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Blatant Bias

R

radioriot7

Guest
I was reading the AJC yesterday morning as I was eating a late breakfast and came across Rodney's article of the latest ratings. I don't get the paper at home, so since it was sitting on the counter, I figured I'd read a little. The headline read something like "the river keeps rolling" and then underneath in much smaller letters "V103 posts best ratings since 2001". So, I read on... as the article focused on The River and how it was the highest rated rock station in the city. I was a bit shocked, since this was not really the story of the spring book ratings, but I read on and then I SAW IT! A small description of who owns THE RIVER and it's sister stations - and then "COX COMMUNICATIONS also owns the AJC" - Ha!!

Gee - I wonder why the River made the headlines and V103 got off with a slight mention. Rodney is supposed to report on the ratings - not find the story that helps Cox! This is blatant bias, and I'm not shocked. The river had a nice spring book, but surely was not the big story in the ratings. V103, DAVE taking a dive, even Q's increase - but the River?

I'm starting to see Rodney's job is not to just report on radio - but find a story that benefits him and his employer.

Sad, sad, sad.
 
Its easy to make that claim, but....The River is clearly the story in 2006 so far. Everyone else is maintaining or trading places, more or less. Also, I dont see the Cox stations highlighted in Rodney's space any more than the Clear Channel or CBS stations.

I'm guessing that Rodney is aware of the bias perception every time he writes a story. He doesnt want that rep, especially if he wants all of the stations to continue to return his calls.
 
This "AJC Cox" bias thing has been going on for years and is usually brought up by sour grapo's.
V 103 had a great book...but they've been having great books for years. The River came out of NO-WHERE to be in the TOP 3 stations after only two books. A good newspaper sees that as a much better story.
 
Thank you for defending me guys! I know with Cox, I can't win. Either I'm overly biased for the company or am overly biased against it as compensation. Personally, I pick my Arbitron stories regardless of ownership issues, just what I think is the best story. I try to be fair. That's the best I can do. I also noted that B98.5 was likely hurt by its very own sister station and that WSB-AM had its worst book in seven years. And I could have given Kiss more credit for its strong showing as much as V-103. With only 12 inches, there's only so much I can get into. :D
 
This just in...Angelina Jolie's hot, water's wet and you're being too sensitive. With that said, Rodney is a bit of a...
 
Rodney, sheesh, talking about your 12 inches (we posted at the same time or I already would've made this sophomoric comment) be careful there's, well, not kids, but bitter 40 yr old, kicked outta radio types reading here. Sicko.
 
Bias or not, it doesn't change the numbers. Who cares what "someone thinks"...a book is a book.
 
Let me note there are posters to this board who complain that Rodney is heavily biased in favor of Clear Channel and against Cox. I remember one person in particular screaming that WSB was #1, and he was critical of the fact that it wasn't the focus of the article. Of course, WSB was always #1 or close to it at the time.

I believe the AJC has a policy of stating that stations are owned by Cox whenever such a station is mentioned. That's why that mention was included.

Frankly, The River is the big story of 2006 so far. I'm somewhat surprised its numbers have stayed as high as they are. And while an article on ratings in the AJC might influence people's perceptions, the bottom line is that neither favorable nor unfavorable coverage is likely to make one bit of difference in a station's revenue or ratings going forward.
 
(tongue planted firmly in cheek)

You are just noticing this? Rodney skews every story towards the Cox stations; he always has, even when he was at the WSJ. In fact, the first time we ever talked, he asked what I thought about Clark Howard.

Let's face it, Rodney is a cog in the Cox machine that controls all local media, WSB-TV, the AJC, The River, WSB-AM, 104.1 Kiss 104.1, The Bi-yat and of course the best station to listen to at work, B98.5. Rodney may pretend to be a journalist (by the way, he does not have a Journalism degree from that liberal East Coast school he attended.) but he is really a publicist for the Cox sisters and all their media holdings.

Don't mention this to Rodney, he gets all fired up and says something like, he can't win when dealing with the company pays his salary. What a tool!
 
Look - I have nothing against Rodney or sour grapes because I work for a station that wasn't mentioned. I don't read the paper - and I happened to on Saturday, and the article seemed odd.

Very surprised by the people jumping to Rodney's defense - most people here seem to bash him. I personally have never had an issue until Saturday.

Didn't mean to cause a stir - but this board is meant for people to post a thought, opinion, observation, or news - and that's all I did.
 
Rodney Super Smart

We for one ,or two, think that Rodney is the best reporter in ATL. We will always find his stories to be, true, insightful, and full of wonderful thouhgts. Keep up the great work Rodney.
from the pete and wayne
www.peteandwayneshow.com
(coming soon)

ATL new talk show
1160am THE CFO
sundays 1-3pm
 
The River has been a recent success story, you have to give it credit!
 
I used to work at a station that was competing with Q100 for ratings, and we always seemed to think that Rodney was in their hip pocket. Of course, he wasn't. It all goes back to the sibling bitterness thing... you know the "You treat my brother better than me Mom!!!" thing. As a reporter, he is forced to find the compelling story in an otherwise dull subject- radio ratings. And, in his opinion, that story was The River. And that IS the story for this book. Everyone always wants to watch the new kid in school to see how he is going to fit in...
 
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