BlatherWatch

Walt Crowley's condition is grave

Historian and civic activist Walt Crowley, a friend of BlatherWatch, and of so many Seattleites, suffered a massive stroke last night after surgery for cancer.

Friends have gathered at the ICU at Virginia Mason.

Walt had a laryngectomy in February after return of cancer following several years of treatment.

Two weeks ago, doctors found the cancer had returned, culminating in Wednesday's surgery.

We spent the afternoon with other friends and his wife Marie McCaffrey in his room today as a parade of folks dropped in to say goodbye.

Another nail in the coffin of legacy talk radio?

No more program directors stifling your creative urges and broadcasting ambitions.

No more years of diddling the potentiometers and fetching coffee for egotistical, assholian blabbermeisters before getting a chance behind the mic.

Launched last year, BlogTalkRadio is a social radio network  which combines online audio broadcasting on a free, streaming, user-friendly, citizen broadcasting platform.

Air america host sues stephen colbert

Cenk Uygur, co-host of The Young Turks is suing Comedy Central's Stephen Colbert for $65 million for stealing a joke.

If this works, for the Turks, mark our words- BlatherWatch will be getting a lawyer...

Phil hendrie to KTTH

We've heard that KIRO PD Rod Arquette has been telling staff that when finishes buffing out the Mother Ship, he's going to start in on KTTH, the little station a tad to the right both politically and on the dial (770 KHz) of KIRO.

Arquette's not done with KIRO yet- he's got the mysterious, weekdaily 6-9p spot to fill, (and we can't wait- so horrid is that slot on Seattle radio with the sports or the Mark 'Squeaky' Levin).

I felt like I was railing on the outside of a locked door when it was all Republicans in power everywhere. But the closer we get to retaking the country, the closer the Democrats get to retaking the country, the closer we get to overtaking the traditional media in terms of content and influence.

We're always raving about Rachel Maddow, (KPTK m-f, 3-5p) whom we believe will be the no.1 talk radio host in an America in that future where the lemonade springs and the bluebird sings that'll burst forth on Jan. 21, 2009.

As that utopia unfolds, Rush Limbaugh will be fighting for drivetime spots on stations that read the school lunch menus every morning and Dori Monson will be selling dogfood full time.

Rachel's got the brains, education, sense of humor, irony, and optimism that adds up to a tight, news-serious yet human-hilarious show that makes us remember why we're liberals. We're not the only ones- she's got a metastasizing audience, and appears more and more frequently as atalking head all over the Tee Vee.

Her format's disciplined newscast in an easy-going conversational style that satisfies our wonkiness and our less noble need to laugh in the graveyard.

Buzzflash has done another of their terrific interviews- this time with Our Rachel.

Here are some tasty bites:

~ I was recently described in print as Amy Goodman with animal noises.

~  It used to be that it mattered whether you were reading Reuters or the AP, or The New York Times or the Washington Post, if we were talking about a specific issue in Washington. Now they're all baking the same cookies every single day. It's up to citizen journalism and populist journalism, like we're doing online and in progressive radio, to do basic, basic, basic reporting. It's embarrassing.

The new magazine format show that was a bone of contention in the recent staff roilings at KUOW. will be heard 2-3p Monday. It replaces The Beat, which focused on the arts. 

According to the KUOW website, Dave Beck, Megan Sukys and Jeannie Yandel will conduct "engaging interviews with local people who define the Northwest character. National guests join the conversation to share ideas that can change the way we look at life around the Puget Sound."

Today's features will be on Pulitzer Prize winner and former U.S. poet laureate Poet Ted Kooser; spiritual environmental author, Charlie Fisher; the indomitable Nancy Pearl; and consumerist photographer Chris Jordan.

This show is a departure from the interview/talk format of its predecessor, it's controversial at the station, and we'd be interested in what listeners think about it.

Forget Hillary's health plan, forget the new Attorney General. It's a new Trial of the Century, it's Juice In The Can!

The OJ case helped define talk radio and invented cable Tee Vee as we know it- and we get another go!

