Radioboy989 said:
LET ME CLARIFY SOMETHING
I got a couple of "off board" messages about my last post. In no way am I putting anyone down or giving them "what for" as one person put it. I am truly suggesting that if something means as much to anyone as this liberal talk idea means to Sean, he should look into using his resources to make it happen. While I don't agree with his politics, I do admire his fire. I just believe there are better uses for his energy than posting on here about it. Last time I checked there was an open frequency for LPFM in South Bloomfield. That may be a good place to start. Get it on the air, stream it, build the audience and then sell the completed product to a larger outlet... Could mean some money in his pockets and maybe a phiosophical victory.
For future reference, please know that I am never intentionally nasty to anyone...snide maybe, but never nasty. If I ever post anything on here that comes across as mean spirited, please feel free to bring it to my attention. I love to argue a point but I never want to be read as an evil person, it's just not in my nature. Honest debate between honest people is one of the things I love most about being an American.
Sean, if you read my post and took it to be derived from meaness, please know that was not my intent.
Whoever sent those messages to Radioboy was directing their anger at the wrong poster.
The posters with whom I do get into a occasional sparring match either 1) no longer post on the Columbus board, with the exception of boyphenom, whom other posters here previously said has issues or 2) usually find themselves on the national news/talk board and get the ire of more guys than just yours truly. Phil Boyce and some guy from Michigan named Josh C would fall into the latter category, but nobody from Columbus.
Radioboy did mention several things about me that are completely correct, and one of them is a reason why if I wanted to pursue a passion, I am right now on hold. I am awaiting word on a possible promotion which would result in my leaving Columbus. I would be going to a part of Ohio where Arbitron wouldn't even think of tredding.
If I were to get back in radio, it would be in an area like the community I'd be moving to--where all the radio stations, while under the same owner, are locally owned. And where I could pursue a radio career part-time while earning a nice income serving the public in my full-time job.
One of the challenges I will face--being a gay man--is dealing with breaking stereotypes in my new locale. I don't even fit in the LGBT community here in Columbus. And I found that out first-hand in a series of events which resulted in my being asked to resign from the Columbus Gay Men's Chorus, for whom I actually paid for spots promoting their concert to air in the early days of WTPG.
As some posters know, I was an occasional advertiser on AM 1230. And this is where I find myself in contention with fellow liberals, including members of Ohio Majority Radio who were upset that I still advertised with Clear Channel after the flip, even though it was on the Radio Free Ohio web stream out of Akron.
I received an e-mail from one of those members today regarding what may or may not be happening over at WVKO, and that I should refrain from saying anything. Meanwhile, a poster on the group's Yahoo! message board mentioned something about Bill Press saying on his show today that he was going to soon be heard in Columbus.
Bill Press, like Ed Schultz and Stephanie Miller, is syndicated by Jones Radio Networks. Ed Schultz already airs on Bernard Ohio LLC's WGFT in Youngstown.
Whether two and two will be put together will be known in a matter of days.
The Ohio Majority Radio people have been working on an LPFM as Radioboy described. Only problem is LPFMs generally are not conducive to airing commerical programming. Which is where I have my beef with liberals who solicit donations to set up a radio station when they would not support the businesses that aired commercials on WTPG.
And that's not my only beef. I get annoyed when they say Big Eddie is not liberal enough, Steph doesn't address the issues seriously (the woman is a comedian--geez), or Lionel is a Libertarian disguised as a progressive.
As for Clear Channel...What occurred in Ohio is no reflection on the company as a whole. Stephanie's show is based out of Clear Channel's progressive talk station in Los Angeles. And progressive talk is doing well on Clear Channel stations in Portland, San Francisco and Miami.
While I may have my beef with the programming side at Clear Channel both in Columbus and Akron, both Jennifer Tonapi (who left the Columbus cluster after the flip) and Brandon Tidd in Akron have been nothing but professional and helpful. Unfortunately, both of these talented people were caught off guard when their stations flipped.
So what's the bottom line out of all this? The bottom line.
Radio has focused on the bottom line at the expense of people, both the employees and the listeners. And advertisers who are not into the bottom line mentality and serious about developing customer relationships are not about to spend money on a medium where people are not the primary focus. Call it broadcast Wal-Martization. (And I say that as a former employee of the company.)
Clear Channel's operations in Ohio are a perfect example of just that, and it stems from the Jacor days. It's not that way with
Clear Channel operations in other markets (like Madison, Wisconsin). But in a previous post, I mentioned the names of nearly two dozen talented radio people who left WTVN alone for a variety of reasons over the last 11 years. Many of these people had literally decades in this business (like George Lehner and Steve Cannon) only to find themselves on the unemployment line. Some like John Remy say they are glad they are out. (He attends my church.) And some like Sherry Fisher and Shawn Ireland are doing well at other stations.
Some of you who have been critical of my comments got exactly what you should expect from a typical radio listener, not a former broadcaster. The exchanges between us simply reflect what a typical radio listener can hear on syndicated talk radio. What you need to ask yourselves is what your real motive is behind why you're in this business. If you place your ego in front of the listeners, there will be a time when you will find yourselves with no listeners at all.
As for where we started...the comments from RadioBoy...I welcome them. And Jason Roberts was on the money about how we differ on things, but we are spot on and in full agreement about others. Nu Roo is another poster with whom we may not be on the same page, but he always has something interesting to say. But with a few exceptions, I never see what is being said as a reflection on the individual posting it. And you know when those exceptions take place (and sometimes let me know that, too).
But I will end with another comment RadioBoy made about pursuing a passion. Clear Channel Miami lost a dedicated employee 10 days ago in Bubba Eskew, who handled operations for both the liberal and conservative talk stations. He was a Friday regular on Ed Schultz' show discussing football and was last heard on Big Eddie's show the Friday before he died at the CC studios doing the work he loved.
We need more Bubba Eskews in this business and less Phil Boyces.
Merry Christmas. (That goes for you, too, boyphenom.)
