Posted on 01/29/2008 7:54:55 AM PST by SmithL
KGO radio's popular "Godtalk" show will stay on the air whether its embattled host returns or not, a spokesman for the all-chat channel said Friday.
NewsTalk 810 fired Bernie Ward in December after he was indicted on two counts of possessing and distributing pornographic images of children, charges that stem from a period at the end of 2004 and the beginning of 2005.
Ward said he was researching a book on hypocrisy. He has pleaded not guilty. A trial is set for June 9.
In addition to "Godtalk," Ward also talked politics on the nightly "Bernie Ward Show."
Fans have clamored for Ward to return to the air, and sponsors have also called in their support to Citadel, the station's owner, said his business attorney, Jeannette Boudreau.
"They are considering it," she said. "They believe in Bernie."
But no matter what happens to Ward, the station does not plan to drop what has become a lively interfaith discourse. "Godtalk" is the most popular Bay Area radio program in its 6 to 9 a.m. Sunday time slot.
"I think people are fascinated by it," said Jack Swanson, operations manager.
Before executives concocted "Godtalk" for the Sunday morning time slot, the station transmitted Sunday services from a Berkeley church.
Then, in 1977, "We said, we talk about everything else -- let's talk about God," he said.
"Godtalk's" first host was Tom Hunter, a folksinger who has since moved to the Pacific Northwest.
One day when Hunter was out sick, Ward walked into Swanson's office and announced he would like to do a political show.
"I said, 'You and everybody else.'"
The conversation ended when Ward admitted he had no radio experience. Then Swanson saw at the bottom of Ward's resume that he had taught religion and ethics to high school students. The former Franciscan priest went on the air.
"I always wanted people to think," Ward said in an emotional telephone interview.
"People were willing to address the larger questions, to be compassionate," he said. "People would say, 'You're working six days a week, you could give up "Godtalk." ' It got me up every Sunday morning, and I was always very grateful."
Over time, a community of listeners developed. In 19 years, they raised $5 million for Ward's Thanksgiving charity drive.
"I'm hoping they can see their way clear to letting me do it a while longer," he said, his voice cracking.
His frequent potshots at organized religion of all stripes mandated some tense sit-downs with religious leaders, Swanson said.
The Orthodox rabbi who has been pinch-hitting on "Godtalk" has proved as controversial as Ward.
Rabbi Dan Lapin, a friend of the late Jerry Falwell and former House Majority Leader Tom DeLay, broadcasts from his home on Mercer Island, Wash., where he founded Toward Tradition, a conservative Jewish-Christian organization.
He suffered an embarrassment when e-mails made public by the Washington Post revealed he agreed to manufacture phony Talmudic studies awards to help his friend Jack Abramoff qualify for membership in the exclusive Cosmos Club. Abramoff also served on the board of Toward Tradition.
Until recently, Lapin had been holding forth on KSFO, the radio home of Rush Limbaugh and Dr. Laura. The station's Web site still links to Lapin's blog, but his show has disappeared from its lineup.
Bernie Ward is like San Francisco’s Michael Moore, without the charm. It is no wonder the anti-American, anti-religion moonbats in the Special City love him.
He’s not convicted yet . . . but I don’t think it’s too early to call for the old hypocrite to realize what he has done and repent.
hhmmm
I thought Mr. Melanie Morgan was skipper over at KSFO.
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