Marty Lenz was laid off from KOA's Colorado Morning News (CMN) last October, and the program was reduced to one hour. In this interview with the Colorado Times Recorder website, Lenz describes his commitment to straight-ahead journalism and even-handed coverage...something which he felt that iHeart was less and less favorable toward.
Sample quote:
"As noted earlier, it was always intentional for our program to deliver honest and unbiased news and information. At times, this was challenging, given the structure and perception of KOA — especially during the Covid pandemic. Both April {Zesbaugh, his original co-anchor} and I often felt as though we were “working against our audience.” For example, we would diligently report the latest information, data, protocols, and guidance from experts, epidemiologists, virologists, and policy leaders — only to have it undercut by other programming. While I don’t believe this was intentional, it often seemed driven by serving a “different master.” I have never worked harder professionally or felt a greater sense of responsibility to report, support, and serve our listening community than I did during the pandemic, all while feeling isolated — both physically, for obvious reasons, and professionally — from the rest of our broadcast operation. This experience stands as a valuable “area of opportunity” for anyone involved in programming and news leadership to learn from."
About his layoff, Lenz says:
"I was laid off during iHeart’s annual/semiannual reduction in force. While the official explanation cited cost-cutting — a common factor in many of the company’s business and programming decisions — I believe other considerations were also at play. On several occasions, the current local leadership noted that our style of morning news program was uncommon within iHeart, hinting that changes might be forthcoming. When KOA removed my boss Greg Foster in 2022, our corporate news leaders came in to meet with us. Toward the end of my individual meeting, one of the managers suggested there were things we could do to keep KOA a conservative news outlet. I immediately shot back, “We are not conservative news, we are not liberal news — we are news.” I don’t recall his response; I was stunned by his perspective. Looking back now, I see it as a bit of foreshadowing."
If you wonder why I am so critical of KOA and its rightward slant (while noting it could be worse), this interview provides a good explanation of what the station is doing. The full interview: Pandering Their Way to Oblivion? After Layoff, Former Radio News Anchor Reflects on His Job and the Future of Broadcast Journalism
H/T to Corey Hutchins' Behind the News in Colorado, which pointed out the interview this week. Note that Hutchins describes the political orientation of the Times Recorder as progressive. Other than the headline, though, there's no particular slant in the article, which mostly lets Lenz describe the situation in his own terms.
(Edited to provide a clearer title)
Sample quote:
"As noted earlier, it was always intentional for our program to deliver honest and unbiased news and information. At times, this was challenging, given the structure and perception of KOA — especially during the Covid pandemic. Both April {Zesbaugh, his original co-anchor} and I often felt as though we were “working against our audience.” For example, we would diligently report the latest information, data, protocols, and guidance from experts, epidemiologists, virologists, and policy leaders — only to have it undercut by other programming. While I don’t believe this was intentional, it often seemed driven by serving a “different master.” I have never worked harder professionally or felt a greater sense of responsibility to report, support, and serve our listening community than I did during the pandemic, all while feeling isolated — both physically, for obvious reasons, and professionally — from the rest of our broadcast operation. This experience stands as a valuable “area of opportunity” for anyone involved in programming and news leadership to learn from."
About his layoff, Lenz says:
"I was laid off during iHeart’s annual/semiannual reduction in force. While the official explanation cited cost-cutting — a common factor in many of the company’s business and programming decisions — I believe other considerations were also at play. On several occasions, the current local leadership noted that our style of morning news program was uncommon within iHeart, hinting that changes might be forthcoming. When KOA removed my boss Greg Foster in 2022, our corporate news leaders came in to meet with us. Toward the end of my individual meeting, one of the managers suggested there were things we could do to keep KOA a conservative news outlet. I immediately shot back, “We are not conservative news, we are not liberal news — we are news.” I don’t recall his response; I was stunned by his perspective. Looking back now, I see it as a bit of foreshadowing."
If you wonder why I am so critical of KOA and its rightward slant (while noting it could be worse), this interview provides a good explanation of what the station is doing. The full interview: Pandering Their Way to Oblivion? After Layoff, Former Radio News Anchor Reflects on His Job and the Future of Broadcast Journalism
H/T to Corey Hutchins' Behind the News in Colorado, which pointed out the interview this week. Note that Hutchins describes the political orientation of the Times Recorder as progressive. Other than the headline, though, there's no particular slant in the article, which mostly lets Lenz describe the situation in his own terms.
(Edited to provide a clearer title)