Are you insulted? Are talk hosts trying to dumb you down by talking about sports celebrity minutiae, pop star gossip or pet inanities?

Tonight on “The David Goldstein Show”, (KIRO Sat., Sun., 7-10p)

7p: The Stranger Hour

The Stranger’s Josh Feit joins me for our weekly round up of the week’s news, and a look ahead to coming headlines. Tops for tonight include post-hangover report from last night’s Genius Awards, the education of Jane Hague, and Dino Rossi’s non-campaign. But mostly Josh just wants to talk about the
Saturday Night Massacre.

              (photo, Jane Hague: "life of the Party")

8p: Mandatory sentencing or “tailored” justice?

A Burien family got the justice they asked for when their 15-year-old son avoided a prison sentence for the accidental shooting of his 16-year-old brother. Prosecutors insisted the shooter needed incarceration for his “serious violent crime,” but in sentencing the boy to 24-months of home detention, King County Superior Court Judge Harry McCarthy said that justice “has to sometimes be tailored for each person.” Should justice be blind, or tailored to the circumstance?

We've been reporting this for months, it's been in trade news all over the country, but there's been nothing but denials from KIRO. They're still being coy- Bill Virgin's On Radio column in today's Seattle Post Intelligencer:

The Nightside Project marks the convergence of several trends for Bonneville specifically and radio generally. First, [KIRO PD Rod] Arquette says KSL used to do multiple hours of evening sports talk, much like KIRO has done over the years. But with the emergence of all-sports talk competition, Bonneville management decided there was little point in duplicating that.

~ It's not "the rest of the story," as Crosscut's KUOW story's hopeful headline declares. No mention of the large cash reserves accrued by the station who'll start begging listeners for support their big Fall pledge drive, October 8th–17th. Casey Corr's marshmallow roast with KUOW's Wayne Roth and PD Jeff Hansen doesn't engage most of the charges against the management made recently by employees. The station's so-far successful management of the news is pissing us off- they are a news organization after all. They stonewalled Blatherwatch and The Stranger; forbidden employees to speak to media; and now handed off this cozy interview to a friendly. Can't blame them for wanting to make nice-nice, but don't they know that such manipulation just eggs on the curious? There's a lot more to this story, folks, so stay tuned...

~~It finally happened last Friday night. Keith Olbermann's ratings beat O'Reilly's in the important 25 to 54 demo. Ironically, Olbermann, who's honed his show for the massive and growing Daily Show audience, has built his ratings in part on ridiculing Billo- who won't even mention Olbermann's name on-air. 

Rachel maddow: "amy goodman with animal noises"

I felt like I was railing on the outside of a locked door when it was all Republicans in power everywhere. But the closer we get to retaking the country, the closer the Democrats get to retaking the country, the closer we get to overtaking the traditional media in terms of content and influence.

We're always raving about Rachel Maddow, (KPTK m-f, 3-5p) whom we believe will be the no.1 talk radio host in an America in that future where the lemonade springs and the bluebird sings that'll burst forth on Jan. 21, 2009.

As that utopia unfolds, Rush Limbaugh will be fighting for drivetime spots on stations that read the school lunch menus every morning and Dori Monson will be selling dogfood full time.

Rachel's got the brains, education, sense of humor, irony, and optimism that adds up to a tight, news-serious yet human-hilarious show that makes us remember why we're liberals. We're not the only ones- she's got a metastasizing audience, and appears more and more frequently as atalking head all over the Tee Vee.

Her format's disciplined newscast in an easy-going conversational style that satisfies our wonkiness and our less noble need to laugh in the graveyard.

Buzzflash has done another of their terrific interviews- this time with Our Rachel.

Here are some tasty bites:

~ I was recently described in print as Amy Goodman with animal noises.

~  It used to be that it mattered whether you were reading Reuters or the AP, or The New York Times or the Washington Post, if we were talking about a specific issue in Washington. Now they're all baking the same cookies every single day. It's up to citizen journalism and populist journalism, like we're doing online and in progressive radio, to do basic, basic, basic reporting. It's embarrassing.

