I received a copy of this letter yesterday. My guess is that many of you did as well, as I have no idea where it came from, and I also heard about it from a couple of my radio geek friends. This was sent to WEEI's John Dennis. Apparently Dennis called a criticizing emailer a coward. Here's a copy and paste of the letter that was sent to John Dennis yesterday. So in case you missed it, here it is. It's dead on. Enjoy!!
John,
At the end of your show, today, you read an e-mail where you were taken to task for being wrong, all last week, about the Sean Taylor murder. You reaction was that the e-mailer was a coward not to debate this with you. Where would such a listener have that opportunity? Did you mean to call the studio line and wait on hold for 45 - 90 minutes? And what usually happens to callers with whom you disagree? Those conversations are usually short lived, unless it's Everett or Jermaine, and in those cases you are always notably more patient, but now is not the time to expound on that observation.
So who is the bigger coward? The guy who can only reach out in an email with an organized countering opinion or the talk show host who does classic D&C bully job by speaking over that caller, leading to the quick hang-up (which, of course, is followed up with a bevy of insults)? Hey John, don't answer that question, it's too easy. I apologize for the insult to your intelligence for even asking such an obvious one.
You and Gerry blew this one. You blindly linked irresponsible speculation to an opportunity to thump your chest about the hip/hop inner city culture. And just for the record, I'm good with the notion of speaking to legitimate community challenges of the inner city, but the issue, today, and always, actually, is all about your inability, or more aptly, your refusal to be accountable for your offering mistaken opinions as fervently as you deliver them.
I know, I know, I don't have to listen, but that's not the question. This note is regarding you, not me. Were you telling that e-mailer that being wrong is OK, as long as you take a side? That was essentially the message. So, you, John Dennis, can't be held accountable for your positions, just by the virtue of the fact that you offer them? Come on. Why can't you be wrong and accept it on the air, without putting others in their place? Your admissions are more like that of Ryan Leaf's apology to the writer he bullied in the locker room back in his San Diego days, dismissive, aggressive, and deflective.
I respect your work and talent, but when you devote the majority of your show to public figures who have demonstrated bad judgment and missteps, then why are you exempt from your own format? And, please, should you choose to respond to this, please don't tell me you admitted your error in judgment on the air today, because it wasn't even close.
You didn't mention Sean Taylor once in the first hour. Yet last week, you were fixated on the subject, beating your chest with "answers," assertions, and assignemnts of blame. In fact, there was little time devoted to the devlelopment of what could be the biggest hot stove story of the year in Johan Santana nor was their much about the Pats. When the facts reared their head, at almost 180 degrees from your pointed and irresponsible comments, you dodged, weaved, turtled, and didn't take the real dose of medicine you had coming. The kind of dose you so passionately and freely deliver to your usual targets.
So who did you say is the coward, John? Oh that's right, the e-mailer. Love the show.
Goldie in Peabody
