DOJ I-G: FBI Agents Can Pose as Journalists

FBI agents may impersonate journalists while conducting undercover investigations, and an agent who posed as an editor with the Associated Press during a 2007 investigation did not violate agency policies, the Department of Justice Office of the Inspector General found in a report released Thursday.

According to USNews, the conclusion sparked consternation across social media by journalists, civil rights groups and some legal experts, who have argued that the practice – by its very existence – threatens to heighten public mistrust of reporters, damage journalists' credibility and have a chilling effect on sources and whistleblowers who may fear that their contacts in the media are actually undercover agents.

"The Associated Press is deeply disappointed by the Inspector General’s findings, which effectively condone the FBI’s impersonation of an AP journalist in 2007," Associated Press Vice President Paul Colford said in a statement. "Such action compromises the ability of a free press to gather the news safely and effectively and raises serious constitutional concerns."

The inspector general's report acknowledged that the practice calls for "a higher level of approval" by FBI supervisors than was in place in 2007. Policies on impersonating journalists at the time were "less than clear," it found. However, a new interim policy adopted this June – one that permits agents to pose as journalists so long as they get approval from two high-ranking officials and an undercover review committee at headquarters – meets that requirement.


The review stemmed from a June 2007 investigation into a series of bomb threats sent by email to Timberline High School outside Seattle. The emails sparked repeated evacuations over the course of a week. The culprit, later found to be a 15-year-old student, masked his location by using proxy servers, and local law enforcement ultimately appealed to the FBI for help.

An agent with the FBI's cybercrime task force, posing as an editor for the Associated Press, contacted the suspect by email, eventually sending the teen fake news articles and photographs that hid a trace program: As soon as the boy clicked one of the photos, his location was revealed to agents. He confessed shortly after his arrest, and he pleaded guilty July 18.

Myrtle Beach Radio: WMYB Flips To Top40

Alpha Media, Myrtle Beach announced that WMYB 92.1 FM has become Energy 92.1 as of Thursday.

Energy 92.1 will feature today’s top hits and recent top 10 recordings. The majority of music will be from the last few years and include artists such as; Justin Bieber, Drake, Sia, Justin Timberlake, Twenty One Pilots, The Chainsmokers, Rihanna, and Ariana Grande.  To generate buzz, the station played Christmas music 24/7 for three days prior to the switch.

WMYB 92.1 FM (94 Kw) Red=Local Coverage Area

Alpha Media Market Manager, Josh Gertzog commented on the announcement, “We are excited about Energy 92.1!  It gives Alpha Media, Myrtle Beach a chance to operate one of the true heritage formats in the United States – Top 40.  Grand Strand listeners didn’t really have a choice with this format, and some stations haven’t made changes in decades.  It was time to freshen up the market….and to bring new ‘energy’ to the radio dial!”

“By making the move to Energy 92.1, we will be giving the Grand Strand hands down the most exciting radio station on the dial. The fun won’t just be on the radio with this but also on the streets…we’ll be everywhere,” remarked Program Director, BJ Kinard.

Sean Hannity Talks About Suing CNN

Sean Hannity

Fox News show host Sean Hannity is pondering a lawsuit against competing network CNN.

“What does — how do I get an apology from CNN?” Hannity asked on his radio show Thursday.

“Should I — I would love to sue them for slander when they say, ‘Oh, he wants Hillary [Clinton] on her deathbed and dead,’ when I said just the opposite.”

According to TheBlaze, Hannity’s consideration comes in response to an assertion by CNN media analyst Brian Stelter to PBS’ “Charlie Rose” Wednesday. Stelter, borrowing from Clinton’s “basket of deplorables” gaffe, said the way in which several conservative media figures — to include the Fox host — have covered Clinton’s health proves they belong in a “truly deplorable basket.”

“These are people who bring up rumors and innuendo about Clinton’s health, and have been doing it for years,” Stelter told PBS.

