Radio Host Gets Ax Over Rather Comments

[cal04]

A radio talk-show host said Saturday he has been fired for criticizing CBS newsman Dan Rather's handling of challenges to the authenticity of memos about President Bush's National Guard service.
``On the talk show that I host, or hosted, I said I felt Rather should either retire or be forced out over this,'' said Brian Maloney, whose weekly ``The Brian Maloney Show'' aired for three years on KIRO-AM Radio, a CBS affiliate here.Maloney says he made that statement on his Sept. 12 program. He was fired Friday, he said.

``What they have expressed is essentially that my show went in a direction they're not comfortable with,'' Maloney said.
KIRO Radio's general manager, Ken Berry, did not return a call seeking comment. A staff member at the station said Berry would not comment because it is a personnel matter.

Rather cited the memos, purportedly written by Bush's late squadron commander, in a Sept. 8 ``60 Minutes II'' segment. The memos indicated the commander was pressured to ``sugar coat'' Bush's performance and that Bush ignored an order to take a physical.Several document experts have said the memos look suspiciously like they were written on a computer, not a 1970s-era typewriter. Rather said Sept. 10 that there was no definitive evidence of forgery.On Wednesday, the network said it would work harder to address concerns about the memos.

Maloney said he had felt free to comment on the controversy and on Rather.``I really felt he was taking the network's credibility down with him,'' Maloney said in a telephone interview.
``Talk-show hosts have generally had a lot of independence in these kinds of issues,'' he said. ``Nobody's ever said, 'You can't criticize CBS News.'''KIRO Radio is affiliated with CBS but owned by Entercom, a national radio broadcasting company based in Bala Cynwyd, Pa.

http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/arts/AP-Rather-Critic.html

[Catfight]

1. I believe Insannity has said the same thing, will he get fired? n/t

[private_ryan]

freedom of speech works both ways

lett's not forget.

[ayeshahaqqiqa]

4. I agree

the First Amendment has to be for everyone.

[Flammable Materials]

14. Agreed, but I don't think I'll waste my sympathies on him.

I'm sure he's already on his way to becoming a Freeper Martyr by now.

[miss_kitty]

9. KIRO is most conservative

I'm sure it had to do with a lack of quality on his part. He can get the ACLU to sue for him. Hannity did for a nasty thing he said on air when he was a local guy, and won. I'll bet Entrecom has a file that backs up their decision.

[DoYouEverWonder]

11. He still has every right to speak his mind

It just that he not going to have his own show and a paycheck to do it with.

[theKnave]

13. re: "I believe Insannity has said..."

edit: oops.. nevermind... i didn't see the part about the station being owned by Entercom.

[KoKo]

23. Scarborough, Buchanan, Barnacle and Zuckerman said it too in a

media whorefest against Rather and CBS the other night. Fire the whole damned lot of them. Sick of it! Not Rather and CBS, though...just the lying Media Whores calling for heads to roll that aren't their own.

[barbaraann]

2. Hallelujah!!!!!!

Brian Maloney was utterly useless. He wasn't even very good at repeating GOP talking points.

[SonOfSam]

5. Right on! Free speech for those that speak for us only!

The "useless" speakers have no right to free speech. What do we win when we silence the other side? Nothing.

[Kathy in Cambridge]

6. Buh-Bye!

:hi:

[miss_kitty]

8. entrecom and KIRO are privately owned and have been around for years

they have ALWAYS employed the MOST CONSERVATIVE anchors in town. It was owned by Mormons then sold to Entrecom. they made no noticeable changes.

if he just got canned after saying something like that, chances are, it's been in the works for a while, especially if it was KIRO.

[Media_Lies_Daily]

17. I've noticed that rightwingers get especially indignant....

...when their interpretation of "free speech" is not supported.

[buff2]

19. "The other side" always tries to silence us.......

So what's the difference? Oh,never mind.

[antigone382]

21. He hasn't been silenced

He worked for a CBS affiliate and he discredited his own network when he criticized Dan Rather's journalistic integrity (and that of the CBS Evening News, by association). Sounds like justification for dismissal to me.

