Tag: talk radio

It was a few minutes before noon today, as I was driving in to Boston, when I heard Michael Graham briefly make fun of me on his talk show on WTKK Radio (96.9 FM). The subject: my alleged support of a bill filed by state Rep. Byron Rushing that would outlaw discrimination against obese and unusually short people. (For a PDF of the bill, click here and enter “1844” next to “House, No.”)

To say the least, I was surprised. You see, Graham had invited me to appear with him this morning, then rescinded his invitation when I told him I didn’t consider myself a strong proponent of the legislation. I wish I had recorded precisely what Graham said about me on the air, and what he might have said earlier in the broadcast when I wasn’t listening. But there was no doubt that he was characterizing me as a bleeding-heart liberal supporter of the measure, even though I had clearly told him that was not the case.

In fact, here are the exact words I e-mailed to him after receiving his invitation:

Michael —

My home phone’s xxx-xxx-xxxx, and I’m around. I might step out for a few minutes — my cell is xxx-xxx-xxxx.

Just in case you’re laboring under any misconceptions, I think it’s an intriguing idea, but I don’t consider myself a strong proponent. But you probably got that from reading the MetroWest article.

DK

The article I’m referring to was published in the MetroWest Daily News yesterday. It was written by Dan Loeterman, who quoted me on the subject as follows:

“We might as well add colorblind, left-handed, allergic-to-cashews and get it over with,” Todd Domke, a Republican analyst, told the Associated Press….

But Dan Kennedy, a visiting assistant journalism professor at Northeastern University, rejects Domke’s suggestions. Kennedy, whose daughter is a dwarf, is the author of “Little People: Learning to See the World Through My Daughter’s Eyes.”

“By God, if we pass this, we’re going to have to be nice to everybody. It seems that the slippery slope is treating everyone with the dignity and respect they deserve, and I’m not particularly troubled by that,” said Kennedy.

What Kennedy is troubled by, however, is how the bill might play out in the real world.

“Is Fenway Park going to be sued because the seats aren’t wide enough? In some ways, this doesn’t bother me, but in other ways, I’m asking myself, is this mainly going to be about lawsuits?”

Now, does that sound like I’m a full-throated supporter of the Rushing bill? Obviously not, and I made sure Graham knew it. But that didn’t stop him from painting me exactly as he pleased. (For good measure, he also called Rushing “limp-wristed.”)

By the way, after I sent my response to Graham, he e-mailed me again and wrote:

Thanks for getting back to me, Dan. If you’re not a strong proponent, then let’s wait for another issue where you’re more enthusiastic in your support.

Thanks again.

Michael Graham

I’m sorry to be so self-referential here. So Michael Graham made fun of me — who cares? But I think it says something pretty revealing about the way he operates. And as Lily Tomlin once said, “No matter how cynical you get, it is impossible to keep up.”

CNN is scheduled to interview me at 1 p.m. about the Bernard McGuirk/WRKO matter.

Update: I’m told that my interview will be used today at 8 p.m. on “Paula Zahn Now.”

WRKO Radio (AM 680) has canceled plans to let fired Imus producer Bernard McGuirk co-host its morning show with Tom Finneran for a few days this week. The Globe’s got the story here (again, with a quote from the proprietor of this blog); the Herald here.

Al Sharpton, debating former Imus producer Bernard McGuirk on Fox News’ “Hannity & Colmes” on May 11:

Forgiveness has nothing to do with penalty. If you abuse a job, you can forgive somebody and say you lose the job. Moses was forgiven. He didn’t get to the Promised Land. There is penalty…. I think that there must not be amnesty. There must be — people pay for their deeds. And I think it was appropriate that y’all paid.

Boston-based PR magnate George Regan, in the Boston Herald today, talking about WRKO Radio’s decision to audition McGuirk for a possible stint as Tom Finneran’s sidekick:

If Al Sharpton has no problems with this man, neither do we.

Well, George, Sharpton does have a problem with McGuirk. Does that change your thinking?

Curious George: The deceptive headline of the day appears in today’s Globe. “WRKO clarifies McGuirk bid” may be the head, but the story consists of a Regan obfuscation job worthy of Scott McClellan. To wit: “Regan said yesterday that the three-day spot was not an audition, but said he could not rule out the possibility that McGuirk would be offered a job.”

So it’s not an audition, but if McGuirk does well, he might be offered a job. Right.

Even curiouser: Brian Maloney on Regan’s triple play.

If talk-radio executives know one thing, they know this: racism sells. It’s titillating, it’s naughty, it gives some middle-aged white guys a thrill as they’re driving to work in the morning to hear jokes they’d never dare tell at the office being blasted out at 50,000 watts.

How else can we explain the decision by WRKO (AM 680) to audition fired Imus producer Bernard McGuirk alongside the substantive but ratings-challenged morning host, former Massachusetts House speaker Tom Finneran? (The Globe reports on the story here, along with a quote from yours truly; the Herald’s “Inside Track” weighs in here.)

Let’s be clear. McGuirk, at least in terms of his on-air persona, is worse than Imus. The standard shtick on the late, unlamented “Imus in the Morning” show was for McGuirk to come out with something so offensive that Imus would stop him, professing to be horrified. Indeed, it was McGuirk’s reference to “hardcore hos” that started the infamous exchange that led to Imus’ putting a torch to his own career.

And lest we forget, Imus told “60 Minutes” back in 1998 that he’d hired McGuirk to tell “[N-word] jokes.”

Media Matters has gathered a few of McGuirk’s greatest hits:

• While portraying a stereotyped Irish cardinal, McGuirk referred to Barack Obama as a “young colored fellah.”
• Claiming that Hillary Clinton was “trying to sound black in front of a black audience,” McGuirk exclaimed that Clinton “will have cornrows and gold teeth before this fight with Obama is over.”
• During an appearance on “Imus in the Morning” by Democratic presidential candidate Bill Richardson, McGuirk was heard saying in the background, in Spanish, “Kiss my ass, fat one.” Richardson’s mother is Mexican.

Finneran’s show is not off to a good start. His ratings are worse than those of Scott Allen Miller, the host he replaced. Having a local morning program helmed by a smart host who really knows the Boston area is a good idea, and I want to like it. But it’s pretty dull.

But attempting to save it by pairing Finneran with an out-of-towner who made his reputation telling racist, sexist and homophobic jokes is reprehensible.

When UMass Lowell announced last October that it would stop funding Christopher Lydon’s public radio program, “Open Source,” you had to wonder what the long-term effect would be. Though UMass wasn’t Lydon’s sole source of support, all indications were that the university was his major backer.

Still, “Open Source” kept chugging along, and nearly two months ago the program received a $250,000 MacArthur grant for its Internet component.

But now the Globe reports that Lydon is talking with Bloomberg Radio about a New York-based commercial show. Nothing on the “Open Source” Web site, but this bears watching.

Update: Mary McGrath, Lydon’s longtime producer, says not to worry. (Thanks to this alert but pseudonymous Media Nation reader.)

If you get a chance, check out Gregg Jackson and some guy named Paul, who are filling in for Todd Feinburg this morning on WRKO Radio (AM 680). They’ll only be on until noon — I caught their act while driving around Salem looking for a place to park.

I won’t attempt to describe what I heard except to say that I thought my radio might be pulling in a shortwave signal by mistake.