New York's WABC Loses 50%, Chicago Down 59%
The latest numbers are out for Michael Savage’s radio show. Recall that Savage was a key player in the battle between Sean Hannity and Cumulus radio. A battle that had an exasperated Hannity finally firing Cumulus, as reported here in NewsBusters at the time. But not before Savage, whom Cumulus had in the wings to replace Hannity in the latter’s Cumulus slots, took shots at Hannity, gloating at taking Hannity’s slot.
Melanie Morgan is an award-winning radio talk show host, author, columnist, journalist, TV anchor, and reporter. Known for her advocacy on behalf of the American military and defense of the War on Terror, the long time Bay Area personality recently joined KRSO in Santa Rosa, CA as news director and morning anchor.
What's your opinion on how radio delivers the news today?
It seems as if there are three types of radio news from which listeners can choose now: There's either a tightly scripted news wheel like you hear at all-News stations, or entertainment "info" news that tastes like marshmallows for the ear and nourishes in about the same proportion. And then there is an addiction to NPR. National Public Radio does well, but it is not to everyone's liking, as it has a definite political slant.
I prefer hearing information that is delivered in a conversational way. I want to report news that directly affects the most people in the local community.
I think we are starting to swing back to local, local, local, and it's about time. Please, no house fires, missing dogs, murder and mayhem. "If it bleeds, it leads" is not pertinent to the lives of most people who are listening to radio these days. I am working with some truly great radio professionals at KSRO, like Michael O'Shea and Jim Murphy, who get this. Sonoma Media Group's Lawrence
Amaturo is an incredible owner who is partiCipating in a radio renaissance. I feel very lucky that I have a chance to grab a part of this new re-creation of radio and have a ton of fun like we used to in the old days.
What role does social media play in how listeners receive news?
I believe that most people are getting news from social media "accidentally." The statistics show that folks are using Facebook and Twitter for one purpose but end up fmding something else that they want to know more about.
Radio can exploit that research by making sure that a station's news department is visible. But the incessant promotion and use of social media hasn't proved to be a ratings winner nor a financial benefit for a news department. I'll leave it to the programming geniuses to determine when and how much use of social media is appropriate for a news department that is often stretched thin.
You are deeply involved and active in support of U.S. troops. How did that start, and what continues to inspire you about that mission?
I co-founded Move America Forward, the largest nonprofit pro-troops grassroots organization in the country, in 2005. It was a time when the Iraq war was not going well, and thousands of activists were in the streets of San Francisco, Los Angeles, New York, and Chicago. Our war veterans were experiencing outright hostility instead of the gratitude of our nation. Move America Forward is hyper-vigilant in fighting the narrative that marred the return of veterans of previous wars, particularly the Vietnam vets who were reviled or at best ignored for many decades.
Today, with the help of many of my friends in Talk radio like Rush Limbaugh (our biggest donor) , Sean Hannity, Mark Levin, and Laura Ingraham, and others in the world of Hollywood (Gary Sinise, Kelsey Grammer, Jon VOight), we come together for our yearly Web broadcast, called "Troopathon." It's our seventh year of fundraising to send care packages with fabulous items and personal notes from all who love our military.
We've raised more than $3 million and, more importantly, raised the profile of our heroes.
What do you like best about being a radio talk show host?
I very much enjoy the opportunity to present my listeners with a difficult problem, sketch a potential solution, and invite our audience to participate in social change. During my previous time at KSFO, we lobbied the state legislature to outlaw cancer-causing additiyes in our gasoline supply, eliminated stupid regulations and restrictions that were supposed to clean the air but instead cost thousands of jobs, and recalled a governor. Not bad work if you can get it.
How many arguments have you gotten into with Jack (Jack Swanson, Melanie's husband and radio programmer) about radio?
Zero. He's one of those programming geniuses that I defer to. Mostly. But please don't tell him that; it gives him a big head.
