FOR WHAT WILL WRKO's JULIE "THE EXECUTIONER" KAHN GIVE THANKS?

[exxear]

As an impartial observer because I don't know any of the folks posting here,
I must say that Uncle Arnie consistently makes the most sense when
commenting on the WRKO situation. And his point-by-point "translation" of Casablanca's earlier post was probably the best post I've read on the subject.

 

[Varulven]

As a favor to Uncle Arnie & Exxear, I have agreed to take UA's idea and translate his post for him:

1. WRKO repeatedly threw mud at candidate for Governor Deval Patric for one reason and one reason
only: Entercom is a company pushing the Republican agenda

2) WRKO smeared Kerry Healey till...oops, "Muffy" turned out to be the Republican Candidate. So they
make nice with the turkey before throwing her overboard once the election is over. Think Muffy is
going to get the 9 to noon spot?

3) WRKO has consistently given the state of Massachusetts and surrounding regions that can pick up the
signal the worse one-sided talk radio in the history of New England. Jeff Katz, Two Chicks Dishing,
Spencer Hughes come to mind

4) When a know-nothing like Rich Carberry puts a little Progressive talk on, he sticks it on Saturday night,
pre-empts Jay Diamond as much as possible, fails to advertise, and calls the format an "abject failure",
much like he is.

5) After the Metco fiasco next door, and Howie Carr's "towel head" comments re: Oklahoma City Bombing,
and Mike Savage's suspension and Plush Limbaugh's Oxycontin problems, they give us DePetro and his
repeated gay slurs. The new Herald writer calls DePetro "ratings challenged"

6) Failed politician Ted Sarandis barges in on WRKO microphones with the yo yo who has the most stupid
name in Boston radio since Oedipus - Virgin Boy - yelling "Support Our Troops" while Virgin Boy is gleeful
that bombs are dropping in Iraq

7) Howie Carr announces to the world that he has actually touched the hand of an AIDS person - and has
done cocaine. Hallelujah, he can be the first guest on Carter Alan's Sunday Mornin' Gospel Hour - but
what was the result when Carr pressed the flesh? Did the patient throw down the crutches and get up
and walk? Or did he end up like the poisoned Russian spy after the "Touch of Howie"
http://www.mosnews.com/news/2006/11/23/litvupd.shtml

8) This is the stupidity Boston radio people have to put up with on "The Balk Station", a radio signal getting
ready for The Red Sox. Heck, if it worked for WBCN for awhile, it could work for WRKO

Yes, Casablanca does go overboard with his hatred, but pull away the hyperbole from Paul and you still have the fact that WRKO is one of the most poorly run propaganda bullhorns around.

Todd Feinburg? Out of the frying pan into the fire. He is just John DePetro in a different suit. Awful radio.

That's what we are complaining about, Uncle Arnie. Awful radio. Forget that Casablanca got fired when it was a different company all together. This is a radio station in desperate need of new call letters, a new staff, and new management. We didn't tune in for the news, it was that the news staff was the most professional thing about the station and now they're gone too. WBUR looks and sounds SO much more appealing.

 

[SonicOverload]

even with all the invective against Deval Patrick, he still won, didn't he? Handily... it just shows how little sway WRKO (and WEEI) had for the elections. I'm not condoning the station's actions, just making a point.

 

[Casablanca]

What do you people have against hard working individuals who drive tour buses. You are a bunch elitist snobs.

This poster is gladly out of the business actually doing productive philanthropic work. Still, one has to call them as he or she sees them.

To have to work with the ilk of a Khan and a Wolfe is something to which this poster has no desire to return.

Nonetheless, it is the moral center to call to account those individuals who put corporate responsibility above moral responsibility.
If Kahn and Wolfe can exist in their moral sewer there is little this poster can do to change that but to shine a light upon it.

Still, it is obvious the Entercom Storm Troopers are out there attempting to kill or at least intimidate those who dare to take them on. It is a great thing not to have to sell my soul as some posters here to defend the indefensible.

Life above the sewer line is fine. Some of you should try it sometime.
As they say light is the ultimate disinfectant.

 

[content]

Isn't life too short to be that bitter?
"The best revenge is a life well lived"
Put your energy on moving forward, rather on dwelling on the past. Otherwise, your bitterness will consume you.
You can't change history. You can't change the subjects of this post. I suggest spending your energy on your own personal growth.

