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Big Joe Henry Forced To Step Aside As Basies Emcee

Did BJH ever work for Oldies 107.1 out of Long Branch in the 80's on the second floor of that dangerous building, that station had a big big market sound for being located in that seedy neck of the woods....think the addy was 104....was Jewish Joisey Judy there also....that was a great oldies station fantastic stereo separation on all the tunes...
 
Since NJ 101.5's inception, it has been a powerful influence on NJ politics and culture. They were very influential in the defeat of two incumbent governors, Florio in the 90s and Corzine in 2009. Another candidate whom I will not name, called for revocation the station's license, calling the station dangerous to the voting public. If that's the case, then just repeal the First Amendment!

Big Joe Henry is a weekend DJ and has given his time to many worthy causes over the years. :)
 
DToTheJ said:
With an impending protest by teachers - whose union has been highly criticized on New Jersey 101.5 - the station's weekend personality Big Joe Henry is stepping down as the host of this year's Count Basie Theater Awards.

Full story:
http://www.app.com/article/20100524/NEWS/100524091/Big-Joe-Henry-axed-as-host-for-student-awards

More coverage:
http://www.redbankgreen.com/2010/05/basie-awards-hostless-after-njea-pressure.html
Click to expand...
I don't live in NJ (which may be a good thing, but that's not saying my state is any better), but Big Joe Henry took the high road and showed far more class and dignity than the NJEA, which probably hasn't met a gutter it won't jump into at a moment's notice. And as for the teacher who isn't making 100K yet, lets see how long they'll squawk if they had to live on my paycheck (which doesn't even come close).
 
Would Rand Paul invite someone from MSNBC to emcee his next fundraiser -- even if that particular individual is, say, Mika Brzezinski or someone who isn't a political host?

The NJEA isn't under any obligation to welcome a station that has declared war on them. Too bad for Big Joe. But how many of the participants (teenagers) would recognize him anyway? Perhaps someone from a CHR
would be a better fit.
 
It certainly makes sense. As the station which campaigned so strongly for Christie, they now have to take the heat for it as his approval ratings tanks. But it is no coincidence that 101.5 always seems to shy away from political talk whenever the wind isn't blowing in their direction.
 
The Union has brought this on themselves. Now it's a national story with legs, WKXW is wearing the white hat, and the Union has shot thenselves in the foot.

Read the Publisher's 2 sentence commen tary at the close.


http://www.rbr.com/radio/24464.html
 
Bottom line: Big Joe Henry is NOT a talk show host. He should not be held responsible for the statements of that station's talk show hosts. Very simple.
 
Big Joe has commented on why he stepped aside from hosting tonight's event:
http://www.courierpostonline.com/article/20100526/COLUMNISTS06/5260317/1005/OPINION

He says he did it "to preserve the integrity of the event."

"It's about the kids, not the political forum that some of these teachers want to make it." To which the author of the article, Bob Ingle, writes: "Typical Big Joe, he acted in the best interest of the kids. Too bad others can't see past themselves."

Qutie frankly, Mr. Ingle took the words right out of my fingers.
 
How do the kids lose here? The awards go on as planned, and those who win awards will win them...

...although the student theater groups those kids represent may not be around for much longer or have as much latitude to do award-winning work due to the budget cuts that NJ 101.5 demonstrably helped push through. When you lose staff in the schools, those schools have less staff to champion those programs.

Nobody figured that one out, huh? NJ101.5 having a presence here isn't just hypocritical, it's adding insult to injury.
 
The guy is a DJ, not a talk show host.

How do you feel when you, as an American, go to another country and are made responsible for policies you don't agree with?

Just because he works someplace doesn't make him the enemy.

By the same token, demonizing a radio station seems to be really missing the point of freedom of speech.
 
TheBigA said:
By the same token, demonizing a radio station seems to be really missing the point of freedom of speech.
Click to expand...

So, as a media outlet, you get to say what you want, but don't have to accept the consequences of saying it?

Pretty cool.
 
Big Joe Henry is an oldies DJ. If 101.5 was a pure oldies station, I'm sure they would have no problem with him hosting the event. He may not even support what the talk DJs were talking about.
 
That's true, he may not. The problem is that the station is now well-identified as a political, as well as a media, entity. They've hitched themselves to a political tide, and as it rises and falls, so do they. That's their choice, and their promotional opportunities will be limited accordingly.
 
They should have just stayed in the direction of a balanced news/talk station. Those stations are usually near the top of the ratings nationwide. 101.5 is the first station I'd tune to if I get stuck on the Turnpike.
 
hubcity said:
So, as a media outlet, you get to say what you want, but don't have to accept the consequences of saying it?

Pretty cool.
Click to expand...

No, if you're a DJ working at a station, you should not be penalized for the actions of your employer or what some other personality at the station says. I would not want to be held responsible for what my employer does. Same with Big Joe.
 
hubcity said:
That's true, he may not. The problem is that the station is now well-identified as a political, as well as a media, entity. They've hitched themselves to a political tide, and as it rises and falls, so do they. That's their choice, and their promotional opportunities will be limited accordingly.
Click to expand...

This is not a station event. It's an outside gig for a part-time DJ who happens to work there.

I think people are letting their political opinions or dislike for a station get in the way of an innocent person, whose motivations were strictly about these kids.
 
I think NJ101.5's sympathy for Big Joe in this regard is probably roughly identical to their sympathy for the teachers and administrators they've helped get laid off.

Oh, wait...Big Joe still has a job.
 
TheBigA said:
No, if you're a DJ working at a station, you should not be penalized for the actions of your employer or what some other personality at the station says. I would not want to be held responsible for what my employer does. Same with Big Joe.
Click to expand...

I wouldn't either, and Big Joe does a *great* job doing what he does, make no mistake. But let's put it this way: there were probably hard-working, ethical people working at Enron who still had to suffer when the company went belly-up due to its leaders misdeeds.

Big Joe's problem here is precisely of that sort. The moment NJ101.5 started *advocating* political philosophy - telling their listeners "defeat your local school budget" relentlessly in the runup to the budget polls - they damaged their brand, actively alienated a large subset of their potential listenership, and set one subset of their listenership to actively antagonize another. This is fallout from that damage, and I doubt it'll be the last.

In other words, I agree it stinks that the one person on 101.5 not calling for educator blood is getting hurt by this. But, in response to Big Joe, I'd have to quote Governor Christie's sympathetic response to a protesting teacher: "Well, you know what, then you don’t have to do it."
 
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