"Equal" Opportunity Employers?

by: B.J.

Posted: March 24, 2006

Well, after reading about Talk Show Host, Dave Lenihan's firing from KTRS-AM in St. Louis on Wednesday (March 22nd), I jumped right on it.  The morning show on KTRS discussed this issue, and they did play the clip of Dave's statement.  I must admit that it is very difficult to deny that his actions were malicious after actually hearing the clip.  I'm truly concerned about the snickering between making the "slip" and producing the immediate apology.  Maybe his intentions were not to racially degrade Condoleezza Rice, however it's hard to believe that his “slip” wasn’t planned in advance.  

Many "talents" (used loosely) like Dave Lenihan have to resort to making overly sensational “slips” like that in order to establish enough listener outrage in order to get them to participate in their show.  True enough, controversy sells, and generates listener interest, however it requires TALENT to do it without “crossing the line”.  Hosts like Dave obviously do not have the natural talent to be a talk show host, so they are left taking risks like that in hopes that it could galvanize callers to call in and elevate the quality level of his show.  Unfortunately, many of those tactics fail miserably.  Only TALENT succeeds in this business, and the primary reason many talk stations are FAILING is because they are refusing more and more to make hiring decisions based on TALENT, which is a far bigger issue than Dave Lenihan’s “slip”.

There are also other more pressing issues concerning talk radio than Mr. Lenihan’s “slip”.  The truth of the matter is that there's no talk medium that is more racist, offensive, and downright hateful towards a race of people than typical "black" talk stations.  Not only is the promotion of the hatred of whites permitted on "black" talk stations--it is the PRIMARY qualification required to be an on-air talent on a “black” talk station.  What's most hysterical to me is the double standard that the talk radio industry is under when it comes to the handling of perceived racist commentary.  "Black" talkers aren't only excused for racist comments; they're EXPECTED to make them.  That type of commentary is off-limits for whites, and what’s most amazing to me is that no one has the intestinal fortitude to address this issue at all.

Furthermore, another issue that's "conveniently" ignored is the hiring practices that many of these program directors (PDs) make in this industry.  I don't know what's more hysterical--their outright LIES concerning "hiring the talent who can make the station the most money", or their cries "that they just can't find any ‘good’ talent".  The reason why they can't "find" any talent is because they are NOT looking for talent.  Their actions clearly indicate this.  Some of the PDs lines of reason can be justified, however, because:

We have BLACK talk radio to thank for that.

Yes, thanks to the filth that's spewed throughout typical "black" talk radio stations, a general (white) talk station wouldn't dare "touch" a potential aspiring black talent.  Using their "hiring the best talent that could bring revenue to the station" argument, and since there's no doubt that 100% "doom and gloom", "blame whitey for everything", "continue to worship corrupt 'leaders', preachers, and the Democratic plantation forever" radio is clearly NOT a successful talk radio strategy, there's virtually NO WAY IN HELL that a general talk station would take a chance on an obvious qualified talent that happens to be black because unfortunately they are already lumped in the same category as these black talk show host LOSERS that I've previously described.  Therefore the PDs of general talk stations aren’t willing to take a chance on a black talent because they have PRE-judged all black talents to represent the LOSING philosophy of liberalism, and the promotion of hatred towards whites.  For those like myself who do NOT subscribe to such a philosophy, I’m stuck on “the outside looking in” in both cases…

The truth of the matter is that if I was under the same thought processes as these PDs, and only went on perception, then I WOULD DO THE SAME THING.  Unfortunately however, it is this thought process that all but "locks" talents like myself from getting the opportunity that I undoubtedly deserve.  I try to explain to these PDs that I don’t subscribe to such a mindset, but to no avail.  IF THEY WOULD JUST REVIEW THE MATERIAL, it would confirm my claims to be accurate.  The challenge is getting them to the point of actually reviewing my material…

The biggest outrage is that these same stations, like KTRS, who proclaim themselves "Equal Opportunity Employer", find it very difficult to hire even one black talent for their stations.  It's hard to convince a logically thinking person like myself that a company is an "Equal Opportunity Employer" when the actions of that company prove otherwise.  It's also hard to believe that NO qualified black talents have applied for an on-air talent position at KTRS in the past.  In fact, if they used the same set of standards that they used for their white counterparts, then far more black talents would be on radio stations like KTRS.  Consider the Dave Lenihan situation:  He was being "groomed" for a position.  So is it common practice for a radio station to “groom” a talent in AFTERNOON DRIVE?  I don’t think so.  Last I've checked, "groomed" indicates that the person is NOT currently prepared for the position when he was given the position.  These actions go on THROUGHOUT the industry.  White male hosts are constantly "groomed" to be talk show hosts, while black SEASONED and EXPERIENCED talk show hosts are DENIED the opportunity to be one.  That hardly sounds like an "Equal Opportunity Employer" to me...

Don't take my word for it--please see for yourself.  Go to any general talk radio station and what will you see?  ALL-white on-air staff.  Yes, the "black" talk stations have ALL black hosts, however, they make hiring decisions not only based on skin color, but also based on political philosophy as well.  They don't make the best hiring decisions based on TALENT either.  In NEITHER case are these actions justified.  It is, however, more understandable in the case of general (white) talk radio.  Since it is obvious that the garbage that is spewed on "black" talk stations does NOT directly result in good ratings or advertising revenue, there's NO excuse for them to continue with their current hiring practices.  Furthermore, if the general talk radio stations were truly "Equal Opportunity Employers", then they would hire the most QUALIFIED talent they could find, and that station would reach their maximum rating and revenue potential.

There is no other entertainment medium that is more segregated than talk radio.  I don't understand it in EITHER case.  People in this industry, who downright REFUSE to address my concerns, usually respond by insulting my intelligence with INACCURATE statements like, "Stations will hire the best talent that can bring in revenue to the station."  This is a crock!  True enough, radio stations are a business, and businesses have to make money in order to remain in business.  However, these stations aren't making the BEST hiring decisions, and they are reflected in the current sagging ratings of many talk stations.  Furthermore, there might be an even bigger issue that shouldn't be forgotten, and that is concerning the content that is on "black" talk stations.  If it were truly about achieving the highest ratings possible, and revenue for a particular station, then why are "black" talk radio “personalities” (used loosely) allowed to continue to promote their filth to the listening audience with the blessing of their white owners and operators when they know FULL WELL that this type of talk radio is NOT profitable?  I wrote about this issue in my Suppression of Black Thought piece.

The issues I just brought up far exceed the importance of Dave Lenihan's “slip” concerning Condoleezza Rice--regardless if his comments were actually malicious or not.