 

[UncleArnie]

That's what we are complaining about, Uncle Arnie. Awful radio. Forget that Casablanca got fired when it was a different company all together. This is a radio station in desperate need of new call letters, a new staff, and new management. We didn't tune in for the news, it was that the news staff was the most professional thing about the station and now they're gone too. WBUR looks and sounds SO much more appealing.

Well it only took a week, 20-plus pages of posts, and thousands of hateful words before someone finally made a cohesive, debatable, and sane point of discussion. This we can discuss. This is something from which intelligent discourse can grow. I may not agree, but at least it is a point. I don't what much of the earlier part of the post was about but this, from Varulven no less, is something. Hopefully the discussion can get on track from here.

 

[UncleArnie]

What do you people have against hard working individuals who drive tour buses. You are a bunch elitist snobs.

This poster is gladly out of the business actually doing productive philanthropic work. Still, one has to call them as he or she sees them.

To have to work with the ilk of a Khan and a Wolfe is something to which this poster has no desire to return.

Nonetheless, it is the moral center to call to account those individuals who put corporate responsibility above moral responsibility.
If Kahn and Wolfe can exist in their moral sewer there is little this poster can do to change that but to shine a light upon it.

Still, it is obvious the Entercom Storm Troopers are out there attempting to kill or at least intimidate those who dare to take them on. It is a great thing not to have to sell my soul as some posters here to defend the indefensible.

Life above the sewer line is fine. Some of you should try it sometime.
As they say light is the ultimate disinfectant.

Or maybe not.

 

[UncleArnie]

Nonetheless, it is the moral center to call to account those individuals who put corporate responsibility above moral responsibility.
If Kahn and Wolfe can exist in their moral sewer there is little this poster can do to change that but to shine a light upon it.

Let's see how this conversation would go:

Jason: No! I will not do as I am told and cut an enormous amount of money out of struggling station's budget. I won't fire these people.

Entercom Boss: Yes you will.

Jason: No! I am moral. I won't do it.

Entercom Boss: Okay, fine. You're fired.

Jason: Fine. But I stood up for my morals. I am above Casablanca's sewer line.

Entercom Boss: By the way, I'm still firing the news department, have a nice day.

Still, it is obvious the Entercom Storm Troopers are out there attempting to kill or at least intimidate those who dare to take them on. It is a great thing not to have to sell my soul as some posters here to defend the indefensible.

Life above the sewer line is fine. Some of you should try it sometime.
As they say light is the ultimate disinfectant.

Am I to assume from this that I am an Entercom Storm Trooper? If so:
1. I do not now, nor have I ever worked for Entercom, Jason Wolfe, Julie Kahn, or for that matter, anyone over there at the New Balance Building.
2. I have done nothing intimidating as far as I know. I have given an opinion. I certainly haven't tried to kill anyone. How dramatic!
3. I have not now, nor ever, sold my soul. I would probably consider it at the right price, so feel free to contact me with any offers.
4. It is not indefensible to lay people off. It isn't. Really, truly, it isn't. I know, I know, before the holidays, blah, blah, blah. So are you suggesting that if this had happened in July then everyone here would be okay with it? Would that conflict with the summertime? Would February be okay?

Ultimately people lose jobs at companies when those companies are struggling. This is an enormous part of a free market economy and the capitalist way that is truly American. Would you be willing to pay $10,000 more for a car it GM would hold on to the 20,000 jobs they have eliminated in the last 6 months? No, of course not, you wouldn't. You shop at Wal-Mart, you fly AirTran, and you buy things on sale. You are every bit a consumer in this economy. It is the very nature of the system that people lose their jobs. Then they go get new ones.

Stop being so melodramatic and calm down. Four people lost their full time jobs. Four. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, 116,773 people lost their jobs in the U.S. during September 2006. Compare that to 283,772 during the same period one year ago. And here we have 6.

My oh my, the world must be coming to an end.

 

[UncleArnie]

That's what we are complaining about, Uncle Arnie. Awful radio. Forget that Casablanca got fired when it was a different company all together. This is a radio station in desperate need of new call letters, a new staff, and new management. We didn't tune in for the news, it was that the news staff was the most professional thing about the station and now they're gone too. WBUR looks and sounds SO much more appealing.

