BlatherWatch

Kos uses blatherwatch talking point

The founder of the country's largest blog, Markos Moulitsas Zúniga of Kos was featured in a Q & A feetch in the NYT Magazine Sunday and we were happy to read his comments about talk radio.

We were happy of course because he bolstered our own tired yet veracious tirades on the subject. He's releasing his book, "Crashing the Gate;" so you'll likely see and hear him around the explaining industry and at a local bookstore near you.

To get their message out, the Republicans created this entire conservative noise machine. They have Fox News and The Washington Times and the 700 Club and just about the entire talk-radio dial. They have this incredible ability to promote whatever the big issue of the day is. There is no partisan liberal media that is working in concert with the Democratic Party in order to sell whatever the party is selling.

(We'd have to add MSNBC and the Skagit Valley Herald). 

The interviewer Deborah Solomon disagreed, saying, "The liberal media has you and Michael Moore. Think of the endless volume of verbiage you guys produce."

To which Kos replied, "The blog world is tiny compared to talk radio. Rush Limbaugh reaches nearly 20 million people every week. The Daily Kos reaches maybe a million."

Rabbi daniel lapin falls on hard times...

Fundamentalist Rabbi Daniel Lapin's non-profit Toward Tradition, named as a laundering conduit in the Jack Abramoff influence peddling scandal is having financial difficulties.

The former KTTH talk host's organization has vacated its leased north Mercer Island offices, laid off most of the staff, and is being run- mostly by the good rebbe- and from home.

Don't feel too sorry for him, though, his new work environment isn't exactly Spartan. His manse zestimated at a little over $1 million is in a luxurious neighborhood on the plush south end of the island near Pioneer Park with its old growth, hiking trails and horse paths.

His friend, talk host Michael Medved (KTTH m-f, 12-3p) lives a few blocks away in a comfy cottage valued at some $1.2 million.

Thursday oddems: medved cleans up, hannity's penis is still safe, styble digests himself, christine kicks carlson ass, ron reagan eats provolone for lunch

~~It was as good as talk radio gets- Howard Stern Tuesday on the Sean Hannity Show (KVI m-f, 12-3p). Here's the audio. Of course, what we liked and we only heard snatches (you know Howard and snatches) was his trying to get Hannity to talk about sex.(It's well-known that former altar boy Hannity's penis is in a safe deposit box in a New Jersey bank, taken out only in the presence of his wife or a priest and used for procreational purposes only). Stern got Sean to admit he'd had sex before marriage, but Hannity, the smug little prig, said he'd never, ever thought of another woman biblically after his marriage; and what's more, he said it's disloyal- if not cheating your spouse to even think of another woman that way. Stern couldn't get him to admit he'd ever "pleasured himself" nor would he cop to whether his wife was a virgin when they were married. (rumors flew around the blogosphere that Hannity was shopping for a hymenoplasty in 2002, but it's unclear if it was for his wife or an Irish setter he was trying to sell). Stern was funny as hell when he told Hannity: "God forbid you should acknowledge the lower half of your body." Stern continued the conversation later on Fox News' Hannity & Why Bother?"

~~Speaking of good radio, Governor Christine Gregoire was terrific on The Commentators (KOMO m-f, 10a-12p). the vacationing Shram was out, replaced by KOMOTV anchor Dan Lewis, who was at least twice as exciting as TV weather man Steve Poole the day before. Christine (we always call her Christine) is great on her feet and sparred easily with Carlson, who is something of a debater. We got a glimpse of the negotiator who brokered the deal with the tobacco demons and got us all that smoking money. We'd love to see her hit the talk shows more often and take calls from listener/constituents- it'd be a great way to improve those sluggish approval ratings. She's not only as capable as your first wife, but she's a certified human. She needs to get out more.

~~Ron Reagan is such a classy guy; bright; articulate and polished. In case you've missed him, he's been trying out on the 9-ta noon, the front door anchor spot KIRO tries out all the new talent. Talk radio is really different than the scripted TV that Reagan's experienced with, so we're still not sure how he'd do alone with 100,000 listeners and a live microphone- wish they'd let him try it. He makes poor Provolone sound like the rank amateur he is. Wish he'd let Reagan talk a little more...