You don't tell your bosses who they should or shouldn't fire (or force into retirement), if you want to keep your job.

[Voltaire99]

25. Maloney's a scapegoat. Rather and CBS are on the skids.

"Dan Rather" is a brand name, usually synonymous with half-lunatic flattery for whomever is in power.

Given his obsequious history I was surprised he and CBS had the nerve to run the memo story at all--especially when there is so much more to nail Bush with that doesn't depend on questionable documents. But their incompetence isn't surprising. It's a sign of CBS pathological history of manufacturing consent that, when it suddenly lurches toward muckraking, it's too out of practice, too flabby from lying to do so well.

Maloney is out--that's showbiz!--because CBS is now in the unenviable position of being

a) found amateurish
b) exposed to loss of revenue from GOP advertisers
c) required to put Rather out to pasture as quietly as possible.

At such times, scapegoats are useful. ;-)

[yardwork]

24. That's probably why they allowed him to be fired!

Win-win for Rove. A talk show host gets martyred and they get rid of an ineffective shill.

[WLKjr]

26. yep,

Brian Maloney was just full o Baloney.....:D He was a useless pos radio host, I listened to his show once and that was enough for me. And the balls to critize a guy who was in the business before Brian was even an itch in his dad's pants, was stupid on his part.

[stepnw1f]

3. Prove the Memos to be Forgeries!

We are waiting...

[miss_kitty]

7. asshat

"...I said I felt Rather should either retire or be forced out over this..."

"What they have expressed is essentially that my show went in a direction they're not comfortable with," Maloney said."

so immediately it means they did it solely because he dissed Dan Rather...and look at the POS-he was advocating Rather get the ax. well, now he got his wish. he doesn't have to be embarrassed by working at the same network as Dan Rather

[gmoney]

10. Could be coincidental

...maybe the decision was made to fire him because he had lousy ratings or advertisers were complaining or he was screwing the station manager's wife.

[sally343434]

12. Sounds suspicious

While Maloney claims his criticizing Rather caused his ouster, I don't know if I believe it. KIRO-AM is pretty right-wing in its talk shows, with the exception of one late-night slot per day.

There was a time when KIRO-AM was part of the same company (Bonneville -- the media arm of the Mormon Church) that also owned KIRO-TV and KIRO-FM. But Bonneville sold these holdings many years ago. KIRO-TV is the CBS affiliate in Seattle, and is now owned by Cox Broadcasting. KIRO-AM and KQBZ-FM (formerly KIRO-FM) are owned by Entercom.

During the week, the AM station does news/sports/traffic/weather during drive time with right-wing talk filling in the remainder except for the 10 PM - 1 AM slot which has liberal firebrand Mike Webb (who, incidentally, has the top book in the market!)

The FM station is the usual vulgar adolescent-humor lad shows, with Leykis and his ilk.

Maybe Maloney can find a job down the dial at KKKVI.

[trapper914]

15. From a radio guy...

...the "direction his show was going" is radio speak for...not entertaining enough to generate ratings and revenue. The fact that it happened this week is coincidental. The fall ratings period is just about to begin...radio gets really serious about the fall and spring ratings periods. Chances are, this had been in the works since the spring book came out...and KIRO was down 25% from last fall. They probably already have his replacement hired.

[The_Casual_Observer]

16. The trend seems to be toward liberal radio right now

AAR seems to be doing OK, it just might be that people are getting worn out on the rw bullshit in light of what actually happens when their talk turns into action and reality.

[DaleyDemocrat]

20. From your mouth to God's ears!

Unfortunately they're making no inroads here. WLS is a rightwing powerhouse and the Air America effort went belly-up in what seemed like 2 weeks.

Here's hoping you're right!

[stevedeshazer]

18. Bingo

No one listened to his show, and with good reason.

[BiggJawn]

22. Scott Simon cracked a LAME-assed CBS "joke" on WE today...

Was leading into the 9AM hour and was mentioning CBS' founding then made some lame-assed comment about not needing a suspect memo to confirm that...

Bet he didn't lose his job....