I would agree here that WRKO is pretty bad. There current cast of local talk show hosts commit perhaps the greatest sin of talk radio: they are boring. At least DePetro would infuriate me, Scotto makes me feel nothing. Todd Feinburg? Well, that's just dreadful. Rush is the best thing on because, despite the fact that my politics are a polar opposite to his, he is a good talk show host. He knows how to manipulate an audience (and facts, of course) and is a great communicator. It bears repeating: I think his politics are abhorrent, but his talent is undeniable.

That said, let's address how the elimination of the news department plays into this. As I am enjoying the numbered list of late, I will utilize it again:

1. This venerable news staff isn't as old as people would like to think. Other than Listo, the whole lot of them were hired within the last five years or so. Prior to that, the Evil that is Metro/Shadow news was doing the news on WRKO 24/7. Rod was the Metro news director during part of that time, and then was working in PR.

2. Someone, somewhere made the point that people would prefer that stations have their own dedicated news department rather than a shared service. I ask why? WRKO's news department had, at most, two people working at the same time. Rod's shift overlapped with Paul's, Paul's with Listo, and Listo's with Sharon. The weekenders worked alone. This you call a dedication to news? Now the station has entire staff working for them. Yes they are working for others at the same time, but really what does that matter? As long as the product is tailored to WRKO, it is all the better that the gathering side be as fully-staffed as it is.

3. I too have been puzzled by WRKO's choice to be conservative. But they have been that way for quite awhile, even when they were successful. 1430 has exactly been awash in ratings doing the liberal thing, have they? Ultimately they made a decision to go conservative, but I don't think its part of a corporate conspiracy to push a Republican agenda. Entercom would put on any politics that made money. They had to make a decision to go left or right, they chose right.

4. All of this discussion assumes that WRKO wants to be the same thing that everyone here wants it to be. For all we know, Entercom is realigning it to be something else all together. It may just be a compliment to the unstoppable force that is WEEI. It could be a place to put the Celtics and Red Sox so they can talk about them up the dail non-stop. In that case, you really don't need a news department.

5. Or perhaps this is the first step in knocking the thing down and rebuilding it on up, just what Varulven suggests needs to happen. Quoting myself now, a news department is complementary to a good talk staff, not a replacement for it.

6. Finally you suggest that WBUR is the example WRKO should follow. Of course, WBUR is a non-profit radio station, simultaneously supported by Boston University, the U.S. Government, and you, our loyal listener. WRKO, as is well-established, is decidedly a for-profit enterprise. And this brings us full circle.

As I am darn full of turkey and the tryptophan is kicking in, I will wrap here, for now. I have enjoyed actually debating the points here though and truly hope this is where the discourse goes from here.

 

[AKLes]

Joe could do so much better if they'd just give him the chance.

 

[dumber than a box of hair]

it is the moral center to call to account those individuals who put corporate responsibility above moral responsibility.

Let's review. You invoke a "moral center" while calling certain people "human excrement" and claiming they exist in a "moral sewer."

FOX NEWS ALERT: Pot calls kettle black.

 

[Casablanca]

The Bible allows for righteous indignation. Even Jesus threw got pretty pissed when he threw the money changers out of the Temple. And NO, NO,NO,a thousand times NO I am NOT comparing myself to Christ.
Only saying the "name calling" was used for a short-hand righteous indignation. It was meant to jar the reader - journalism courses call them "charged words" into paying attention. Obviously it did and the polemic encourage discussion and that is good. This poster can only write for himself but I can say that I would have quit my job rather than fire the entire staff - especially a week before Thanksgiving. Again, that does not make this poster a moral paragon only after many years and life experiences I have come to the belief that you cannot have one moral ethic for your personal life and another for your work life. Many people do; they have one friendly off work and family ethic and personality and one rather nasty and amoral ethic for work. I could never carry out the edict to fire those news people under the WRKO stated reason [ "WBZ does better news than we at WRKO do and therefore we fired the news staff"] and resolve that moral dilemma in my conscience.

This is still Thanksgiving. Let's hope or if we pray that those fired - all of them - find new employment and greater success in the very near future. As to Kahn and Wolfe, they have cast their own dye and time will resolve their status in due course.
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

it is the moral center to call to account those individuals who put corporate responsibility above moral responsibility.

Let's review. You invoke a "moral center" while calling certain people "human excrement" and claiming they exist in a "moral sewer."

FOX NEWS ALERT: Pot calls kettle black.

