Changes At KDKA Radio

From the ever-reliable Adrian McCoy:

News/talk KDKA-AM (1020) will shake up its programming schedule in the new year, and bring back a voice familiar to the station's regular talk show listeners.

It's a good news/bad news thing. First the good news:

The changes displace current noon-to-3 p.m. host Kevin Miller and evening host John Steigerwald, who were both let go and are now off the air here.

And now the bad:

The station announced yesterday that starting Jan. 5, former KDKA talk host Mike Pintek will return to the station to host an evening talk show weeknights from 6 to 10 p.m.

I wonder if Mike Pintek is still "not convinced" that President-Elect Obama is a US Citizen. I wonder if KDKA asked him.

More On Kevin Miller Being "Censored"

Ok, so I was wrong - it was a hoax.  (And "hoax" is World Net Daily's word.)  Take a look at their second headline:

Management claims host's reprimand for Obama coverage only a hoax

See?  

Let's move on.  Here's how the piece begins:

Several days after a news-talk radio host was reprimanded on air for his coverage of Obama, station executives are now calling the incident a publicity stunt.

And WND's confirmation of this as a stunt:

This week, after Kumanchik finished his statements condemning Miller's coverage, people began calling to criticize the station, suggesting it was censoring the talk-radio host. Others were confused and wondered whether the broadcast was simply a publicity stunt.

KDKA program director Marshall Adams initially would not respond to repeated requests for comment from WND. But several days after the report, and possibly under pressure from the public, he offered a brief explanation.

"I can answer that at the station management level and also from the corporate CBS, no one censored Kevin Miller," he said. "It was a stunt that Kevin and his executive producer went a little too far on, and they went on the air and apologized."

However, when WND inquired about the purpose of the alleged stunt, Adams refused to explain.

"I'm sharing with you as much comment as I'm going to share with you," he said. [emphasis added]

So what does this mean?  If this is true, then it means that Kevin Miller LIED TO HIS LISTENERS.  He knew that what he was presenting on the air as true wasn't yet he went with it anyway.  During the show on which he was faux-reprimanded, Miller said repeatedly that he didn't know what the statement was going to be.  If he's the source of the stunt, all that WAS A LIE.

By the way some of his supporters have been blaming the "Obama Censorship Squad."  Will they ever get the message that Miller lied to them as well?  How long will this story (about how the Obama campaign somehow manipulated the KDKA to silence Kevin Miller?) last even though it's completely untrue?

So what else does this mean?  It means that KDKA LIED TO ITS LISTENERS.  P.J. Kumanchik read a statement from the "higher ups" at CBS over the air - that wasn't from the "higher-ups" at CBS.  The station misled its listeners to the nature of the complaints about Miller's show and their reaction to those complaints.

For any news organization, the public has to trust that what goes out on the air as news IS NEWS and not a publicity stunt designed to motivate its listeners in one political direction or another.

If WND's reporting is true, this is a sad sad day for the nation's first commercial radio station.

--blogging (again) from an undisclosed location.

Kevin Miller Story Spreading

Short post - today's a busy day.

The Kevin Miller story's made it into the wingut big leagues.

World Net Daily - where the implication is pretty clear: Kevin was reprimanded due to pressure from the Obama campaign. The set-up is pretty clear:

A talk-radio host was reprimanded on air by his executive producer Wednesday after he received complaints about his coverage of Sen. Barack Obama.

KDKA-AM 1020 host Kevin Miller was silenced when executive producer P.J. Kumanchik read a CBS statement accusing Miller of being unfairly biased against Obama.

"We want to apologize to listeners who have found your show offensive," Kumanchik said to Miller on the air.

Then the subtle:

The executive producer of the CBS affiliate said Miller, a Marconi Award nominee and former Army Reserve journalist, had featured guests who were not objective when reporting information about Obama. Miller had recently conducted an Oct. 9 interview with "The Obama Nation" author and WND senior staff reporter Jerome Corsi about his investigation of Obama's connections to opposition leader Raila Odinga in Kenya. He called Corsi "a true patriot" upon his return from detention by Kenyan immigration authorities.

In the interview with Corsi, Miller revealed his personal concerns about efforts to silence Obama critics.

"Well Dr. Corsi, what scares me is, we've seen this from the Obama campaign, that they clearly target people such as yourself, talk radio stations – whether it's WGN or others or people like myself – that speak out," he said. "And if [Obama is] elected, we're going to have a different chorus when it comes to discourse in this country."