“I’m not saying Hannity or [radio host Rush] Limbaugh fit into these necessarily, but they — some of these figures want her to be sick,” he continued. “They want her to be dying. They want her to be on her death bed.”

Earlier in the summer, Stelter also similarly accused the Fox host, an unflinching supporter of Donald Trump, of peddling conspiracy theories about Clinton, the Democratic nominee for president.

Several weeks ago, Stelter went after Hannity, saying the conservative talker “is not a journalist” — an assertion the Fox host does not deny. In August, Stelter hit Hannity for “reckless speculation” about Clinton’s health, a topic the Trump backer often leads with on his 10 p.m. Fox program.

“Last time I checked, Fox still has the word ‘news’ in its name,” Stelter said.

Bluefield VA Radio: Alpha Launches HipHop G98.7

Alpha Media, Bluefield announced today the addition of new station, G98.7 “The Throwback Station.” W254CV G98.7 is the new FM translator to current WKEZ 1240 AM.

G98.7 took to the air September 15th at midnight featuring some of the most memorable artists of all time like Tupac, Snoop Dogg, P. Diddy, Michael Jackson, and Mary J. Blige. This is the first ever Classic Hip-Hop Format to ever hit the air waves in the Bluefield and Princeton market.

Alpha Media Market Manager, Danny Clemons commented on the announcement, “We are very excited to introduce G98 to the Bluefield market. The classic hip hop format definitely fills a void in Bluefield and is one of the most exciting station launches ever in our market. It’s very refreshing to see our entire staff pumped up about the new format.”

W254CV 98.7 FM (220 watts)

Other stations in the Bluefield market include; J104.5, Kicks Country, the Eagle, and WHIS News Talk.

McCartney, Starr Reunite For Beatles Documentary

(Reuters) -- Former Beatles Sir Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr reunited for a walk down memory lane on Thursday for the premiere of a documentary by Oscar winner Ron Howard about the Fab Four as they toured the world in the 1960s.

The singer-songwriter and drummer posed for photographs on a blue carpet in London's Leicester Square for the "The Beatles: Eight Days a Week - The Touring Years" premiere, which drew hundreds of cheering fans as well as celebrities such as Madonna, Eric Clapton, Bob Geldof and Liam Gallagher.

The documentary traces the band's touring years as McCartney, Starr along with the late John Lennon and George Harrison won legions of adoring fans across continents. It features footage of early performances at the Cavern Club in their native Liverpool, packed shows around the globe and their final tour concert in 1966 in San Francisco.

"We're all excited, it is the first time for us too," Starr told the crowd about seeing the documentary.

The film makes use of a rich archive of old footage - pictures, videos and audio recordings - of the band at the height of Beatlemania, with screaming fans, snippets of the cheekiness of the then young men and the group at work in the studio. Celebrities recalling seeing them perform also add their voices.

"We started off as four mates in a great little band and we kept playing and playing and all this stuff happened," McCartney said.


Howard said that as well as receiving help from McCartney and Starr for the film, Lennon's and Harrison's widows, Yoko Ono and Olivia Harrison, who attended the premiere, had also contributed to the project.

The director, known for films such as "The Da Vinci Code", "A Beautiful Mind" and "Apollo 13", said directing the documentary had been "a great experience".

"It first began as just a fun, cool, creative adventure, then I became very intimidated by it when I realized how important it was to fans," he told reporters.
"Now it's just proved to be a very gratifying experience, and I'm already nostalgic for it ... After two years of working with it, I'm a little sad to let it go."

"The Beatles: Eight Days a Week - The Touring Years" hit cinemas worldwide on Thursday.

Samsung To Replace 1M Galaxy Note 7 Phones

(Reuters) -- Samsung Electronics Co Ltd (005930.KS) formally recalled 1 million Galaxy Note 7 smartphones sold in the United States, replacing or refunding the flagship phones, whose susceptibility to catching fire has damaged the image of the Korean powerhouse.