 

[Varulven]

the quick fix these days is to go with a hot sports team. If the Red Sox were a different team - Baltimore Orioles - they wouldn't have the draw and RKO would be forced to find some talent.

 

[dumber than a box of hair]

the "name calling" was used for a short-hand righteous indignation. It was meant to jar the reader - journalism courses call them "charged words" into paying attention. Obviously it did and the polemic encourage discussion and that is good.

Nice try, but I'm not buying it. There are myriad ways to express "righteous indignation" without resorting to scatalogically worded personal attacks. You could have "encourage[d] discussion" without using the term "human excrement."

This poster can only write for himself but I can say that I would have quit my job rather than fire the entire staff - especially a week before Thanksgiving. Again, that does not make this poster a moral paragon only after many years and life experiences I have come to the belief that you cannot have one moral ethic for your personal life and another for your work life. Many people do; they have one friendly off work and family ethic and personality and one rather nasty and amoral ethic for work. I could never carry out the edict to fire those news people under the WRKO stated reason [ "WBZ does better news than we at WRKO do and therefore we fired the news staff"] and resolve that moral dilemma in my conscience.

A really easy call for you, since it wasn't you who had to make the decision, nor was it you who had to live with its consequences. You also assume that it was an easy call for those who did have to make the decision, and that the decision was made without any feelings of guilt on their part. No one but they have any way of knowing that. Again you claim some sort of moral superiority without any basis in fact.

 

[SonicOverload]

you were making fun of short people.... that's not very nice. Do that again and I'll bite you in the kneecaps ;D

 

[Panago]

>>>Again you claim some sort of moral superiority without any basis in fact.

and you get colder and angrier by the post

 

[Casablanca]

Stop trying to defend the indefensible !

The "charged words" used by this poster had a specific intent.
They were not ones this poster would ever use in everyday conversation but here they were used for effect and perhaps to be effective - to grab the reader's attention.

Ms. Kahn must have some redeeming qualities. However, she did not demonstrate any of them by her actions. And this poster can only judge her by those actions.

At least she has a job which is more than can be said for Rod Fritz and Listo Fisher and the rest of the WRKO news staff.

If Kahn cannot take the slings and arrows of this discussion board nor her minions...tell her and them not to read this board.

the "name calling" was used for a short-hand righteous indignation. It was meant to jar the reader - journalism courses call them "charged words" into paying attention. Obviously it did and the polemic encourage discussion and that is good.

Nice try, but I'm not buying it. There are myriad ways to express "righteous indignation" without resorting to scatalogically worded personal attacks. You could have "encourage[d] discussion" without using the term "human excrement."

This poster can only write for himself but I can say that I would have quit my job rather than fire the entire staff - especially a week before Thanksgiving. Again, that does not make this poster a moral paragon only after many years and life experiences I have come to the belief that you cannot have one moral ethic for your personal life and another for your work life. Many people do; they have one friendly off work and family ethic and personality and one rather nasty and amoral ethic for work. I could never carry out the edict to fire those news people under the WRKO stated reason [ "WBZ does better news than we at WRKO do and therefore we fired the news staff"] and resolve that moral dilemma in my conscience.

A really easy call for you, since it wasn't you who had to make the decision, nor was it you who had to live with its consequences. You also assume that it was an easy call for those who did have to make the decision, and that the decision was made without any feelings of guilt on their part. No one but they have any way of knowing that. Again you claim some sort of moral superiority without any basis in fact.

 

[dumber than a box of hair]

>>>Again you claim some sort of moral superiority without any basis in fact.

and you get colder and angrier by the post

Yeah, we all know I'm the only one like that around here.

Not.

 

[dumber than a box of hair]

Stop trying to defend the indefensible !

Quote back to me the exact words I used to "defend the indefensible." You can't, because I never did.

If Kahn cannot take the slings and arrows of this discussion board nor her minions...tell her and them not to read this board.

What makes you assume they do?

 

[yoyoradio]

dumber than a box of hair: Who could defend the RKO morning show with Scooto? Any GM or PD who would keep that show on does not belong in radio. Is it still "Boston this day"? Or have they changed it again.
Is RKO going forward with Scooto ? What other station would put him on? What did Kahn do to deserve getting the job? What was her experience? I have not seen any numbers, but does anyone know where Scooto in the morning is ranked? I heard not in the top 20. But I guess when you show up at 6:05.....