Lack of Ethics at WVOM-FM

[Big Mustafa]

On Thursday January 3rd, WVOM's question of the day was "With a gun to your head, which Democrat Presidential candidate would you vote for?" This coming Monday the question will be "Which Republican Presidential candidate would you vote for?". WVOM's lack of ethics on the wording of the question on 1/3 is unacceptable. The wacko-right called in with all sorts of great responses " Pull the Trigger" and "The Breck Girl". Management and Ric Tyler need to apologize to their listeners and advertisers for their childish behavior.

Speaking of bad behavior, when is CC management going to curb Ric Tyler's **** and xenophobia, bigotry and failure to realize that he lives in Maine when it comes to the weather. It's December, cold and snowing which it usually does this time of year. However, he keeps bringing up Global Warming as a farce and bashing Al Gore every time the subject of the weather is brought up. I wonder what Ric was saying this time last year when we did not have snow and temps were in the 50's.

One last thing, Ric says he is a Christian. If he is, he is one of the nastiest Christian's I have ever heard. This guy is just plain mean. He did say on the morning show that his wife told him to be "nicer" to the rabbi who contributes to the show on Fridays. If their is a poster child as to why people bash Christians, just look at Ric.

 

[rockcaptain]

On Thursday January 3rd, WVOM's question of the day was "With a gun to your head, which Democrat Presidential candidate would you vote for?" This coming Monday the question will be "Which Republican Presidential candidate would you vote for?". WVOM's lack of ethics on the wording of the question on 1/3 is unacceptable. The wacko-right called in with all sorts of great responses " Pull the Trigger" and "The Breck Girl". Management and Ric Tyler need to apologize to their listeners and advertisers for their childish behavior.

Speaking of bad behavior, when is CC management going to curb Ric Tyler's **** and xenophobia, bigotry and failure to realize that he lives in Maine when it comes to the weather. It's December, cold and snowing which it usually does this time of year. However, he keeps bringing up Global Warming as a farce and bashing Al Gore every time the subject of the weather is brought up. I wonder what Ric was saying this time last year when we did not have snow and temps were in the 50's.

One last thing, Ric says he is a Christian. If he is, he is one of the nastiest Christian's I have ever heard. This guy is just plain mean. He did say on the morning show that his wife told him to be "nicer" to the rabbi who contributes to the show on Fridays. If their is a poster child as to why people bash Christians, just look at Ric.

Two pieces of advice:

1) Get Over It
2) Change The Station

 

[BRNout]

Two pieces of advice:

1) Get Over It
2) Change The Station

EXACTLY! They're just playing to their audience. Since you seem to think that anyone right of center is a "wacko" - I doubt that you would be in the target audience.

Do what I do when Keith Olberman comes on: leave.

 

[miltonpawley]

As someone who works closely with Ric every day, I can say that anyone who perceives him as "mean," doesn't get it.

I hear people throw "homophobe" at Ric all the time... and as of today, no one has replied to my replies, requesting for examples.

Racist? Ric was the one who conceived and arranged a special edition of the God Squad (which has since become a regular feature) to bring Muslims into the "spacious studio" and shed some light on areas we felt the audience may be in the dark. Ric was the one who booked Assata Sherrill to praise her for her bravery when she had stones thrown and racial slurs shouted at her on the Bangor Waterfront. And when the local NAACP canceled their Kwanzaa celebrations because a man threatened to shoot anyone who attended, Ric booked Assata back on to applaud her bravery in planning a Kwanzaa celebration for the Bangor area anyway.

Ric is the most talented on-air personality that Bangor has. I know that when Ric is on vacation, the web poll turnout is less than a third of what it is normally. The phone barely rings. We've logged and seen tremendous growth through the fall book and are expecting to see some great numbers... I attribute that to Ric.

The whole point of talk radio is to get people jacked up. Glad to see we're doing our job.

-Adam

 

[miltonpawley]

Also, the wording for the web poll on the 7th was exactly the same as the 3rd. And we purposefully did not put "pull the trigger" as an option, because we were genuinely interested in what our listeners would say.

 

[Big Mustafa]

Adam:

Good defense of your boss. However, a few things need to cleared up. First, the station did not use "Gun to the head" term for the Republicans until Monday AM. It was not until after this posting did you apply "Gun to the Head" for Republicans. Also,it is a bad choice of words when it comes to anything.

Second, you state that Ric has been called a homophobe before, well where there's smoke there's fire. As for being a bigot. There is more than one way to be a bigot. In Ric's case, it's religion and he shows it. Bessides, he does have a track record.

If this is what is needed to stir up the audience, then you have problems.

Sorry son... no sale.

 

[miltonpawley]

1) Ric is not my boss. I'm the producer.