Samsung received 92 reports of batteries overheating in the United States, including 26 reports of burns and 55 cases of property damage, the company said as it announced the recall in cooperation with the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC).

The recall is a costly setback for Samsung, which was counting on Galaxy Note 7 to bolster sales as rivals such as Apple Inc (AAPL.O) launch new devices. The scale of the recall is unprecedented for Samsung, the world's largest smartphone maker.
Samsung said on Thursday that new Note 7 replacement devices will be available at most retail locations in the United States no later than Sept. 21.

Earlier this month, Samsung said it would recall all Note 7 smartphones equipped with batteries it found to be fire-prone and halted their sales in 10 markets, denting a revival of the firm's mobile business.

Samsung Galaxy Note 7 | SpecOut

While recalls in the smartphone industry do happen, including for rival Apple Inc (AAPL.O), the nature of the problem for the Note 7 is a serious blow to Samsung's reputation, analysts have said.
The CPSC said on Thursday that consumers should immediately power down and stop using the recalled Galaxy Note 7 devices.

The U.S. Federal Aviation Administration has asked airline passengers to switch off and unplug the recalled Note 7s during flights.

Some 2.5 million of the premium devices worldwide need to be recalled, Samsung said. Some analysts say the recall could cost Samsung nearly $5 billion in lost revenue this year.

NBC Broadcasting Chief Harbert Steps Down

Ted Harbert

NBC Broadcasting Chairman Ted Harbert, a 40-year veteran of the television industry, is stepping down.

According to The Wall Street Journal, Harbert oversaw a wide swath of territory including local advertising sales, the network’s owned television stations, affiliate relations and distribution of NBC-owned content. He was in the position since 2011 when Comcast Corp. completed its acquisition of NBCUniversal. Prior to that, he ran the E! cable network for Comcast.

It was not unusual for Harbert to weigh in on programming matters, most recently in late night where he was heavily involved with the transition from Jay Leno to Jimmy Fallon. Harbert’s experience in several different areas of the television business often made him a key asset inside the company, and NBCUniversal Chief Executive Steve Burke called him “an important adviser to me.” At the same though, Harbert occasionally brushed up against other executives at the network.

Burke is using Mr. Harbert’s resignation to restructure the executive suites at the network. Mark Lazarus, chairman of the NBC Sports Group, will take on Mr. Harbert’s title as well to become chairman of NBC Broadcasting and Sports. He will oversee affiliate relations, advertising and the owned-TV stations. Some of Mr. Harbert’s other duties are being parsed out to other executives.

Comedian Paul Mecurio Teams With Westwood One

Westwood One has announced a new partnership with television personality, Emmy and Peabody Award-winning comedian and actor Paul Mecurio, whose 2 Chairs and a Microphone podcast has joined Westwood One’s Podcast & On-Demand platform via audioBoom.

Westwood One will provide exclusive ad sales representation for the show, boost efforts to increase listenership, and drive massive awareness beyond the thousands of daily downloads. Advertisers will have access to endorsements, live reads, pre-roll, mid-roll, and post-roll advertisements.

Mecurio, an Emmy and Peabody Award-winner for The Daily Show with Jon Stewart and who currently works on The Late Show w/Stephen Colbert, has extensive experience appearing on an array of broadcast and cable network talk and comedy shows as a commentator, host and performer.

Paul Mecurio

Also, an actor, he can be seen in the upcoming film starring Liev Schreiber, The Bleeder. Each week on his podcast, Paul interviews a wide range of A-list guests from entertainment, media, sports, music, politics, and science including, Sir Paul McCartney, Bryan Cranston, Judd Apatow, Neil deGrasse Tyson, Stephen Colbert, Rob Reiner, Jay Leno, Sugar Ray Leonard, Kristen Chenoweth, Tom Barnard, Stone Cold Steve Austin, Bob Costas, and more.

