The Daily News
1 Sorry about no DN on Friday. I was a tad late getting out of the chute, and decided I would write the DN at school.
2 <basketball buzzer>
3 The firewall prevented me from sending anything out, and after I got home, I thought that I had gotten a DN off. I wrote several at school, even put it up on Word, but the firewall kept erasing it. In the back of my mind, I had mailed one off.
4 I was grading papers 'til around five in the afternoon, and then went out to watch our version of Christmas-in-the-Park.
5 By the time I got home, I had a ton of papers to grade, and forgot that I never really shot off a DN.
6 I'm still coming off yet more paper-grading, so I'm not really sure what the heck is going on these days.There's a rumor that the forty-niners somehow lost to Arizona, which really sucks, because Arizona is becoming one of the worst states in the nation politically.
7 And yes, I'm quite fine in saying that. Stooges vote in that state. Yes, stooges vote in our state too, but in a more fashionably liberal sense.
8 <what?omg! he said the "L" word!>
9 Yes he did.
10 Moving on, Part the First: Am I the only guy who is outraged that KGO radio massacreed any talk-show host who was the slightest bit liberal? Or even weirder, conservative?
11 I believe we should have a massive boycott of that station, which recently was under new management.
12 Cumulus Media took over these guys, and has now set a dangerous precedent of media control. Well, the precedent was established long ago, but a station as powerful as KGO? Outrageous.
13 As far as I know, the following news talk folks have been given a stark pink slip: Gene Burns, Gil Gross, the immortal Ray Taliaferro, and John Rothmann. The hatchet is also coming down on Chico grad Bill Wattenburg, a staunch conservative, as well as fitness guru Joanie Greggains.
14 I refuse to listen to KGO now. They want more news, less talk. Seriously?
15 The news is now controlled in the Bay Area. Liberal/Conservative/Intellectual talk on today's news is now kaput. I don't care if you are a liberal, a conservative, a fascist, a communist, an atheist, a health nut, or a gay rights activist: The issue is that equal debate on major issues is officially a thing of the past in the Bay Area. At least KGO posed that it was giving equal measure to all issues, and encouraged healthy debate, and sometimes abuse from hosts to callers. But at least issues were debated.
16 Talk radio is now muzzled and controlled by corporate giants. The thought police have drawn a line in the sand, and nobody has stepped up to call them on this.
17 People who worked faithfully for years on that station are now out of a job. Their families are probably devastated.
18 And nobody has said a word about this. I saw a mini-movement on Facebook, but I really think a huge boycott of that station is in perfect order. I don't start boycotts, but I do encourage them.
19 No matter where you are politically, you used to be able to tune in and hear all sides of all issues.
20 You will now get slanted news, and it is my feeling that it will slant to the right.
21 Free thought is officially a thing of the past.
22 Who controls the present controls the future.
24 Wow.
25 Maybe when Christmas hits I might be able to be a bit more active on this grizzly massacre.
26 Meanwhile, I urge everybody walking around to boycott KGO San Francisco.
27 Oh, theif angle is this: "We're losing money."
28 REALLY???
29 Wait 'til people boycott you.
30 Whew.
31 Aight.
32 Well, it's been a lonnnnng weekend, and the massacre of human thought somehow has increased.
33 Let's all band to fight this ridiculous lie.
34 I'll try to stay on it.
35 Just boycott KGO radio San Francisco.
36 Peace.
~H~
www.xanga.com/barrington
Ingnorance is Strength.
Slavery is Freedom.
War is Peace.
Here the "official" story from December 3:
KGO Radio plans immediate shift to news-oriented format
By Angela Hill
Oakland Tribune
Posted: 12/03/2011 07:24:49 AM PST
Updated: 12/03/2011 12:57:17 PM PST
More news and less talk is coming to KGO radio, a move that already has lots of listeners grumbling.
The San Francisco-based station at 810-AM, owned by Cumulus Media and long known for its popular hosts and call-in talk shows discussing issues of the day, will make the switch to an all-news format from 2 p.m. to midnight starting Monday. Several of its most recognizable voices, such as Gene Burns, Gil Gross, Ray Taliaferro and John Rothmann will be let go, sources confirmed. Shows hosted by Bill Wattenburg and Joanie Greggains may also be canceled.
Twenty-year listener Carol Soc, of El Cerrito, said she's mortified by the changes.
"I consider Gene and Gil to be companions in my life," she said. "I recently learned that I have terminal cancer, and listening to KGO has become a major part of my life since I am now confined mainly to my home. I will miss both of them tremendously. Most likely nothing can be done to go back, but I miss 'the old days' already."
A short explanation was posted on KGO's website Friday morning, before the note disappeared later in the day: "After careful consideration we've determined our audience is looking for more news, which is why we are increasing our news presence throughout the day," the post read.
Calls made to KGO executives and the Cumulus offices in San Francisco on Friday were not returned.
Gross posted this message on Facebook on Thursday evening: "It's been fun, San Francisco.
Truly the most fun I've ever had was at KGO. See you soon."The Ronn Owens program, which airs from 9 a.m. to noon, "will continue to be the place where the Bay Area goes to talk about current events and breaking news," according to the KGO website, and talk shows will still be aired on the weekends on KGO and its sister station, KSFO. Host Brian Copeland will keep his weekend show.
Traditional radio broadcasting has been in flux the past few years partly because of the increased popularity of Internet and satellite radio stations, industry experts say. KGO, one of the few remaining news/talk stations in the country that generated most of its programming locally, had maintained its status as the Bay Area's No. 1 radio station for nearly three decades, according to Arbitron, a consumer research company that rates radio stations. But KGO's ratings have dropped significantly in the past few years, often beaten out by all-news KCBS 740-AM, and its FM simulcast at 106.9.
KGO radio operated as the West Coast flagship station for ABC until it was purchased by Citadel Broadcasting in 2007. In 2009, longtime weatherman Leo Ciolino and veteran reporters Greg Jarrett and Greg Edmunds were let go. Then Cumulus took over this year. Cumulus bills itself as the nation's "second-largest operator of radio stations." In the Bay Area market, it also operates KFOG-FM, KNBR-AM and KSAN-FM.
Radio-Info.com, an online community discussing radio issues, was buzzing about the changes Friday.
"Welcome to the brave new world! SAD! But we all knew it was coming," one commenter posted. And another said, "San Francisco does not need a second commercial all-news station. Even L.A. can no longer support a second all-news station. Very sorry to hear about the firing of Burns, Rothmann, Taliaferro, and especially Gil Gross."
A woman who said she was a longtime and "disappointed" listener wrote to the Oakland Tribune: "It is very disappointing and KGO will become a 'news/gossip' station without the information of those highly regarded persons. Will now have to change my car radio to ... what?"
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