Free Republic

Former Speaker of the House Thomas Finneran said he’s leaving his post as a radio yakker on WRKO-AM, announcing on air this morning that Thursday’s show will be his last. Finneran said on the “Tom & Todd” morning show that he will be pursing other “plans and opportunities out there in the real world” and will sign off after Thursday’s show. He joined the station in February 2007. “We’re having a very amicable parting,” he said. Finneran lost his own law license and was sentenced to 18 months unsupervised probation after pleading guilty to obstruction of justice in 2007. The...

Former House speaker Thomas M. Finneran, seeking to cleanse the stain left by his 2007 conviction for obstruction of justice, is angling for a last-minute pardon from President Bush and has lined up a group of former Massachusetts governors to back his request. Finneran submitted an application for a presidential pardon last month, and the four governors - Democrat Michael Dukakis and Republicans William F. Weld, Paul Cellucci, and Jane Swift - followed up with a letter to the White House praising his integrity. Finneran has already been "severely punished," the governors wrote, citing the loss of his state pension,...

He may have had a captive audience on Beacon Hill, but thousands of talk show listeners are fleeing as ratings show ex-House Speaker Tom Finneran bombing in his new radio career. With the disgraced pol behind the microphone, WRKO lost nearly one-third of its morning drive audience among the key category of 25- to 54-year-old adults this winter compared to the same time last year, according to Arbitron winter ratings figures obtained by the Herald. “Politicians do have an impact on radio. They make me turn it off,” said Michael Graham, a host on rival station WTKK (96.9 FM). Finneran...

Howie live thread. A press conference was aired on WRKO re: the new morning show with Tom Finneran. Start date will be Feb 12. Scott Allen Miller will continue in his current slot until then and he may wind up elsewhere at Entercom after his show ends. Finneran says the show will feature everything from politics to sports (oh, the press conference just ended and the first caller said it was a sad day for the station, and the caller said Finneran was an "arrogant, condescending, liar"). I think it was said Finneran might appear on Howie's show later today...

House Speaker Thomas M. Finneran said yesterday that the Supreme Judicial Court did not force the Legislature to enact gay marriage immediately, but instead sent the divisive issue into the political arena, where lawmakers will face "heartfelt" decisions based on their beliefs as much as the law. ADVERTISEMENT Finneran, who until yesterday had not spoken publicly on the historic Nov. 18 ruling, said he sees three options for the Legislature: a constitutional amendment to ban gay marriage, a civil unions bill for same-sex couples, or doing nothing and letting the ruling stand. He has not decided which approach he prefers....