Thanksgiving fill in hostess Christine Craft was going to do a phone in from LOMPOC prisoner - former talk host Bernie Ward ...he did not get on the air due to technical difficulties. It was not clear whether the were at the prison or the station. Ward was said to have done "3 of 6 six years so far for looking a things he was not supposed to.." according to Craft ?? (child born)
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Thanksgiving message on KGO by Bernie Ward fails due to "tech problems"
- Thread starter MC
- Start date
MC said:
Not to be nitpicky, but I (and I'm sure many other people) view a "hostess" as a woman in an apron carrying a tray of appetizers into the dining room, whereas a "host" is someone who, in this case, runs a talkshow.
I am kind of wondering why she chose to put Bernie Ward on the air. He's yesterday's news. How many people really care to hear anything he has to say? To me this is as bad as John Rothmann playing Eisenhower speeches.
David, Do you ever have anything nice to say about anything? Just asking...and not that anything nice has to be said about Bernie Ward. By The Way: It's Christine's show! Maybe she see's a quality in Bernie that has a redeeming light that just may be interesting to some in the KGO listening audience. The world has enough hate as it is. What the world needs now is love, so put a little bit of love in your heart! Happy Thanksgiving to all on the RadioInfo boards.
RadioStarOne said:
Yes, in fact, Christine Craft is one of my favorite talkshow hosts. I've said many complimentary things here, but if you choose to see only the negative ones then that's really not my fault.
I'm not anti-Bernie Ward. I think his prison sentence was excessive; in fact I don't think he should have been indicted at all, given what I know about the case via news stories. But as far as his being a guest on KGO, my position is that talkshow hosts are hired hands, not celebrities in their own right, and shouldn't be treated as such.
Tom Wilson, my mentor and boss at KWUN in Concord, hated it when someone would leave the station and say goodbye on-air. At the time I thought that DJs and newscasters were Important People; now I know better.
Bernie Ward is yesterday's news because he hasn't been on KGO in, what, 3 years? I'm sure there's been a good 1/3 turnover in listeners since then, so 1/3 of the audience wouldn't even know who Bernie Ward was.
The bigger story, or the story if there's any story at all, would be how it was possible to arrange an on-air conversation with Bernie and then have it mysteriously not work when the time came to do it. Was the prison preventing him from speaking? Is this prison policy or is it because of Bernie's particular crime? Should a prison be able to censor on-air interviews? What makes an on-air interview different from written correspondence? THOSE are the questions that should be asked. I haven't played back the KGO archive yet to hear whether she addressed those issues, but those are far more important than Bernie Ward.
David Kaye: Bernie Ward is yesterday's news because he hasn't been on KGO in, what, 3 years? I'm sure there's been a good 1/3 turnover in listeners since then, so 1/3 of the audience wouldn't even know who Bernie Ward was.
David E. Is it the norm for stations to turn over 1/3 of their audience in 3 years? More or less?
DavidKaye I will agree that you do have many good insights on how radio is done. See even I can say nice things about people. So keep it interesting and keep it coming.
"The bigger story, or the story if there's any story at all, would be how it was possible to arrange an on-air conversation with Bernie and then have it mysteriously not work when the time came to do it. Was the prison preventing him from speaking? Is this prison policy or is it because of Bernie's particular crime? Should a prison be able to censor on-air interviews? What makes an on-air interview different from written correspondence? THOSE are the questions that should be asked. I haven't played back the KGO archive yet to hear whether she addressed those issues, but those are far more important than Bernie Ward."
I have friends that can answer the questions above and I will ask.
David E. Is it the norm for stations to turn over 1/3 of their audience in 3 years? More or less?
DavidKaye I will agree that you do have many good insights on how radio is done. See even I can say nice things about people. So keep it interesting and keep it coming.
"The bigger story, or the story if there's any story at all, would be how it was possible to arrange an on-air conversation with Bernie and then have it mysteriously not work when the time came to do it. Was the prison preventing him from speaking? Is this prison policy or is it because of Bernie's particular crime? Should a prison be able to censor on-air interviews? What makes an on-air interview different from written correspondence? THOSE are the questions that should be asked. I haven't played back the KGO archive yet to hear whether she addressed those issues, but those are far more important than Bernie Ward."
I have friends that can answer the questions above and I will ask.
RadioStarOne said:
From the U.S. Census Bureau:
"Mover Rate Reaches Record Low, Census Bureau Reports: The percentage of people who changed residences between 2010 and 2011 ─ 11.6 percent ─ was the lowest recorded rate since the Current Population Survey began collecting statistics on the movement of people in the United States in 1948, the U.S. Census Bureau reported today. The rate, which was 20.2 percent in 1985, declined to a then-record low of 11.9 percent in 2008 before rising to 12.5 percent in 2009. The 2010 rate was not statistically different than the 2009 rate. [....] http://www.census.gov/newsroom/releases/archives/mobility_of_the_population/cb11-193.html
Add to this the death rate (ages 45 to 85 is about 9% per year) and add the percentage of annual immigrants (1.5%), and you have a grand total of 22.5% shift in population. Now, figure that half that number of people were within KGO's signal and move to another place that is still within KGO's signal and you have about 11% drop-off. I had said 10%.
I know from my own business in computer tech support that I lose at least 15% of my customers each year -- addresses come back bad when I do an annual postcard mail-out. My tech support customers are a near exact mirror of KGO's listenership.