Rush limbaugh losing stations, ground, weight, girth, his girlfriend, his self-worth, his place in line at krispy kremes

New evidence of the well-concealed overall slide of the biggest mouth in talk radio was announced Monday when Baltimore's WBAL dumped Rush Limbaugh.

(WBAL is a heritage station and one of the very first to pick up Rush's live show in the early '80's. Seattle's KVI, considered a pioneer in all-right/all-the-time programming, didn't get him until 1991).

"He's on the wrong side of the side of the issues," a veteran radio pro told us. "There's no way that Rush's defense of Bush, does not effect his ratings. He's got to distance himself- it's his only salvation."

Limbaugh has been sturdy at Bush's side through all the mishaps, missteps and political embarrassments- even during Katrina and the Harriet Miers nomination.

This has taken its toll with Rush's conservative listeners, but so has his lifestyle. His third divorce, his drug abuse, his on-air use of what they consider naughty language have given pause to many evangelicals who have always considered him in a state of grace.

"He does not want what god says- anyone who doesn't want what god says is going to have values problems." said Rev. Ken Hutcherson, a fishing buddy of Rush's; and fiery homophobe who led the national anti-gay rallies in 2004 and bullied Microsoft into pulling support from a gay rights bill in the 2005 Washington Legislature.

Dori, dori, dori: the 50,000 watt ego

Last week we asked readers to send their love notes and hate mail about Kiro's Dori Monson to us so we could amalgamate them and regurgitate a summary in this virtual vomitorium we call a blog.

Boyo, we got plenty of responses. Love notes? Not so much.

We'd been wondering what to do about Dori. He's always churned up more mail around here than any other single talker. But to tell you the truth, we were not looking forward to listening to him with our porcelain critic's ear for the length of time it would take to give a fair assessment.

(Let's just say he's not exactly our cup of matė. Too annoying. Too many sports. Too many tiresome rants on the same issues, against the same people. We listen to lots of conservatives, so it isn't his politics. We're just elitist liberal, intellectual snobs, who don't really care about football, baseball, basketball, or how Dori's got a hard-on for soccer. We've always been able to hear the crewcut in his voice, and we think he went wrong when the nuns were eliminated as regulars).

So we said, to hell with a fair assessment! Let's ask our readers. And while there were some that could be described as hate mail, many responded with serious analyses! Many just wanted to help. (Others suggested various types of earthen indentations or bathroom fixtures into which they'd like to stuff his head. Still others suggested that his head would need first be pulled from his own anal aperture).

Dori has inspired at least one website devoted to hating him. (It's requisite for national talk hosts, but rarer in Seattle. BlatherWatch friend David Tatelman has a great anti-Dori post on his blog with new information on Dori's interesting personal life. ("interesting" may not exactly be the word for The Monster's life). We weren't surprised to find that Sound Politics, that stiff but stalwart bulwark of bloggy right-wing blather considers Dori the "King of Mid-day Talk in the Northwest" so much, apparently, for the chopped liver that is Michael  Medved. Orbusmax has this acrimonious and entertaining email thread between Dori and the PI's Joel Connelly worth a read. It's hard to say who's most peckish, but jeez, Joel's an old guy...

Radio: a matter of the heart

Response to The Dori Challenge is overwhelming. If you read down a few inches, you'll see we've requested readers to give us analyses, anecdotes, therapeutic (for Dori and themselves) recollections, reflections and confessions about Dori Monson (KIRO m-f, 12-3p) the local talk host who inspires the most mail we get around here.

And it's not usually very, how you say, complimentary? either. Let's say: Dori causes more heat than light- not a bad thing, for a talk host- listeners give lip service to light, but what they really want is heat.

We'd thought we'd get her done Sunday night, but we got such a load of email with such sincere, inciteful, insightful analysis, we decided we need more time to set it out. Amazingly, the letters are pretty clear of hyperbolic spite and malice. (we'll supply that ourselves, not to worry).

