take your answer off the air...

  • HorsesAss.Org: the straight poop on WA politics & the press
    progressive brilliance from the guy who pointed out Tim Eyman's nascent horse's-assedness
  • Talker's Magazine
    The quirky talk radio trade mag. Check the Talk Radio Research Project- it's not very scientific, but places on the top 15 talkers list (scroll down to Talk Radio Audiences By Size)) are as hotly contested as Emmys (and mean just about as much).
  • The Advocate
    No, not THAT Advocate... it's the Northwest Progressive Institute's Official Blog.
  • Media Matters
    Documentation of right-wing media in video, audio and text.
  • Orcinus
    home of David Neiwert, freelance investigative journalist and author who writes extensively about far-right hate groups
  • Hominid Views
    "People, politics, science, and whatnot" Darryl is a statistician who fights imperialism with empiricism, gives good links and wry commentary.
  • Jesus' General
    An 11 on the Manly Scale of Absolute Gender, a 12 on the Heavenly Scale of the 10 Commandments and a 6 on the earthly scale of the Immaculately Groomed.
  • Howie in Seattle
    Howie Martin is the Abe Linkin' of progressive Seattle.
  • Streaming Radio Guide
    Hellishly long (5795!) list of radio streaming, steaming on the Internets.
  • The Naked Loon
    News satire -- The Onion in the Seattle petunia patch.
  • Irrational Public Radio
    "informs, challenges, soothes and/or berates, and does so with a pleasing vocal cadence and unmatched enunciation. When you listen to IPR, integrity washes over you like lava, with the pleasing familiarity of a medium-roast coffee and a sensible muffin."
  • The Maddow Blog
    Here's the hyper-interactive La Raych of MSNBC. daily show-vids, freakishly geeky research, and classy graphics.
  • Northwest Broadcasters
    The AM, FM, TV and digital broadcasters of Northwest Washington, USA and Southwest British Columbia, Canada. From Kelso, WA to the northern tip of Vancouver Island, BC - call letters, formats, slogans, networks, technical data, and transmitter maps. Plus "recent" news.
  • News Corpse
    The Internet's chronicle of media decay.
  • The Moderate Voice
    The voice of reason in the age of Obama, and the politics of the far-middle.
  • News Hounds
    Dogged dogging of Fox News by a team who seems to watch every minute of the cable channel so you don't have to.
  • HistoryLink
    Fun to read and free encyclopedia of Washington State history. Founded by the late Walt Crowley, it's an indispensable tool and entertainment source for history wonks and surfers alike.

right-wing blogs we like

  • The Reagan Wing
    Hearin lies the real heart of Washington State Republicans. Doug Parris runs this red-meat social conservative group site which bars no holds when it comes to saying who they are and who they're not; what they believe and what they don't; who their friends are and where the rest of the Republicans can go. Well-written, and flaming.
  • Orbusmax
    inexhaustible Drudgery of NW conservative news
  • The Radio Equalizer
    prolific former Seattle KVI, KIRO talk host speaks authoritatively about radio.
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« Repent! the world ended yesterday | Main | Rushbaugh and Shannity's ratings take a dive »

May 22, 2011

Comments

KS

Why is anyone surprised ? Dr. Mass was interesting, insightful about weather and science in general.

Scher's judgment there should be questioned - only one side of the story is displayed here. I wasn't able to listen to him much because of the time the show was on, but am a fan of his weather blog. Mass should probably be saying good riddance, but having met him before, I think he is too much of a class act to do that and will move on happily with other contributions to the community in the world of meteorology and science. He was also instrumental in helping obtain a new weather radar for the Washington Coast - soon to be operational.

Jovita blogging from  Raptured  Island

Now KS, having Mass autograph his book for you at Costo doesn't REALLY count as "meeting" him.

Jovita blogging from  Raptured  Island

dang it all my second c got raptured outta the word Costco.

Coiler

But he used KUOW as a crusade against new math books and the Seattle School board who supported same. There isn't enough time during a 5 min segment to do weather, I hate the Seattle School board, and any counterpoint. He ignored the earlier warnings to stick to the weather and was canceled. It's no different than a business putting a political sign in their window and expecting the public to feel its a neutral place to shop.

KS

FYI - his book was autographed by him at a ski club meeting last year and I talked with him about meteorolgists who we both knew personally - for the record.