Suzanne Grimes, Westwood One’s President and EVP, Corporate Marketing for Cumulus Media, said “Paul is a terrific addition to our Podcast portfolio. He’s a really funny guy and an adept interviewer who manages to pull amazing stories and insights from his celebrity guests. That’s the kind of compelling and unique content we’re proud to offer our listeners and our advertisers.”

Paul said, “It’s very exciting and I’m honored to be part of Westwood One and to be working with their great people. I’m proud of the quality of my guests and interviews and this is great opportunity for my show to reach a much wider audience across the country. Not to mention, I got a free Westwood One refrigerator magnet as part of the deal!”

Mr. Master Adds 58 Stations In Last 4 Weeks

Mr. Master, Inc., a leading provider of content delivery to over 8,500 radio stations, Thursday announced it has signed on 58 new stations in the last four weeks utilizing Mr. Master’s revolutionary audio processing software solution, AIM (Automation Import Manager).

The new additions bring Mr. Master’s total number of AIM stations to a benchmark of 1,100 stations, including stations in 85 of the top 100 markets.

Newly signed affiliates include market-leading stations in New York City, Los Angeles, Philadelphia, Detroit, Cleveland and Atlanta. Mr. Master’s total number of AIM stations has grown from 100 to 1100 since Mr. Master introduced AIM to the marketplace in June, 2014.

Stu Jacobs

Stu Jacobs, President of Mr. Master, Inc., said: “We are thrilled beyond words with the acceptance of AIM in the industry.  Identifying the need and then fulfilling it successfully can be attributed to the hard work of our team and support from the national networks.  We have a great product that helps everyone from stations to advertisers.”

Bill Sagona, Director, Commercial Traffic/Operations, iHeartMedia/NYC, said:  “Mr. Master has completely streamlined our Network Barter and custom network orders workflow process.  What used to take countless hours per week between spot retrieval, spot entry, dubbing, and affidavits has been reduced to complete automation that requires virtually no maintenance after the initial setup.  We now have the ability to focus more on inventory management, and other pertinent commercial traffic tasks that are essential to NYC’s bottom line.”

Leo Cage, Director, Commercial Production, Cumulus Media-Oklahoma City, said: “AIM is the greatest thing ever!  It has saved us a ton of man hours each week and has taken our production to an even higher level. Instead of spending half my day dubbing, I can give the spots we actually produce in house the attention they deserve. Once you set up AIM, it absolutely runs by itself mistake free. You don’t have to download the spots each week, and nobody has to piggyback and dub them in each week. I’ve been able to use the people that were dubbing for things like real production.”

Cage added: “AIM even posts the affidavits automatically the day after the spots run. If there is a revision from the client, AIM handles it so no more revisions to deal with, and even handles make-goods if needed.  AIM is the real deal and has really upped our game.”

For more information, visit www.mrmaster.com or contact Maria Laing at 818.879.8349 or marialaing@mrmaster.com.

R.I.P.: Baltimore Radio Legend Johnny Dark

Johnny Dark

Johnny Dark, the radio personality who was on Maryland airwaves for more than half a century, has died.

Dark died early Thursday of a cause not yet known, according to employees of WTTR-AM, where he had most recently worked. He was 82, according to WBAL Radio.

Dark has been on Baltimore radio going back to the 1960s on stations including WCAO-AM. Most recently, he was on WTTR-AM in Westminster for several years, but resigned in January amid a management dispute.

During his long career, he crossed paths with and mentored a number of personalities still on Baltimore's airwaves, including Ron Matz, now of WJZ-TV, and WBAL NewsRadio 1090 reporter Brenda Carl.



"We throw the word 'legend' around, but he really was a radio legend, not just in Baltimore, but across the country," Matz said. "If you were a kid growing up in Baltimore in the 60s, you listened to Johnny Dark on the radio."