Have you seen that map of Texas that is showing up on the FB news feed? The one where it shades the counties with gun control laws and the non-gun controlled areas? It's a shocking visual - the entire state EXCEPT for Ft. Hood, where you can't bring a gun on base!
That's what we will be talking about on "The Big Story" a new feature daily at 6:18, 7:18, and 8:18 on 1350 AM on KSRO...also heard live on the stream at KSRO.com
Join me, Mel Morgan, and Tony Landucci for a brand new show beginning at 6:00 Monday thru Friday!
If you switch an "F" for an "R" you will get the hints I've been dropping lately on Social Media. I'm leaving KSFO in the rear-view mirror and looking forward to my debut as News Director and Morning Show Host of KSRO Radio in Santa Rosa, California which will serves the North Bay, and shortly, beyond.
I'll join the team next Monday, April 7th and I hope that you will come along for our fun-fest.
I am SUPER excited to do this thing. The Sonoma Media Group is the "anti-Consolidator" of radio.
We will bring you the serious side of the news, but I promise we won't take ourselves too seriously. We are planning all kinds of fun stuff. But no fart jokes. Definitely no fart jokes or train whistles or lame sound effects.
Join me and Tony Landucci for the KSRO Morning Show at 6:00 a.m. next Monday morning!
A former policeman convicted of tipping off a terror suspect is now a senior official at the IRS.
(The operative word here is CONVICTED.)
...Something is badly off the rails in this country when a junior punk's penis is going to be made public.
Hello, ACLU?
"...Not unlike sitting in the hospital waiting room waiting for your first child to be born or anxiously watching the news for the results of a Presidential election, the world now waits with bated breath to see the penis of purported singer, alleged felon and all-around Canadian rascal, Justin Bieber.
Justin Bieber’s penis is now a matter of public record, which let’s be frank is more than most men can say of their own penises, and a photo of Justin Bieber’s penis will soon be released into the wild of the internet.
Judge William Altfield of the Miami-Dade County Court has decreed that, collaterally speaking, Justin Bieber’s penis can and will be used evidence in his recent Miami arrest. The judge plans to release five videos from the arrest night, including, but not limited to, a video of Justin Bieber’s penis as he is taking a urine test. As Miami Herald reports, authorities will “shade or blacken” Justin Bieber’s penis.
While the universe aims to busy itself with matters of actual importance, Justin Bieber’s penis looms large on the horizon. Justin Bieber’s attorney previously argued that Justin Bieber’s penis need not even enter into the court proceedings.
“This is not a hard line to draw, all we are asking is that first, the court hold an en camera review,” said one of Justin Bieber’s defense attorneys Howard Srebnick to CBS Miami. “Second, that the court hold as a matter of law, a presumptively innocent person, if the police film him or her urinating, there’s no reason for the media to make a spectacle of it, even if the person is a high-profile person.”
Another lawyer, CBS4/Herald attorney Scott Ponce, argued that it is in the public’s best interest — nay it is their right — to see Justin Bieber’s penis.
“If part of a public record is exempt, you redact what is exempt and produce everything else,” Ponce told the court, referring to Justin Bieber’s penis. “It sounds like [Justin Bieber] is urinating in them. I think the issue is do we see [Justin Bieber's] penis or do we not? Under the public records rule, we redact what can be seen, and let the rest out. Put a black bar over [Justin Bieber's penis] and let the rest out.”
Whetting the galaxy’s curiosity surrounding Justin Bieber’s penis are recently released photos of all of his tattoos around his body, also now a matter of public record to be entered as evidence.
Previous videos of Justin Bieber’s arrest do not show Justin Bieber’s penis, rather they show Justin Bieber being frisked. This video will also be used as evidence.
Justin Bieber’s penis, whose blurry shape will soon be known to all life forms in this world and the next, originally became a matter stemming from Justin Bieber’s arrest in Miami, where he was charged with drag racing and driving under the influence. He tested positive for marijuana and Xanax, which was verified after a urine test, wherein Justin Bieber’s penis played a key role.
