Donald S. Bustany (August 10, 1928 – April 23, 2018) was anAmerican radio andtelevision broadcaster.
Bustany was born inDetroit toLebanese-American parents.[1] He and radio host/voice actorCasey Kasem were childhood friends, and later co-creators of thesyndicated radio programsAmerican Top 40 andAmerican Country Countdown.[2]
In the 1970s, Bustany was camera coordinator ofThe Mary Tyler Moore Show,The Bob Newhart Show, and other MTM productions. Earlier he had produced local talk shows on several Los Angeles, California stations.[citation needed]
Bustany graduated with a BA in Liberal Arts fromWayne State University and an MS in Communications fromSyracuse University.[citation needed]
Bustany was an activist for thePalestinian right of return. From 1996 until 2014, he produced and hosted the radio programMiddle East in Focus onKPFK, the Los Angeles station of thePacifica Radio network; he remained a correspondent to the program. The show's "mission is to fill the many gaps left by themainstream media in their coverage" of theMiddle East.[3]
He was a member of the advisory committee of theAmerican-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee[4] and, in the 1990s, served for four terms as president of the organization's Los Angeles chapter.
For his statements regarding the Zionist Movement and Israel, he had been criticized by such organizations as the JDL and theZionist Organization of America.[5] He was also a member of the board of directors of the Southern California Chapter ofAmericans for Democratic Action.
Bustany died on April 23, 2018, inSanta Barbara, California, aged 89.[6]
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