Ah, there it is. What World Net Daily wants you to think is that Kevin Miller was reprimanded because he was speaking out about Senator Obama.

Whether it was a stunt now is beside the point.

And I'll ask it again, if it WAS a stunt what did Miller accomplish? Now large swaths of the wingnut right think that KDKA is looking to "silence" Kevin Miller because of his political beliefs.

My guess (and this is only a guess) is that we should be seeing Mr Miller on Hannity and Colmes sometime real soon.

More On Kevin Miller

Seems there's a question about Kevin Miller's show in the news. In a short piece titled:

Was Miller's KDKA-AM reprimand just a stunt?

We get this from Adrian McCoy at the P-G:

A segment that aired during Kevin Miller's show earlier this week has some KDKA-AM (1020) listeners confused. It has prompted a flurry of e-mails and phone calls from people wondering if the talk host is truly being disciplined for his views.

On Wednesday, KDKA executive producer P.J. Kumanchik read a statement from CBS Radio management saying that Miller has demonstrated a pattern of bias against Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama, and that in the spirit of fairness, the station would offer Obama three hours of airtime, pre-empting one of Miller's weekday noon to 3 p.m. air shifts.

Miller apologized yesterday for comments he made on-air regarding being censored after the Wednesday segment.

KDKA program director Marshall Adams would not comment on what the station's intent was in airing Wednesday's segment, or whether it was a promotional stunt. [Emphasis added]

That may be the answer right there. If the station manager won't comment on whether it was a stunt, then it was probably a stunt.

Stunt or not, the Kevin Miller story's gotten onto some of the more wingnuttier places in wingnuttia.

Hannity.com:

Kevin Miller is a conservative commentator on KDKA between 12-3PM. Today at 2PM his manager made an announcement that he was going to force "fairness" and put an Obama campaign spokesman on Kevin's show for the entire 3 hour slot and let him give basically a 3 hour commercial for Obama. This is an outrage. This sounds like the fairness doctrine being force down our throats. KDKA has many liberal shows. I never thought that KDKA would become KGB radio. I suggest that folks go on KDKA.com and search for Kevin's show and e-mail him support against this censorship. I guess the libs think Obama will win and they are beginning to show their true colors.

Really? KDKA has "many" liberal shows? Maybe we should ask Fred Honsberger that question, or John Steigerwald, or Marty Griffin. Many?? Note the comparison to the KGB.

Townhall.com:

The Fairness Doctrine is reinstated today! "CBS radio censors conservative talk host..." Type that in Google and see the results of what fair minded liberals do when they do not agree with conservative talk radio. My guess they started with Mr. Kevin Miller and are going to work their way up the chain. Care to take any bets on how long it will take for them to get to Rush and Sean?

Ooo. Miller can't be happy with that. He's the beginning - and they'll be "work(ing) their way up the chain". How far "down the chain" is he?

Freerepublic.com:

Where "ssaftler" first comments:

This was known in the bad old days as “The Fairness Doctrine”. Welcome to a “Brave New World”.

To which "spacebar" responds:

More like a fledgling Nazi state.

Later on, "SECURE AMERICA" posted this:

Welcome to the Socialist Republic of ObamaNation. Coming soon to your neighborhood as the new Brown Shirts round up dissenters and send them off the the re-education camps..

Cunningly combining BOTH Nazi AND Soviet references. Good show!

Let's just assume for a minute that it WAS a stunt (and it seems likely), what did it accomplish? I mean, does KDKA enjoy being compared to the KGB and Nazi Germany? Because if it was a stunt, that's what Miller accomplished. His audience now thinks the station he works for is just as bad as both.

Good show, Kevin. Nice way to alienate your employers. Very smart.

More On Kevin Miller's Show

Yesterday, we reported that there was something afoot at KDKA.

Adrian McCoy (and with such a name do you do a Rocky reference or a Star Trek reference?) has the story in today's P-G:

Talk radio isn't exactly known for its lack of bias, but during yesterday's Kevin Miller show on KDKA-AM (1020), the concept of fairness appeared to have won a skirmish.

In a segment that could have been either stunt or statement, KDKA executive producer P.J. Kumanchik read an announcement from CBS management addressing accusations that talk host Miller, whose show airs from noon to 3 p.m., is unfairly biased against Sen. Barack Obama's campaign.