The "hostess" word, came from a spell check error, like the "child born" instead of "child porn." I thought it was interesting what happened when Ward was going to talk on the air. First, to put Ward on the air, or try to and whether prisoners can get to use the phone after 10 pm at a fed prison? I am not sure if KGO's Thanksgiving charities went up or down after Ward left. I would think they would want to move on at KGO. Craft says Ward runs everyday an lost 100lbs.
Prisoners have many rights stripped when they are serving their sentences. To answer David K.’s questions, yes, phone conversations are monitored, all written correspondence is opened and rifled through for contraband and if prison officials ascertained it was inappropriate to have Ward speaking on the radio, the request could have been refused.
Moreover, any time a prisoner wishes to make a phone call out, he must pay for it himself, usually with a pre-paid phone card or by making a collect call to the receiving party. Prisoners can’t receive personal phone calls under any circumstances.
Additionally, privileges are easily taken away if an indiscretion has been observed or committed. In-person visits are strictly monitored and conversations are recorded.
Some facilities require a written protocol for permission to do something unusual such as Ward’s plan to go on-air. Who knows if that was followed properly? Prisoners are at the whim of correctional officers and the correctional institution.
In short, there is absolutely no privacy in prison. Attorneys of inmates are the exception but otherwise, that’s why it’s called PRISON. It’s not a spa. While incarcerated, many rights are lost because it’s PUNISHMENT for crimes committed.
Moreover, any time a prisoner wishes to make a phone call out, he must pay for it himself, usually with a pre-paid phone card or by making a collect call to the receiving party. Prisoners can’t receive personal phone calls under any circumstances.
Additionally, privileges are easily taken away if an indiscretion has been observed or committed. In-person visits are strictly monitored and conversations are recorded.
Some facilities require a written protocol for permission to do something unusual such as Ward’s plan to go on-air. Who knows if that was followed properly? Prisoners are at the whim of correctional officers and the correctional institution.
In short, there is absolutely no privacy in prison. Attorneys of inmates are the exception but otherwise, that’s why it’s called PRISON. It’s not a spa. While incarcerated, many rights are lost because it’s PUNISHMENT for crimes committed.
The Thanksgiving connection, if you listened to KGO years ago when Bernie was on, is that he used to host on-air fundraisers for a Catholic charity around Thanksgiving. I've forgotten which one it was. I think Christine was probably trying to work within that history by checking in with him. Sorry I missed hearing it - I'm staying with friends in the Bay Area who don't have a radio in the house, so without a KGO on FM, my mp3 player/radio can't pick it up, and I'm not in the car at night to listen.
Christine Craft has long been one of my favorite hosts in talk radio. I think KQED should consider having her do a weekend afternoon show for them. I first heard her on KFBK years ago, and still applaud her for talking straight with one of Sacramento's demento congressmen, instead of giving them a Rush Limbaugh puff job, which got her fired from that station. San Francisco's gain.
Christine Craft has long been one of my favorite hosts in talk radio. I think KQED should consider having her do a weekend afternoon show for them. I first heard her on KFBK years ago, and still applaud her for talking straight with one of Sacramento's demento congressmen, instead of giving them a Rush Limbaugh puff job, which got her fired from that station. San Francisco's gain.
Our radio medium is, among its many definitions, a commercial audio exhibition, a trade dealing with public entertainment, a business of presentation. It is both Commerce and Spectacle, it is Show Business.
This broadcast enterprise thrives in the balance of strong nurturing qualities of both love and protection, dissipates in their absence. When managers allow the brand to venture away from this delicate equipoise, listeners can hear the quality shift as the product immediately veers and suffers.
That symmetry is key. Whenever the pivot point of attention leans too much toward Show(-off,) the proceedings become lopsided, too desperate for attention; when weighing over-heavily on the other side, tuned exclusively to (Bottom-End Only) Bid'ness, it becomes shallow, predictable, distant and petty.
It's difficult to find dependable radio and television workers who are really good at what they do who will work for (a) the heartless, or (b) the insatiable. Even those desperate for work see the corporate reign as too unsatisfying spiritually, and unrewarding monetarily. Human resources should be viewed as profitable investments.
Right now, in its initial stumbling attempts at reorganization, the state of radio reminds me of the motorist who, stranded in a passing town, disassembled his vehicle and sold the parts for just enough money to buy gas.
Life's greatest freedom is love; fear, it's greatest limitation. That's good radio info, too.
This broadcast enterprise thrives in the balance of strong nurturing qualities of both love and protection, dissipates in their absence. When managers allow the brand to venture away from this delicate equipoise, listeners can hear the quality shift as the product immediately veers and suffers.
That symmetry is key. Whenever the pivot point of attention leans too much toward Show(-off,) the proceedings become lopsided, too desperate for attention; when weighing over-heavily on the other side, tuned exclusively to (Bottom-End Only) Bid'ness, it becomes shallow, predictable, distant and petty.
It's difficult to find dependable radio and television workers who are really good at what they do who will work for (a) the heartless, or (b) the insatiable. Even those desperate for work see the corporate reign as too unsatisfying spiritually, and unrewarding monetarily. Human resources should be viewed as profitable investments.
Right now, in its initial stumbling attempts at reorganization, the state of radio reminds me of the motorist who, stranded in a passing town, disassembled his vehicle and sold the parts for just enough money to buy gas.
Life's greatest freedom is love; fear, it's greatest limitation. That's good radio info, too.
Great Post Skyrocker! You Nailed It!
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