Deplorable!

If you read Robert Feder’s column yesterday, or logged on to radio-related message boards on the Internet, you probably know by now that Cara Carriveau was fired from WLUP-FM (97.9), “The Loop” -- all because she wrote a letter to Mr. Feder decrying the state of radio in Chicago. (The story actually broke last night in the Chicago Tribune courtesy of Phil Rosenthal):

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/custom/newsroom/chi-061004carriveau,1,1580100.story?coll=chi-news-hed


So, in Feder’s column today, Marv Nyren, vice president and general manager of WLUP explained his reason for firing Ms. Carriveau… (From Chicago Sun-Times):

“I don’t think Cara is a fan of what’s happening here”, Nyren said. “I have no problem with my people talking to you, but I want to have people here who believe in our industry and believe what we’re doing is right.”

Yep, good luck finding those type of people. And as for believing what you’re doing is right -- You guys are doing about as much right these days as Cubs management. (I wonder is that the new model for the radio business?).

Then in the article, Nyren stated that he and program director Tim Dukes felt that there were more talented individuals than Ms Carriveau. Like Turd.

You’ve got to be kidding me… Turd? Turd? More talented? That’s like saying the Oakland Raiders are more talented than the Bears. Certainly, you can see why the broadcasting business is in decline. You can see why listeners and viewers are fleeing to alternatives to radio and television such as satellite radio, YouTube, Internet radio, DVDs, etc., and as a result, their ratings go down, and so does revenue. And so, instead of winning back the public, what do they do? Go crying to Congress and try to have the rules changed -- like the FCC getting rid of fin-syn and loosing the rules so more irresponsible corporate nitwits can own more radio and television stations in a single market to make more money -- and guess what -- the Republican-backed Congress -- is willing to give these guys anything they want -- never mind they haven’t served the public in years.

So what do the remaining loyal listeners and viewers get for their years of faithful service? A shitload of crap, in the form of more commercials, bland chatter, annoying personalities (using the word “personalities” is a stretch because some of these guys don’t seem to have one), more tabloid-like news reporting, more reports on crime in the hood, dumb reality shows, According To Jim, etc.

Remember people, this is Emmis we’re talking about -- yes, the same owners whose hip-hop radio station in New York ran a tasteless Tsunami parody in 2004 and recently flipped a successful Country station in Los Angeles to another format. You think Emmis and their fellow corporate clowns give a damn about Chicago? Instead of dealing with worthless topics like foie gras and microchips in dogs, the Chicago City Council should investigate the sad state of radio in this market and these questionable moves these so-called “executives” are making. Even more strange, part of this decision to fire Ms. Carriveau was made by Mr. Dukes -- a former DJ himself (WFLZ -- The Power Pig in Tampa, Fla. in the early ‘90’s --). Man, talk about being a sellout.

It’s a shame that a talented long-time veteran like Ms. Carriveau was shown the door because she spoke out what basically is the truth in Chicago, and around the country. Apparently, she has more class than these jackasses who run our media outlets.

Links:

Robert Feder's article:

http://www.suntimes.com/business/feder/84110,CST-FIN-feder05.article

And posters are talking about it on this fine message board:

http://www.chicagolandradioandmedia.com/