Dave Lenihan was working as a show host at St. Louis radio station KTRS for 2 weeks, said one word that he should not have said, immediately apologized profusely and was still fired.
Seven-second delay could have kept racial slur off air (Includes the actual audio, see right side of the page.)
The uproar over a racial slur by a local radio personality could have been avoided had someone at the station pushed the delay button intended for just such situations.
Instead, KTRS (550 AM) morning radio host Dave Lenihan was fired in his second week on the air, less than 25 minutes after using the word while talking about U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice on Wednesday.
Station chief Tim Dorsey confirmed the station does broadcast on a seven-second delay, but the button used to delete questionable material was never activated. At KTRS, Dorsey said, it is the host’s responsibility to alert a technician when he wants to use the delay device.
“When you want something dumped you would point to the board operator, indicating to hit the button,” Dorsey said. “I would say we use the seven-second delay button often. Everybody does. It’s pretty standard in the business.”
Reached Thursday at home, Lenihan, who had been with the station a week and a half, said he was never told about the delay procedures.
At most stations, censoring the radio personality is left solely to the show’s producer, said Roosevelt “Rick” Wright Jr., a professor at the Newhouse School of Public Communications at Syracuse University. Wright has 48 years’ experience in radio.
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Lenihan’s remark, which quickly made national news, also landed him in trouble at another job. Lenihan, a certified chiropractor in Missouri, was suspended from the Logan College of Chiropractic in Chesterfield, where he teaches anatomy and neuroanatomy.
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Lenihan, 38, began his radio career at WGNU about three years ago, a gig that began after he wrote the station defending NATO. The name of his afternoon show became “Today’s Solutions.”
Before moving to St. Louis with his wife, Lenihan was in Scotland, where earned a doctorate at the University of Edinburgh, according to the Logan Chiropractic Web site.
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Lenihan was discussing why he thought Rice would fit well as commissioner of the National Football League. He insists he meant to say she would be a coup for the NFL when the word “coon” came out.
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He has no record of racist statements and never had anything but praise for Dr. Rice. If he harbors any racist feelings in his heart it’s not anything he ever tried to impress on the public.
I think the station should not have fired him. The man was pleading that he was sorry the moment the word came out of his mouth. Mr. Lenihan has also sent Dr. Rice a letter of apology.
Of course if Mr. Leniham was Black and said something controversial he would still have his job, even if he said such a statement intentionally on a daily basis! I’ve heard jocks on Black talk stations call Whites and Conservatives “knuckle draggers”, allow callers to get away with calling Whites “crackers”, trash all races that are not Black, trash Jews, trash the Catholic Church and trash everything not common to Black culture. All with no outcry and they come on the air the very next day. You can spend some time listening to the Far Left Black Talk radio station of your choice and you will hear it yourself.
Double standard? Of course. Because that’s how America works now. Whites are viewed with a hyper-critical lens, while anyone else gets a pass. It’s hypocrisy at it’s best.
Given my view of this, of course I disagree with Shay over at Booker Rising, who feels the firing was appropriate and even takes Larry Elder to task for defending Mr. Leniham.
After the attacks towards Mr. Leniham, one has to wonder, can any White living in a racially hyper-sensitive nation ever make an honest mistake? I know I’ve said a mistaken word that was inappropriate in my time. I guess it’s a good thing I’m not White and was not saying it towards or about a Black person. Otherwise I might be living under a bridge!
update (3/24/2006 4:04PM ET): Talker BJ Ellis mentions this from his blog:
“Equal” Opportunity Employers?
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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.
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The biggest outrage is that these same stations, like KTRS, who proclaim themselves “Equal Opportunity Employer”, find it very difficult for them to hire even one black talent for their stations.
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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?
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This man is saying what some people refuse to talk about!
March 24th, 2006 at 4:11 pm
From http://www.bjellis.com
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.
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 for them 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, found by clicking the link below:
http://www.bjellis.com/suppression.htm
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.
April 4th, 2006 at 6:39 pm
Cynthia McKinney’s Spokesman Coz Carson is an Idiot Racist!
If you recall in a previous post I made about racist statements in radio, that I mentioned Black Talk Radio is about as racist as it comes. When I mentioned examples, some of those examples came directly from former WAOK-AM radio show host Coz Carson…
April 16th, 2006 at 2:06 am
Alan Colmes is Critical of What People Call a Stripper, but Ignores His Freudian Slip.
A woman who is a stripper, has not just one but 2 kids that probably were conceived out of wedlock, has committed crime in the past and has a very shaky rape story is called a “stripper” and Alan Colmes feels it is not fair. Of course, al…