AprilMayJune

I am through with Steve Scher. He is arrogant on the air and not interesting.

I appreciated Cliff Mass' viewpoint as a department head at the University of Washington. There are plenty of problems with higher education in this country and people with inside information need to be critical. Academia can be very stifling.

Thank you for refusing to be the weather boy, Cliff Mass.

Jovita blogging from  Raptured  Island

Well excuuuuuuze me KS-who-knows-weather-babes. The venue was different but one conversation does not a Butt Buddy make. Or, in your case maybe it does. My bad!

Andrew

Question: why was his firing/cancellation even announced? Why not just pull a KIRO and simply make the segment disappear, without warning or explanation? Frank Shiers doesn't seem to mind it. Just sayin'

Andrew

Overall I have less respect for Scher because if it's true this has been going on as such for three years, and he only now fired the guy on these grounds, then what does that say for his turnaround time? Action is better than no action, but three years too late is almost just as bad. But what respect I do or don't have probably couldn't matter less because I never listen to his show, and I never would. When I pledge it's on behalf of the national NPR programs such as Prairie Home and Wait Wait. The local shows are passionless and ineffectual. When did an emotional response become a bad thing?

Tommy008.

mullah omar is dead........on all the wires,with few detaiks...killed while travelling from Quetta to Waziristan in Pakistan.....hoping its a US drone job or better, but whichever way he went i laugh and piss upon his dead corpse...i feel glee and joy, Joanie....bwahahahahahahahahahahahahaahhhhhh

Tommy008.

ohoh hold on...now denials aer coming over the wires , and :can't confirm's"...so story may be false....

joanie

Andrew, the post said he was given warnings. Also, no one knows to what degree they have become more bold or frequent. Why judge anybody when you really don't know.

David Sirota's panties are in a twist since his on-air argument with Schultz. It's all so funny! Imagine a feud between two lefties. I have to laugh. Schultz the street fighter and Sirota the intellectual. I like them both. But Schultz did get a tad reactive. Maybe his ego needs an adjustment. And David shouldn't belittle anybody on the left who fights like Schultz does. Schultz is trying to stay in the good graces of democratic politicians. He's burned a few bridges with his honest talk. Trying to make peace I think. Esp. with Obama.

Puget Sound Blathers

He's burned a few bridges with his honest talk. Trying to make peace I think. Esp. with Obama.

Posted by: joanie | May 23, 2011 at 03:21 AM

honest talk burns bridges? hmmm, probably the most insightful comment you have ever made regarding Democratic politics.

Pete

If I were working for somebody, they warned me repeatedly not to do something, and I kept doing it, my firing would be the most unsurprising (and justified) event possible.

The fact that it took Steve Scher three years to do it just showed what a good nice Seattle liberal he is ("See you at the gym"...LOL). Maybe he should run for Seattle City Council. He'd fit right in.

Clearwater

AprilMayJune - Mass is not the head of the department, Dale Durran is.

Andrew

joanie says Andrew, the post said he was given warnings

I don't think you read what I wrote.

AprilMayJune

@Clearwater - thanks for that. I don't know why I thought it was Cliff Mass ....

dave (not dave ross)

Breaking...tommy i hope you are sitting down, trump after dissapointing Celeb Apprentice ratings called into Fox and Friends and said he "would not rule out a late entry into the presidential race", the country is just too important to him.... further details as they develop

guy nelson

To your readers,

In case you're interested, KUOW's decision on Cliff Mass comes from management and station policy. Steve Scher's action was simply in compliance with those.

The decision to end Cliff's segment is completely in line with standard best practice both here at KUOW and in public radio in general.

Standard best practice is to book guests to speak on specific agreed upon topics. If they don't want to confine themselves to the agreed upon topics don't book them. This is standard at KUOW and public radio in general, and for a very good reason. If we allowed all guests additional airtime beyond the agreed upon topic to advocate for causes of their choice, or to offer their personal opinions on whatever they choose, we would quickly lose credibility with our listeners.

Here is another way of saying it: KUOW’s editorial rules differentiate between those who may give opinions on our airwaves and those who may not. Hosts and reporters are not allowed to take sides on issues. Guests are expected to stay within the parameters defined for them by the host and producer. The purpose of this policy is to keep the conversation focused, fair and balanced.

As for Cliff, it was really his choice. He no longer wanted to stick to the weekend weather and the science behind it.