Citing a number of e-mails and phone calls from listeners criticizing Miller, Kumanchik offered Democratic presidential candidate Obama a three-hour air shift, usurping Miller's air time.

"We want to apologize to listeners who have found your show offensive," Kumanchik told Miller on the air.

Kumanchik also said the complaints included the use of unapproved audio clips, including the theme from the TV series "The Jeffersons," and unobjective guests.

In the spirit of equal time, John McCain would also be able to have a three-hour solo show.

I think, though, that given the close proximity to the election, Senator McCain would have to be offered equal time.

I still don't think it was a stunt. It sounds too complicated. It was fun, though, to listen to a humbled Kevin Miller.

Kevin Miller Announcement?

Is something happening at KDKA?

I happen to be home today (don't ask - it's not a pretty story) but afternoon radio-guy Kevin Miller's been saying for an hour or so that there will be an on-air meeting with a member of the CBS management at 2pm today. They will, according to Miller, discussing the direction of the show.

No other details available.

UPDATE 2:08: Statement from the parent company read on the air. In response to a number of complaints about the tone/content of the show regarding Senator Obama's campaign, Senator Obama will be hosting the Kevin Miller show for one three hour show at some time in the future.

Obama will host the show with no input from Miller.

At the end of the statement, KDKA apologises to anyone offended by the Kevin Miller show.

UPDATE 2:51: Trying to get a copy of the statement. Once I can, I'll post it here. On the radio Kevin's listeners are comparing KDKA's decision to Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union.

See?

If anyone's listening to KDKA right now, Kevin Miller is currently mid-rant regarding, of course, John Edwards. Of course, he's doing his best to avoid the topic of John McCain's past (and similar) infidelities.

He asked (and I am paraphrasing), "What's the difference between Edwards' story and Newt Gingrich? With John McCain? Well Newt Gingrich isn't running for anything and John McCain's affairs are well documented."

He went on to ask "what sort of man" has an affair with a woman recovering from cancer?

In discussing Edwards, he's right. What sort of man does that?

It's Miller's ease at excusing McCain's infidelities that proves my point about the hypocrisy of the guardians of "our" moral fiber when they (not incorrectly) criticize John Edwards' infidelities while curiously ignoring John McCain's.

Kevin Miller, hypocrite.

UPDATE: Here's a picture of with another pillar of conservative ethics, indicted and disgraced former member of Congress, Tom Delay:

Kevin Miller's in Good Company

The other day, I called into KDKA to try to convince Kevin Miller (who was sitting in for Fred Honsberger at the time) that he was wrong about Valerie Plame.

He said she was not a covert agent.

I amassed actual factual information to show him his obvious error. But as you well know, "facts" and "reality" have little sway on our nation's right wing pundits (and more than a few trolls here at 2PJ for that matter).

Well, Mr Miller's in good company. Wesley Pruden, writing in the moonie-owned Washington Times, said roughly the same thing (h/t to Mediamatters.org):

If anyone compromised "national security" by "outing" Valerie Plame as Mata Hari, it was not Scooter Libby. The special prosecutor knew all along that it was Richard L. Armitage, another government functionary, who had "outed" Valerie at the CIA, except that she was not really a covert agent, anyway, and even if she had been the law protecting covert agents did not actually apply to her.

Let's review.

According to this document filed by Special Prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald:

The assertion that the collective facts known at an early point in the investigation warranted a summary termination of the investigation does not stand up to close scrutiny. First, it was clear from very early in the investigation that Ms. Wilson qualified under the relevant statute (Title 50, United States Code, Section 421) as a covert agent whose identity had been disclosed by public officials, including Mr. Libby, to the press.

I noticed this from the conclusion:

Mr. Libby, a high-ranking public official and experienced lawyer, lied repeatedly and blatantly about matters at the heart of a criminal investigation concerning the disclosure of a covert intelligence officer’s identity. He has shown no regret for his actions, which significantly impeded the investigation. [emphasis added]

And that, my friends, is what he was convited for - lying and obstruction of justice. Perjury is illegal and Scooter was convicted beyond a reasonable doubt of committing it.

That Valerie Plame was covert is a point written into a sentencing memorandum filed by a US Attorney in a federal court. If that "fact" is incorrect, then why isn't Fitzgerald being hauled into court for perjury?

