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Randy Michaels makes the NY Times...not in a good way!
- Thread starter yugoidar
- Start date
Wealthy, middle-aged white guys behaving poorly. Bonfire of the vanities. What happened at the Chicago Tribune is happening all over America, in any number of businesses. Put the risk- burden on the shoulders of the workers and allow the profit-reward to be reaped by upper management. Nice bonus structure at the Trib. [/sarcasm]
Wow, a businessman putting radio people over newspaper as well! That's not too smart. The Radio, TV and Newspaper businesses all have their own quirks and it takes someone who understands and knows the business of each to run them to their fullest potential.
Reading the article, I get the impression that the writer felt the folks who were there as the paper floundered could make it profitable by doing the same thing they always did. The criticism of many specific incidents indicates the traditional journalism thinking and his inability to separate his feelings from the story. I have to admit I share some of the traditional radio thinking and would find it virtually impossible to remove my feelings from such a story on radio.
It sounds like Randy is much like a bunch of others at the top: over-the-top behavior, blurry ethics and a love for control.
In the upper offices, the request of the owner to put pressure on the Govenor via the paper for a more favorable outcome on another business deal sounds pretty typical. Those kinds of things happen every day.
As for the mix of advertising with news and other supposedly taboo things, we have to realize we sometimes have to loosen our traditional ways of doing things and let things change here and there. I'd love stations to be live and local, but that's not always possible. It's impossible to put a Mercedes in the driveway with you can barely afford a clunker. In such cases you have to things you dislike just to make a few dollars you need.
Reading the article, I get the impression that the writer felt the folks who were there as the paper floundered could make it profitable by doing the same thing they always did. The criticism of many specific incidents indicates the traditional journalism thinking and his inability to separate his feelings from the story. I have to admit I share some of the traditional radio thinking and would find it virtually impossible to remove my feelings from such a story on radio.
It sounds like Randy is much like a bunch of others at the top: over-the-top behavior, blurry ethics and a love for control.
In the upper offices, the request of the owner to put pressure on the Govenor via the paper for a more favorable outcome on another business deal sounds pretty typical. Those kinds of things happen every day.
As for the mix of advertising with news and other supposedly taboo things, we have to realize we sometimes have to loosen our traditional ways of doing things and let things change here and there. I'd love stations to be live and local, but that's not always possible. It's impossible to put a Mercedes in the driveway with you can barely afford a clunker. In such cases you have to things you dislike just to make a few dollars you need.
I truly feel sorry for the people who work for him. I feel even more sorry that his kind manages to crawl up the latter of success while more talented, and humane individuals get stepped all over because of the likes of megalomaniacs like Randy Michaels.
I certainly have to agree. I'm a GM at a station in Houston. I have a wonderful staff because I trust them, respect them as professionals and do not believe I am better than they are. The real reason is I'm lucky to have great people working WITH me. And yes, I went through a few before I found people who 'got' my management style of not meddling and letting the staff do their jobs the best way they know how. I might be an oddball but I think a management team is only as good as the employees allow them to be. If you don't like and respect your boss, the boss will likely not be very successful.
Obviously what stands in the way of "Live and Local" is greed, not that that can't afford to do it. That bonus money could buy a lot of talent. Lets get real.
Big corporate radio is all about maximum profit, at minimal expense. In other words as someone here said "Why should I pay someone to run things when the computer will run it for free?"
How about if something is worth doing, it's worth doing right?
Big corporate radio is all about maximum profit, at minimal expense. In other words as someone here said "Why should I pay someone to run things when the computer will run it for free?"
How about if something is worth doing, it's worth doing right?
I've worked several stations where the there was no money for 24/7 live. None were owned by public companies, though. There are lots of stations out there that just don't have the cash flow to do it. It's frustrating because you don't have the dollars to hire the people and can't seem to garner enough in sales to take an extra shift live. It's the old chicken and egg syndrome. Gotta have the chicken to have the egg and if you're going to have an egg you have to have the chicken. For me, I've never had enough eggs to buy another chicken. In my mind, if I couyld hit that point, I'd likely sell a little more.
Savage said:Wow, Oscar Levant quoted on this board. Now, for the bonus round: who can link a quote from H. L. Mencken or Marcel Proust to Randy Michaels?
9th caller gets Tussy Dusting Powder and a Bissell mop head.
Wow, indeed! I'll take that has a very strong compliment coming from a man of your years of experience and high intellect!
You want Proust? I got yer Proust right here:
"Everything great in the world comes from neurotics. They alone have founded our religions and composed our masterpieces."
"Everything great in the world comes from neurotics. They alone have founded our religions and composed our masterpieces."
"eat her" were the last two words. Since it's a quote, one would hope the mods wouldn't object. Yeah, back then, such a suggestion was scandalous, beyond any Howard Sternism. Just goes to show you that the 60s weren't the ground breaking era so many of us thought they were and Stern wasn't the first person to enjoy lurid banter. There were all kinds of risque sexual references in music in the 30s, 40s and 50s, the Roosevelt, Truman and Eisenhower eras. Levant protested, insisting the connotation wasn't intended to be sexual. He might have been given the benefit of the doubt had he not been so erudite in other offerings.cee said:
Element9 said:
Cole Porter's "My Heart Belongs to Daddy" (1938) has this lyric:
"If I invite a boy some night
To dine on my fine Finnan Haddie
I just adore his asking for more
But my heart belongs to daddy."
Nick Seneca
So now the news comes out that Lee Abrams, one of Michaels' lieutenants at Tribune, is guilty of sending an off-color memo regarding a video to other employees of the company.
Later in the day, Michaels suspends Abrams indefinitely without pay and had this to say according to published reports:
"LEE recognizes that the video was in extremely bad taste and that it offended employees," TRIBUNE CO. CEO RANDY MICHAELS said in the memo announcing the suspension. "(ABRAMS) has also apologized publicly. He reiterated those feelings again to me privately today. But, this is the kind of serious mistake that can’t be tolerated; we intend to address it promptly and forcefully."
Are these jokers serious? Suddenly, Randy's seen the light? Doubtful. To me, it looks like Abrams has been made the fall guy, a move made to improve and repair Michaels' image within the company and the financial community.
Later in the day, Michaels suspends Abrams indefinitely without pay and had this to say according to published reports:
"LEE recognizes that the video was in extremely bad taste and that it offended employees," TRIBUNE CO. CEO RANDY MICHAELS said in the memo announcing the suspension. "(ABRAMS) has also apologized publicly. He reiterated those feelings again to me privately today. But, this is the kind of serious mistake that can’t be tolerated; we intend to address it promptly and forcefully."
Are these jokers serious? Suddenly, Randy's seen the light? Doubtful. To me, it looks like Abrams has been made the fall guy, a move made to improve and repair Michaels' image within the company and the financial community.
Not to mention that Mr. Abrams hasn't exactly gotten results commensurate with his paycheck. He gave them an excuse, and he's gotten far worse press than the rest of Sam Zell's management team.
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