Sincerely,
Guy Nelson
KUOW News Director

Zim

Well, there you go. Sounds reasonable to me.

sparky

Me too.

Coiler

Indeed.

Andrew

My points still stand: it took three years regardless, and no public statement was ever necessary. Face could have been saved.

Coiler

Mass is the height of arrogance.

"PS: My next blog will include some observations about the nature of local public radio and its relationship with its listeners. I will suggest that there are serious issues well beyond my situation and that the large response reflects some deep-seated concerns of KUOW listeners."

maybe Dori will give him 5 mins every Friday

NoBS

Public radio, in general, has an arrogant and condescending tone. I haven't figured out if they train people to be that way with their emotionless, dry wit or if people who are emotionless are simply drawn to that kind of radio.

Andrew

They are trained to speak in soft, measured tones. But that snobby, college kid frat tone on This American Life et al is free styled, I believe. I don't know how you'd even train for that.

It wouldn't surprise me if NPR was subtly condescending, after all Dori is all that and more, and he received a three year contract renewal or extension or whatever. Maybe listeners have a repressed masochism that terestrial radio satisfies.

But in general I don't think you can have an NPR with condescension, because for any organization to say that radio should be "this, this and this", and never "that, that and that" requires an arrogant level of certainty about what you're doing.

One reason I respect commercial ridden radio over NPR is because they can answer to advertisers and yet still seem to have infinately more freedom than the orgnaization that claims to be listener supported. Why is it that I ultimately get what I want from radio that someone else pays for?

joanie

C'mon nobS, it's called trying to sound neutral. Boring as heck but certainly not arrogant. I think people have forgotten what neutrality actually sounds like.

Linda W

I wasn't crazy about Cliff Mass, but do see this action and how it's been handled as one more sign of the generally bland middle of the road approach to programming now being undertaken by KUOW. Except for NPR news, there's little left on KUOW I enjoy listening to or bother tracking the schedule of anymore. I'm more and more often listening to a different public radio station (which plays much more interesting programs, and has some great music, besides), or I listen to downloaded podcasts of my favorite shows (ones that KUOW no longer carries - like Science Friday). After MANY years of being loyal contributors to KUOW, my husband and I have already decided to reduce our pledge. If it were my decision alone, I think I'd drop it completely.

Jovita has a sense of humor unlike you

KPLU is a far superior NPR station.

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    • KIRO 710ESPN Seattle 710 KHz
      Games and sports-blabber
    • KIROFM 97.3
      Multi-format: news and nearly all local talk. This is where classic KIRO AM news talk radio went... hopefully, not to die. The home of Dave Ross & Luke Burbank, Dori Monson, Ron & Don, Frank Shiers, Bill Radke, Linda Thomas, Tony Miner and George Noory.
    • KUOW FM 94.9
      Seattle's foremost public radio news and talk.
    • KVI am 570 KHz
      Visit the burnt-out husk of one of the seminal right-wing talkers in all the land. Here's where once trilled the reactionary tones of Rush Limbaugh, John Carlson, Kirby Wilbur, Mike Siegel, Peter Weissbach, Floyd Brown, Dinky Donkey, and Bryan Suits. Now it's Top 40 hits from the '60's & '70's aimed at that diminishing crowd who still remembers them and can still hear.
    • KTTH am 770 KHz
      Right wing home of local, and a whole bunch of syndicated righties such as Glennn Beck, Rush Limbaugh, Michael Medved, Sean Hannity, Laura Ingraham, Lars Larsony, and for an hour a day: live & local David Boze.
    • KPTK am 1090 KHz
      Syndicated liberal talk. Stephanie Miller, Thom Hartmann, Ed Schultz, Randi Rhodes, Norman Goldman fill in the large hole to the left on Northwest radio dial.
    • KLFE AM 1590 kHz
      Syndicated right-wing 2nd stringers like Mark Levin, Bill Bennett, Mike Gallagher, Dennis Prager, Dennis Miller and Hugh Hewitt inhabit this timid-voiced neighbor honker for your radio enjoyment (unless you're behind something large like Costco).
    • KOMOAM
      News, traffic, Ken Schram and John Carlson.
    • Washington State Radio Stations
      Comprehensive list of every danged AM & FM station on the dial.
    • KKOL am 1300 KHz
      Once a rabid right-wing talker, except for Lou Dobbs, it's all business....