, saying his detractors could be more effective by simply not listening.

"Our opinion is there's so many choices," said Cathy Calder, president of a group known as SOS, or Save Our Stern. "If you don't like Howard Stern, just turn the dial."

Stern's presence in the Metroplex has always stirred strong feelings. When rock station KEGL/97.1 FM "The Eagle" pulled the plug on his show, representatives for the station, then owned by Nationwide Insurance, said that although Stern had the No. 1 show in the market, leading advertisers avoided it because of its often politically incorrect and graphic sexual content.

During his five years on the Eagle, Stern was most notorious for remarks he made after the 1995 slaying of Tejano singer Selena, ridiculing not only the singer's music but also her largely Hispanic fan base. The comments outraged Mexican- American groups, and Stern later apologized.

Officials at KYNG, which began broadcasting Stern's show Jan. 2, said the letter- writing effort will have no effect. Stern's show, which airs weekdays from 6 to 11 a.m., is doing well and has had no trouble attracting advertisers, said Reid Reker, the station's general manager.

Because KYNG is owned by Infinity Broadcasting, the same company that has a five-year contract with Stern and owns the New York flagship station where he broadcasts, it's unlikely that he will be dropped, Reker said.

"Howard Stern will never go off the air on this radio station," Reker said. "Not only is there the company connection, but we also know he's going to be phenomenally successful. I'm afraid those people will have a long time to write letters."

Stern's representatives in New York did not return phone calls seeking comment.

Members of the Michigan- based American Decency Association, which has been writing companies that advertise on the Stern show since 1996, said that their efforts have been successful. Of the advertisers contacted, about 90 percent, or 12,000, have withdrawn their ads from Stern's show, said Lisa Van Houten, who coordinates the monitoring of the show. That 12,000 however, includes the same ads that may have been counted more than once in various markets. It also is a count accumulated over a four-year period.

"Many Stern fans have said, `Well, you are trying to censor Howard Stern and take way his freedom of speech,' " Van Houten said. "We do not at all agree with that. We are trying to point out that this type of so- called entertainment is not healthy for our culture."

Burger King is one of the companies that no longer advertises on the show, but a company spokeswoman said she couldn't confirm if that was because of Stern's content.

"I will tell you that we do monitor all of the shows on which we advertise to ensure they meet widely accepted standards of taste," spokeswoman Kim Miller said.

Some Metroplex businesses said they weren't aware that their ads were aired during Stern's show and might reconsider if there were significant outcry.

"If there's enough people opposed, I don't want the general public angry with me," said Bill Adkins, owner of Trophy Nissan in Mesquite.

Town East Ford, another Mesquite car dealership whose ads air on the Stern show, also would probably take public sentiment into consideration even though Stern's show has lots of fans, said Jeff Jutte, vice president of Bedford Advertising.

"I agree that he definitely marches to a different drummer and offends a lot of people, but he also has a lot of listeners who tune him in on a regular basis," Jutte said.

You would not have found many of them at the National Religious Broadcasters convention held recently in Dallas. Several attendees praised the Dallas Association for Decency's effort to alert advertisers about the content of Stern's show.

Sue Bohlin of Probe Ministries, a local Christian group that analyzes and challenges contemporary culture, said of the Stern show, "I think it's revolting. There's nothing good. It panders to the prurient."

Panetti, who supported the push to get Internet filters installed in the Plano library and convinced `D Magazine' to remove ads for topless clubs, said that it's not enough to turn Stern's show off.

"For you not to listen is one thing," Panetti said. "For him not to be on the air is a far better thing."

Mary McKee, (972) 263-4448

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