2) We did not use "gun to the head" for the republicans until Monday because IT WAS NOT A POLL QUESTION UNTIL MONDAY. We teased it several times on Friday, and you may have heard a casual mention in which we did not recite verbatim what it would be on Monday. I can assure you there is no conspiracy.

3) What is that track record, exactly?

 

[BRNout]

'Big Mustafa' is clearly someone who has missed his calling and should be one of those little snitches who reports stuff to "Media Matters." Nothing you tell him is going to make him admit that his reaction was over the top or that this is much ado about nothing. He's an angry liberal who is seething because his point of view is not in favor at WVOM. However, he should relax and tune his dial below 92.1 - to NPR.

There, he'll find lots and lots of "intelligent" talk that will please his left-leaning sensibilities. The fact that such opinionated talk is subsidized by taxpayers of all political stripes is of no matter. In the meantime, "BM" will continue to rail against advertiser supported talk radio that requires listeners (and good ratings) to pay the bills. Radio that doesn't have the luxury of being financed by someone else with the goal of pushing a certain political agenda. Like Radio Havana Cuba. Or Air America.

In other words, Big Mustafa, you're not paying for the programming at WVOM - nor do you have to listen to it. So, why waste your time complaining about it? Why not just change the station to something that you find more agreeable and leave everyone else alone? You've made your point. We get it: you don't like the station. The "lack of ethics" title has you sounding like a complete drama queen, but we'll let it go. Making up a title for a thread can be a challenge. But, you've elicited a reaction from someone at the station and have thus met your "goal" for this exercise. So, let's move on.

 

[ArtSix]

HEY BRN...I would like to hear your evidence that would indicate that NPR is left leaning??

 

[BRNout]

HEY BRN...I would like to hear your evidence that would indicate that NPR is left leaning??

You're not serious, are you? ???

This isn't even like the argument about whether NBC, CBS and ABC are biased - NPR is well established as a lefty haunt. Five minutes of listening to "All Things Considered" is proof enough. Listen to what they say, how they say it, the phraseology used in that process, and the manner in which issues are framed. It's quite stilted.

Many even theorize that NPR is one reason that Air America and other left-leaning talk platforms have never taken off on the AM side. It is quite popular with those of the "progressive" persuasion. Unlike, for example, Fox News.

 

[radiothis!]

First of all--
1. Repeated studies have failed to show that NPR is left leaning.

2. Media Matters and other watch dog groups are important. The term "snitches" reminds me of the communist block and is the sort of language incorporated in an attempt to discourage the questioning of our media. I encourage constant criticism of all sources and I would hope that listeners/participants like BRNout would agree.

3. NPR is not funded directly by federal cash. Instead, local stations get grants from the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, and then, in turn, decide what programs to spend the money on. They don't have to spend it on NPR, but they usually choose to, considering the listener dough they bring in during funding drives.

3. There's nothing more impolite than politics on a non-politics board. Mustafa's comments are, in my opinion, out of line for this board. There are plenty of places to get news and information from...and I agree with the sentiment expressed by others that if you don't like what you're hearing, turn it off.

Besides, I agree with the producer (?) who previously noted that talk radio and its corresponding "new media" is designed to elicit strong feelings. People who believe conservative talk is successful because Americans are by and large conservative are going to be disappointed when they hit the real world (studies show most Americans are moderates).

Conservative talk is successful because it makes you think! It makes you get fired up! I know a heck of a lot of folks who listen to Rush--and then turn on NPR's All Things Considered. Listenership and the financial success of talk radio is not about politics...it's about entertainment. My advice: Don't confuse the two.

 

[radiothis!]

Just to reference my comment: "Repeated studies have failed to show that NPR is left leaning."

http://www.newsroom.ucla.edu/portal/ucla/Media-Bias-Is-Real-Finds-UCLA-6664.aspx

http://www.fair.org/index.php?page=1180

http://www.worldpublicopinion.org/p...security_bt/102.php?nid=&id=&pnt=102&lb=brusc

And just to reinstate, in my research to grab the above links, I discovered that only 1% of NPR's annual budget comes from public funding.

**For my own reference, I'd like some specific examples of four minutes of biased ATC reporting. Maybe you're right, and I've missed something.

 

[ArtSix]

Ahhh....just as I thought BRNout, you are just regurgitating the misguided, xenophobic, jingoistic, egocentric proclamations by ill-informed, under-educated radio demagogues. If you would like to produce evidence, then I would be happy to have a discussion with you. But it would be unfair of me to have a battle of wits with an unarmed opponent.

 

[BRNout]

Oh please. This isn't even close.

If you would like to produce evidence, then I would be happy to have a discussion with you.

From the UCLA study on media bias (I think you actually tried to use this study to unsuccessfully argue with me):

Yet another finding that contradicted conventional wisdom relates to National Public Radio, often cited by conservatives as an egregious example of a liberal news outlet. But according to the UCLA-University of Missouri study, it ranked eighth most liberal of the 20 that the study examined. [In other words, less biased than some - but still with a leftward tilt. If I was wrong, NPR would be 15-20 in the "least liberal" rankings.]

