Eau Claire Radio: Host Walks Off Show Citing 'Hurricane of Hate'

John Murphy

After walking out of the WAYY studio Thursday morning during a live call-in show out of exasperation over the nasty tone of political discussion, local radio personality John Murphy was back on the air Friday morning as part of a program in which politics will be off-limits.

Murphy, 57, said Friday he agreed to remain involved with the revamped format because he still loves the radio business.

The new morning format calls for Murphy to join Luc Anthony and Dan Kasper, who previously hosted a local sports talk show called “Luc & The Captain,” in anchoring a call-in show that will focus on sports and lifestyles. Murphy said his longtime co-host Bob Bosold also may be involved at times

The working title, Murphy said, is the “No Politics Zone,” and it will air from 7 to 10 a.m.

The nastiness of today’s political debate finally became too much for John Murphy Thursday, when the longtime Eau Claire talk radio host abruptly walked out of the studio during the middle of his morning show, reports the Leader-Telegram.

The stunning move came about 15 minutes before the end of his show, which runs from 6:45 a.m. to 9 a.m. weekdays on WAYY 790 AM / 105.1 FM, owned by Mid-West Family Broadcasting.

Murphy, 57, has been doing Eau Claire radio for 34 years, including the past nearly 14 years as co-host of the “WAYY Morning Show,” a call-in program in which hosts and callers discuss local, state and national news.

The problem, Murphy said, is that the talking gradually has become less of a conversation and more of an exchange of insults.

The trend is particularly disconcerting, Murphy said, because he knows many of the callers trading insults “are educated, wonderful people who have become caught up in this hurricane of hate.” He emphasized the rage comes from both liberals and conservatives.

Murphy acknowledged the frustration started to realize it was affecting him this summer when some old friends who had been listening to the show asked what had happened to the fun-loving, joyful guy they used to know. The friends suggested Murphy was starting to get short with callers and engaging in some of the behavior he despised.

“If I’m an enabler, even inadvertently, to this toxicity through the show, that troubles me,” Murphy said, noting that he didn’t believe he could be an agent of change without putting his foot down and saying, “There’s got to be a better way to do this.”

The degeneration of the dialogue on talk radio — and its potential impact on him as a person — saddened Murphy and caused him to worry about what he might say some day.