We're reminded of how intimate the radio medium is. When a talk host is perceived to have changed-  a meme we hear about Dori- listeners feel betrayed.

It's like a lover who's whispered in your ear for hours and years; shared your bed, talks to you at your toilette, and murmured to you alone in the ultimate American intimate spot: your car. Then he tells you he's changed his mind about something big, basic like, say, monogamy. It's devastating.

Radio voices have a way of going though the ears into the bloodstream and straight to the heart. Like a friend you fall in love with after years of acquaintance- you've gotten used to their ways, forgotten what you thought were faults and realize he or she's a part of your life at almost the cellular level. 

That's why we'll never understand the sudden, secretive way radio personalities are yanked from the air with no explanation as they have lately at KIRO. Listeners experience grief. Many readers write to say they simply stopped listening to KIRO after someone like Allan Prell disappears one day without management making an announcement- even after the fact.

There's not only this personal intimacy- but good hosts create a communities of listeners. So when the head's chopped off, there's not just the individual grieving widow or widowers, there's a whole interwoven herd of them. And like any grieving, being pissed is part of the deal.

It's ridiculous, unenlightened and just bad business management and PR, to pull someone off the air without warning, explanation, and replace him with no one in particular. Or somebody who's not sure they'll have their job next week. You can't expect a radio community to hang in there.

That's KIRO- adrift with their former community of listeners up for grabs for months; and, we dare say, many have found others place to hang their ears.

We've written this before, but there is another way. We remember when big changes were to be made at KVI, after the firing of Mike Siegel and John Carlson in the 90's, Fisher management came on the air and tag-teamed the irate callers. The took account for their decision. That's rare, we know, and to think of Entercom doing such an woo-woo, West Coast, wisely strategic thing is unimaginable.

But they better do something.

OPEN THREAD (and cheapest of cheap shots): who'd win in a fist fight- bill o'reilly or dr. laura?

We'd put our money on Dr. Laura- click here for pics of her perky self naked.

THE DORI MONSON CHALLENGE!

BlatherWatch has received more mail about the Dori Monson (KIRO m-f, 12-3) than any other talk host. Sure, we had big bumps with Allan Prell's sudden and precipitous firing; and an avalanche with Mike Webb's arrest, but Blatherday in and Blatherday out, Dori's raised the most ruckus in our mailbox.

We gotta be honest (as Sean Hannity would say) most of it is mean. They say he turned too conservative after 9-11; they say his voice is annoying; they say he's an adolescent jock/jerk. They say he's flacked away his soul for products he needs for his lavish Eastside household. They say he's a pain in the ass, immature, spiteful and holds grudges. They say he has no heart, so it's hard to forgive that he has no brains.

Dori pisses more people off than Casey Corr and Dr. Laura put together; yet Dori's been at KIRO since he still had his hair! We hear admiring, thrilled-to-be-talking-to-Dori people on his show every day- we hear from these folks on BlatherWatch not so much. His numbers, down at the moment, seem always to rebound on a mysterious cycle we don't understand.

Dori Monson lovers and haters alike, co-workers, politicos, guests, listeners, and callers- here's your chance to tell us why you feel the way you feel. Please send us your favorite on-air anecdotes, and horror stories about the controversial midday host. We'll put 'em all together and see if we can assemble a montage of truthiness ITAL(which, even if it it fails along those lines,  will be guaranteed fun to read).

The Rules:
1) Be honest, don't make up stuff- we're going to run them by Dori for comment.
2) DON'T PUT YOUR COMMENTS IN THE THREADS  (COMMENTS ARE CLOSED IN THIS POST).
3) SEND THEM TO [email protected] OR CLICK 'EMAIL ME' ON THE UPPER LEFT.

New york attorney general sues entercom

Entercom Communications was sued Wednesday by New York Attorney General Eliot Spitzer in a payola probe that's been simmering for months.

The 5th largest radio chain in the country owns and operates more than 105 radio stations, including Seattle's KIRO-AM (710), KTTH-AM (770), KBSG-AM and FM (97.3) KNDD-FM (107.7), KMTT-FM (103.7), KISW-FM (99.9) and KQBZ-FM (100.7).

