Posted on 09/22/2004 1:58:08 PM PDT by ScoopandDizzy
September 22, 2004
Talk-show host blames firing on criticism of Dan Rather
By BRIAN SEALS SENTINEL STAFF WRITER
SEATTLE — As a homegrown Santa Cruz County conservative, Brian Maloney was accustomed to occasionally ruffling some political feathers without backing down.
He isn’t wavering now either, less than a week he was ousted as a talk show host from CBS Radio affiliate KIRO in Seattle.
Maloney said he was fired Friday after saying CBS newsman Dan Rather should be fired, or forced to retire, over the credibility of memos regarding President George Bush’s National Guard service that were the basis of a "60 Minutes" news story. (Rather apologized this week.)
Maloney believes that was the reason he was canned.
"It was kind of bold, what I said," said the graduate of UC Santa Cruz and Soquel High School. "I felt like what wasn’t being said was that Rather was destroying his credibility and taking down the affiliates with him."
A few days after the Sept. 12 broadcast, Maloney found through his union representative he had been fired.
KIRO station manager Ken Berry said Maloney’s termination was more of a scheduling move based not on Maloney’s comments, but because the station’s broadcast of Seattle Seahawks football games limited Sunday afternoon times slots for talk-show hosts.
"This is nothing but a disgruntled part-time employee who lost his Sunday time slot due to program scheduling that had nothing to do with comments about Dan Rather or CBS," Berry said.
Maloney isn’t buying the football explanation. He has held the Sunday evening time slot for the past three years, he said.
"I’ve never been affected by the football games," Maloney said. "That is a lame excuse."
An e-mail to about 20 friends and associates shortly after his termination has evolved into a media storm. The Associated Press followed the story and Maloney said Tuesday he had just been interviewed by Fox News. He was scheduled to be on Fox’s "Hannity and Colmes" show Tuesday night.
Maloney also was a guest on the midday show at the radio station where he got his start — KSCO in Santa Cruz.
KSCO owner Michael Zwerling said he invited Maloney to join the station out of college.
"Brian is an excellent broadcaster," Zwerling said. "He is a handful, for sure. He’s controversial, he says what’s on his mind."
The past few days have been a blur of media interviews, Maloney said.
His next step remains to be seen. Today he will meet with union officials from the American Federation of Radio and Television Artists, he said.
During his time in Santa Cruz Maloney worked on political campaigns and worked at KSCO. He moved on to Reno and worked at KOH-FM before heading to Seattle.
Maloney describes his show as being "a step or two right of center," but also said there are talk show hosts much more conservative than he is.
He contended his slot was replaced by a more liberal commentator.
Any regrets? Not from Maloney.
"You just have to do your best show and take your lumps," he said. "You can’t sell out."
Contact Brian Seals at bseals@santacruzsentinel.com.
figures!
KIRO is the same radio station which permitted morning host Dave Ross to stay on the air for several weeks despite his being a candidate for the U.S. Congress. THAT says all anyone needs to know about KIRO.
BTW, Ross won the Dem primary and will face King County Sheriff Dave Reichert (of Green River Killer fame) in November.
Poll with Reichert up by 16 points:
http://www.davereichertforcongress.com/site/
This is for the seat currently held by Jennifer Dunn.
Mapes was once at KIRO, for what it's worth:
http://www.nytimes.com/2004/09/22/politics/campaign/22cbs.html
It was also the station where Mary Mapes served as a producer.
And, apparently she was involved in a similar situation at KIRO, using an “eyewitness” who apparently was not present at the event (police shooting) that Mapes and KIRO were “reporting” on.
This seems fair. Dan Rather lies and keeps his job; this guy tells the truth and loses his. It appears the truth has set him free:)
cruzio pingio.
yup.
“What Kind Of Producers Does Dan Rather Have? One of them is Mary Mapes, who appears to have worked on the forged documents story. Conservative talk show host John Carlson, who knew her at Seattle's KIRO years ago, described her, last Friday, as liberal advocacy journalist, or perhaps I should say, "journalist". Then her father, who lives in this area, called in. After saying that he was ashamed of his daughter, he summarized her this way:
She is a typical liberal with an ax to grind.
There are reports, which I have not verified, that Mapes interviewed people who did not back the fraudulent story — and chose not to include what they said.”
http://www.seanet.com/~jimxc/Politics/September2004_2.html
It is so transparent what is going on here. I saw that KIRO clown on Fox News yesterday and just laughed. Yeah right it isn't related.
I just sent KIRO a 'disgusted' email note.
Maybe Michael Zwerling can get him back.
I asked if KIRO had registered as a "527 group" yet.
haha
Everyone has been calling on CBS to fire someone over Rathergate, and CBS has.
KIRO?
Kerry Instigated Rather's Offense
MZ should run Laura I's program 6-9am instead of the cr*p that is on.
Not at a station which considers Dori Monson a conservative!
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