"By our estimate, NPR hardly differs from the average mainstream news outlet," Groseclose said. "Its score is approximately equal to those of Time, Newsweek and U.S. News & World Report and its score is slightly more conservative than The Washington Post's. If anything, government‑funded outlets in our sample have a slightly lower average ADA score (61), than the private outlets in our sample - which scored 68."

Here's a link to an abstract of this study, which was prepared by a group that can hardly be accused of being "conservative": http://www.newsroom.ucla.edu/portal/ucla/Media-Bias-Is-Real-Finds-UCLA-6664.aspx?RelNum=6664

Oh, if you're going to cite "fair.org" as impartial, then I'll respond with a discussion by the Media Research Councit: http://www.mediaresearch.org/BozellColumns/newscolumn/2003/col20031021.asp

Referring to my opinion as

just regurgitating the misguided, xenophobic, jingoistic, egocentric proclamations by ill-informed, under-educated radio demagogues.

just belies your rather angry, extreme viewpoint.

I suppose that, if your point of view skews very leftward and you think that Dennis Kuchinich is moderate, then NPR would have no bias to you. And, Fox News would be somewhere to the right of Attila the Hun to you. But, legitimate studies indicate that this is not actually so. It's just your opinion.

Look, I have a very liberal friend who swears that the mainstream media has a right-wing bias. The guy also thinks that Barack Obama is too moderate and craves someone more progressive. From his point of view, NPR tells it straight and the others are biased (rightward). Again, any studies that actually analyze the programming will tell you that this isn't so. Naturally, it's pretty hard to find any Republicans who feel that NPR is fair to their point of view.

Of course, other outlets were rated as being left of center (MSNBC is now openly positioning itself in this way), but my criticism and comment is directed at NPR because they utilize taxpayer funding. Unlike NBC, CBS, etc. Thus, they should be held to a more critical standard.

But it would be unfair of me to have a battle of wits with an unarmed opponent.

Yeah, ok. So much for being unarmed. At least I try not to be arrogant. The trouble is that I have a life and am not waiting around to reply to your every post. Have a nice weekend. :

 

[radiothis!]

I normally don't respond with such lightening speed, but I've been stuck in bed with the flu, so I've plenty o' time.

No side is going to win this battle. It's a stupid argument to have because you'll never sway the other side. Both sides, pleased by what they hear, are never going to fully acknowledge the other side is right. Besides, like the bible, all studies are open to interperatation. I still read the UCLA study as proving NPR is a fairly centrist organization.

I think it's a shame NPR is under constant attack for their 1% of indirect government support, considering they provide such a wide array of programming--and considering they are one of the few places an honest (liberal and conservative--and as a member of public radio listserve, I can tell you there are public radio staffers with both ideologies) radio journalist/producer can make a living.

I argue that liberal and conservative are labels that both sides use as a way to dismiss an argument.

I go back to my original idea: radio is entertainment. If NPR gets the national dialogue going...then good. If Fox News gets the national dialogue going...then good. Sometimes yes, NPR sways leftist, but since I, like most folks, get my news from more than one source, I think I feel pretty safe in my opinions.

This is, I promise, my last post of this topic. Now I just need some more zinc.

 

[bub]

I go back to my original idea: radio is entertainment.

Listenership and the financial success of talk radio is not about politics...it's about entertainment. My advice: Don't confuse the two.

Amen to that! It's all the more reason why a return to the Fairness Doctrine serves absolutely no purpose in today's radio climate. In reference to another poster, let's say you air 3 hours of a conservative talk show followed by 3 hours of a liberal talk show. You've served the public interest, correct? Wrong! All you've done was provide 6 hours of ENTERTAINMENT programming - no more, no less. A friend of mine told me many years ago (1990, if I recall) that if you want a good talk show and you want response to your show, find something to p!ss off your listeners. At that point, the listener has one of 2 choices:

1. Turn the radio dial to another station
2. Turn the radio off; provided your radio comes with an on/off switch.

Good or bad, right or wrong, it is what it is. Don't like the content you hear, nobody's "holding a gun to your head" to continue listening. Time on your hands? Use that as the basis of a petition to deny to the FCC when the station's license is up for renewal...but don't hold your breath. Good or bad, right or wrong, it's ENTERTAINMENT PROGRAMMING and this type of programming is here to stay until someone comes up with something better.

 

[BRNout]

I actually have to agree with each of these last 2 posts.

Giving the matter more thought, this is a case of NPR's positioning being "...in the eye of the beholder." Just like Fox News, some say it's the most stilted news organization ever while others applaud it for 'telling it straight.'

And three cheers to bub for his fine missive on the Fairness Doctrine. Hit the nail right on the head with that one!!