"By accepting secret payments in exchange for airtime, Entercom compromised its radio programming and violated state and federal laws," Spitzer said. "What makes this case especially egregious is the extent to which senior management viewed control of the airways as an opportunity to garner illegal payment from record labels."

BlatherWatch has been chronicling the legal and financial dramas unfolding in Bala Cynwyd (say bala KIN wid) PA where the home office is presided over by sensitive new age CEO David Field.

Unless you've been stuck in Oblivia, or listening only to Mike Webb's podcast, you know we've been watching and reporting on the neglect and implosion of Entercom's Seattle talkers, the once mighty blowtorch KIRO, and li'l sister KTTH. 

The prevailing theory that attempts to explain the mystifying corporate-caused degradation of these valuable properties is that management has been distracted by this pending legal matter, and the now-failed negotiations to buy ABC Radio.

Bill Virgin in his Radio Beat column in today's PI, reports how the Bush appointed FCC hasn't responded to the Democrat Spitzer's investigation.

In a press release accompanying the suit, Spitzer also took a swipe at the Federal Communications Commission, which he said "has yet to respond in any meaningful way" to his investigation of the radio and records business. "The agency's inaction is especially disappointing given the pervasive nature of this problem and its corrosive impact on the entertainment industry."

Wednesday oddems: ron & john, ron & don- a condomdrum; bad bryan suits a few good men; O KIRO, KIRO, KIRO!

~~We were impressed Tuesday ayem with Ron Reagan on the Procaccino Show; though we're sorry, sorry, sorry we added the Jr., to his name in yesterday's post. We've been apprised: he's not amused. We won't do that again, Mr. Reagan. (We're being obsequious because we suspect that the job either with or without Procaccino, is his if he wants it- and we still want that interview) Therein lies a problema for Mr. Reagan- what kinda future can a job at KIRO promise? (Maybe it's the start of syndication- as it was years ago for his half (witted) brother Michael Reagan, who started his talk career afternoons on KVI). Ronny and John-boy got along pretty well, tag-teaming it in a genteel Seattle pissing match. Reagan was well-prepared, polished, funny, showed ample masculine equipment, and an impressive knowledge of local sport. Procaccino threw up a steep wall of verbiage, displayed his famous feigned outrage, his ample masculine equipment, and an impressive knowledge of local sport. They agreed on just about everything, which was boring, but who knows? Will it ultimately be a team effort or solo? We're not having a preference until we hear more.

~~Excuse Me? but is it possible that a Ron & John co-exist on the same station with a Ron & Don?

~~Bryan Suits, the Bad Lieutenant whom we count on to fill us in on his "unit," was particularly obnoxious Tuesday filling in for Kirby Wilbur, (KVI m-f, 5-9a). Suits was in the armed forces, in case you hadn't heard, (thanks for your service) and has nothing but disdain for those of us who've never shot anybody while protecting America. This condescending, parental perspective from down the barrel of a rifle has given him a sense of superiority unjustified by his ratings or his on-air ability to keep anyone awake who isn't a male and knows what all his endless army acronyms stand for. (He stills hangs on daily to the notion that the $450 billion we'll have ended up spending by the end of the year in Iraq is justified and well-spent- so maybe he's not all that superior). Yesterday he said, "only half jokingly, New Orleans should be the first black reservation in the country." We're thinking, as long as we're thinking of prison camps reservations for minorities- how about one for snide white militarists who still have bad haircuts even though they've been RIFed for over a year?

~~The Awesome Power of BlatherWatch, Page 2: The Flipside. We don't really believe this, but an insider we talk to at Entercom, says the reason why KIRO hasn't changed the crippling, conversation-stopping "traffic on the 3's" in Dave Ross's afternoon drive is that management doesn't want to give BlatherWatch the satisfaction after all the kvetching we've done and been party to. (We gotta be honest, as Sean Hannity would say, readers have had an awful lot to say about it, too). It's probably untrue, but wouldn't that just be the way it goes- yuhgedda little after all these years, and they turn it aginya. The irony.