Simple. Plame was covert and anyone saying otherwise is lying.

Kevin Miller is Wrong, Wrong, Wrong

I was just on KDKA. Kevin Miller (he's filling in for Fred today) had been saying about Valerie Plame that she was NOT covert. Therefore the whole Libby trial was somehow a sham.

He also said that Bush was right in commuting the prison sentence because (and I am NOT joking here) "rank has its privileges." So Kevin Miller, patriotic American, thinks that that the same laws that you and I have to abide by, the powerful don't have to.

Nice going, Kevin.

I had to call in and spank him. I just had to.

I pointed out that he was absolutely wrong about Valerie Plame. Congressman Henry Waxman opened a Congressional Hearing with a statement that he and his staff cleared with the CIA and Michael Hayden, head of the CIA where he said:

This hearing is being conducted in open session. This is appropriate, but it is also challenging. Ms. Wilson was a covert employee of the CIA. We cannot discuss all of the details of her CIA employment in open session.

I have met, personally, with General Hayden, the head of the CIA, to discuss what I can and cannot say about Ms. Wilson's service. And I want to thank him for his cooperation and help in guiding us along these lines.

My staff has also worked with the agency to ensure these remarks do not contain classified information.

I have been advised by the CIA and that even now, after all that has happened, I cannot disclose the full nature, scope and character of Ms. Wilson's service to our nation without causing serious damage to our national security interests.

But General Hayden and the CIA have cleared these following comments for today's hearing.

During her employment at the CIA, Ms. Wilson was undercover. Her employment status with the CIA was classified information, prohibited from disclosure under Executive Order 12958. [emphasis added]

Patrick Fitzgerald filed papers saying that Valerie Plame was covert - MSNBC covered it here. The complete document is here.

Right now he's mixing in President Clinton's impeachment in order to muddy the waters.

He raised the question in regards to Libby, "What was the underlying crime?" Implying, I guess, that since no one was charged with an underlying crime, the real crime of perjury (for which Libby was convicted) should be ignored.

Of course when a caller brought up exactly the same argument about the Clinton impeachment ("What was the underlying crime in the Clinton impeachment?"), Kevin Miller dutifully pointed out that Clinton lied to the grand jury.

Since Kevin Miller is on NewsRadio1020, don't you think he should actually maybe you know read the news?

Kevin Miller on KDKA

Since I, like most everyone else, had a day off yesterday, I was able to catch up on some of my wing-nut surveillance. I took a little time (time that I'll never get back, by the way) to listen to the new guy on KDKA radio - Kevin Miller.

He went through some of the usual mindnumbingly wrong explanations of 911. The most interesting was that it's all Clinton's fault, that Clinton should have been paying attention to terrorism rather than chasing around Monica Lewinsky and that Clinton did nothing about terrorism. Never mind that the Clinton's affair with Lewinsky ended more than 4 years before 911. And never mind the Richard Clarke memo urging the new Bush administration to continue working on al-Qaeda.

Facts, of course, never make much of an impression on far-right blowhards.

But a curious thing happened during the portion of the program I heard. A woman called in (obviously one of those dangerous anti-war types) and questioned Miller on his own military service. He said that he had been in the service - and added no details.

I found that curious because when a person is asked that question he (or she) usually responds with, "Yes, I served in the Army." or some such answer. Rarely is the answer merely a "Yes."

So I went googling. The furthest I got was this reference from a website called "Renew America." If you look closely (or maybe it's not necessary to look all that closely) you'll see that the website definitely leans to the right. This is all I could find about Mr Miller's military experience:

Morning host Kevin Miller (who, about the time of the Republican primary, replaced long-time WWTN morning host Steve Gill) at first allowed Mr. Kovach to call into his program. Then, suddenly, he began to treat Mr. Kovach in a rude and shameful manner on the air. This included frequently interrupting the candidate, changing the subject frequently, and even playing the song "Yakety Sax" at a loud volume while Mr. Kovach was trying to answer Miller's questions. (Notably, Miller touts himself as a "former Army Reserve journalist," but has also admitted on-air that his military service "just didn't work out" after only a short time.)

Granted, this leaves open a HUGE number of possibilities about the extent of Mr Miller's service. Which branch? When did he join? How long was this "short time"? Why was it so short? What ended it?

Anyone have any idea? I certainly don't.