Last night, Friends of Progressive Talk in Madison, Wisconsin, held a meeting at Glass Nickel Pizza regarding the Mic 92.1's plans to discontinue the Bill Press show on weekday mornings. Bill Press, a liberal commentator whose show is based out of Washington D.C., would be replaced on April 1 with the Wall Street Journal Report, a news program similar in many respects to NPR-style broadcasts.
The meeting was a positive start to what will hopefully result in the Mic keeping Bill Press on the morning lineup. The sentiment of the 50-60 people who packed the basement of Glass Nickel ranged from outrage to confusion, with most (let's face it...all) in attendance upset over the station's decision to remove a liberal program in favor of a new show that, although seemingly non-biased, is part of the Rupert Murdoch-owned media machine.
Tim Scott, the station manager of the Mic, was unable to attend that evening, but the group hoped to meet with him sometime soon. Ideas of increasing advertising revenue were discussed at great lengths as well, as were the creation of a Friends of Progressive Talk Facebook page and website.
Overall, the group agreed that Clear Channel needed to keep Bill Press on the airwaves. They agreed that moving towards an NPR-like show in that time slot would be a mistake -- many participants posited aloud that listeners that wanted to hear NPR would simply turn NPR on. Some participants saw the move towards replacing Bill Press as one that was a direct assault on the overall programming the Mic provides for Madison -- others simply felt that the station was simply misguided, that it truly believed a news show in the morning would benefit the Mic. Either way, everyone agreed that Clear Channel was making a mistake, and that we should do whatever we can to keep the Bill Press show -- and any other progressive programming that may be threatened on the station -- in place.
But a group of people agreeing to support an ideal, and having the management agree to that ideal as well, are two very different things. So the pressure needs to stay on.
You can call Tim Scott at Clear Channel at (608) 274-5450. You can email him as well at TimScott@clearchannel.com. Be sure to express just how much you want to keep the Bill Press show on the air, and that we won't tolerate replacing any show on the Mic unless doing so keeps the station progressive.
Also, be sure to email the Bill Press show as well, to let them know that we're fighting for his show to stay alive in Madison. You can do so here through a form on the Bill Press show's website.
This can only work if the station sees that progressive radio hosts like Bill Press are not only appreciated, but needed, in order to keep the Mic popular. Tell Clear Channel to keep the Mic progressive, and to keep programming alive that reflects the ideals of liberalism and progressives!
Thanks for the update. Couldn't make it to the meeting.
ReplyDeleteI e-mailed Tim Scott and congratulated him on removing dead weight from his station. I have listened to Bill Press for months and can only come up with this inescapable conclusion: He is full of hate, hypocrisy, and hot air. He just recently commented about the recent federal judge ruling that declared Obamacare unconstitutional by calling the judges a bunch of idiots. He sings the praises of hate-mongers and filth-spewers like Mike Malloy and Randi "Kill Bush" Rhodes and then has the hypocrisy to proclaim in his book "Toxic Talk" that they don't spew hate. That is a lie. He called one caller a liar after that caller correctly pointed out that there were numerous "Kill Bush" protests signs during the Bush presidency. And now he's going to throw a temper tantrum because a station is getting rid of his worthless show? Whaah! Good riddance, I say.
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ReplyDeleteEven if you dislike Bill Press, wouldn't you agree that, on a progressive talk station, replacing a progressive talk show with a non-progressive program makes little sense? If they're going to can Press from the Mic, they ought to find someone to replace him with, perhaps a local personality. But replacing him with a Wall Street program makes little sense, given that most listeners probably have no interest at all in listening to such a program.
The last time Bill Press mattered, he was on CNN's "Crossfire" about a decade ago. He still has not come to terms with the fact he is out of the game, & is lashing out, trying to be relevent. I think I spotted him in the entryway at a Wal-Mart on the missing persons board. All kidding aside, Press is like so many "progressive" talkers, who know damn well they cannot compete in the free market, & they feel the need for their friends in gov't to rig the game. The "Fairness Doctrine" or "Localism" are ideas that speak to this. It's bad enough the taxpayer has to prop up state run radio in the form of NPR, but to support regulations that mandate what can be said & by who is un-American. I'm not suprised that this always comes from "liberal/progressive" types.
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