KUOW's 'sound focus' premiers today

The new magazine format show that was a bone of contention in the recent staff roilings at KUOW. will be heard 2-3p Monday. It replaces The Beat, which focused on the arts. 

According to the KUOW website, Dave Beck, Megan Sukys and Jeannie Yandel will conduct "engaging interviews with local people who define the Northwest character. National guests join the conversation to share ideas that can change the way we look at life around the Puget Sound."

Today's features will be on Pulitzer Prize winner and former U.S. poet laureate Poet Ted Kooser; spiritual environmental author, Charlie Fisher; the indomitable Nancy Pearl; and consumerist photographer Chris Jordan.

This show is a departure from the interview/talk format of its predecessor, it's controversial at the station, and we'd be interested in what listeners think about it.

Beat it petraeus- you didn't betray us... you're just BO-RING!

Forget Hillary's health plan, forget the new Attorney General. It's a new Trial of the Century, it's Juice In The Can!

The OJ case helped define talk radio and invented cable Tee Vee as we know it- and we get another go!

Are you insulted? Are talk hosts trying to dumb you down by talking about sports celebrity minutiae, pop star gossip or pet inanities?

Horse's ass radio: the stranger hour; the drunken, foul-mouthed lyin' county councilwoman jane hague; the saturday night massacre; dino rossi naked and shivering

Tonight on “The David Goldstein Show”, (KIRO Sat., Sun., 7-10p)

7p: The Stranger Hour

The Stranger’s Josh Feit joins me for our weekly round up of the week’s news, and a look ahead to coming headlines. Tops for tonight include post-hangover report from last night’s Genius Awards, the education of Jane Hague, and Dino Rossi’s non-campaign. But mostly Josh just wants to talk about the
Saturday Night Massacre.

              (photo, Jane Hague: "life of the Party")

8p: Mandatory sentencing or “tailored” justice?

A Burien family got the justice they asked for when their 15-year-old son avoided a prison sentence for the accidental shooting of his 16-year-old brother. Prosecutors insisted the shooter needed incarceration for his “serious violent crime,” but in sentencing the boy to 24-months of home detention, King County Superior Court Judge Harry McCarthy said that justice “has to sometimes be tailored for each person.” Should justice be blind, or tailored to the circumstance?

KIRO's Nightside Project sneaking up on seattle

We've been reporting this for months, it's been in trade news all over the country, but there's been nothing but denials from KIRO. They're still being coy- Bill Virgin's On Radio column in today's Seattle Post Intelligencer:

The Nightside Project marks the convergence of several trends for Bonneville specifically and radio generally. First, [KIRO PD Rod] Arquette says KSL used to do multiple hours of evening sports talk, much like KIRO has done over the years. But with the emergence of all-sports talk competition, Bonneville management decided there was little point in duplicating that.

Thursday oddems: KUOW stonewall; saturday night dead, urological vacations, julia roberts' ass; Billo's ass handed to him; pigskin cash cows; sidekickin' with kirby

~ It's not "the rest of the story," as Crosscut's KUOW story's hopeful headline declares. No mention of the large cash reserves accrued by the station who'll start begging listeners for support their big Fall pledge drive, October 8th–17th. Casey Corr's marshmallow roast with KUOW's Wayne Roth and PD Jeff Hansen doesn't engage most of the charges against the management made recently by employees. The station's so-far successful management of the news is pissing us off- they are a news organization after all. They stonewalled Blatherwatch and The Stranger; forbidden employees to speak to media; and now handed off this cozy interview to a friendly. Can't blame them for wanting to make nice-nice, but don't they know that such manipulation just eggs on the curious? There's a lot more to this story, folks, so stay tuned...

~~It finally happened last Friday night. Keith Olbermann's ratings beat O'Reilly's in the important 25 to 54 demo. Ironically, Olbermann, who's honed his show for the massive and growing Daily Show audience, has built his ratings in part on ridiculing Billo- who won't even mention Olbermann's name on-air.