Two years ago, he celebrated his 80th birthday by throwing out the ceremonial first pitch at a Baltimore Orioles game.

"Johnny never had a big ego," Matz said. "He was just a regular guy and he really enjoyed the business."

September 16 Radio History

In 1914...radio/TV host/producer Allen Funt (Candid Microphone, Candid Camera) was born in New York City.  He died Sept 5, 1999, just days before his 85th birthday.


In 1919....singer Andy Russell was born in Los Angeles. He was the star of radio’s Your Hit Parade for several years beginning in 1946.


In 1919...actor Lawrence Dobkin was born in New York City.  He was one of the most used character actors on network radio out of Hollywood in the 1940’s & 50’s, then seamlessly made the transition to TV.  He worked into directing, but was still appearing in supporting roles on TV a year before his death in 2002 at age 83.

In 1928...WGL changed call letters to WOV in New York (now WADO 1280 AM).

This station was launched as WGL on January 30, 1927, and was owned by the International Broadcasting Corporation. WGL president Colonel Lewis Landes stated on the inaugural broadcast,

"The International Broadcasting Corporation's aim is to adhere to truth, to be free of partisanship, religious or political."

WGL was the first station to protest the frequency allocations of the Federal Radio Commission in May 1927. WGL was authorized to move to 1170 AM, but wanted to go to 720, occupied by WOR.

When WOR was awarded the 710 frequency, both stations went to court, with WOR eventually winning the case. Finally in June 1927, WGL moved to 1020 AM and shared time with Paterson station, WODA.

In August 1927, studio manager Charles Isaacson announced one of the city's first attempts at local news coverage. WGL was organizing listeners to volunteer as radio reporters and call the station with breaking news stories.

On September 16, 1928, WGL changed calls to WOV and was sold to Sicilian-born importer John Iraci. The WGL call sign was then picked up by a Fort Wayne station, which uses them to this very day.

In 1941...the "The Arkansas Traveler" debuted on CBS Radio. The show was later renamed "The Bob Burns Show."

In 1989...The Hot 100 Gloria Estefan had the #1 song with "Don't Wanna' Lose You", Milli Vanilli had #2--"Girl I'm Gonna' Miss You" and Warrant was at 3 with "Heaven".

The rest of the Top 10:  New Kids on the Block and "Hangin' Tough", Surface with "Shower Me with Your Love", Paula Abdul's former #1 "Cold Hearted" was at #6, Cher's comeback song "If I Could Turn Back Time", Skid Row with "18 And Life", the Jeff Healey Band had song #9 with "Angel Eyes" and Madonna hit the Top 10 with "Cherish".


In 2011...News Anchor Jack O’Rourke WNBC 660 AM, NBC Radio Net died


In 2011...Citadel merged with Cumulus Media.

Starting in June 2010, Cumulus made multiple unsuccessful offers to buy out Citadel Broadcasting after its emergence from bankruptcy.   In February 2011, Cumulus was again said to be in "exclusive negotiations" to acquire Citadel for $2.5 billion paid to Citadel shareholders, according to CNBC. Some Citadel shareholders were said to have been pushing the board to consider a sale.  On March 10, 2011, Citadel Broadcasting stations announced via email that Cumulus had purchased Citadel Broadcasting. Citadel was made up of 225 radio stations in over 50 markets, as well as Citadel Media, one of the largest radio networks in the United States.

The deal was finalized on September 16, 2011, after acceptance by the FCC and Citadel's shareholders.   As part of the deal, Cumulus Media will have to place 14 stations into a separate trust to comply with ownership limits.

In an effort to focus on accretive large market consolidation as well as further de-leveraging of their balance sheet, Cumulus and Townsquare Media ink a deal to swap 65 radio stations in 13 markets, with majority of the 65 stations being sold to Townsquare.


In 2014...Clear Channel announced that it has become iHeartMedia, reflecting the company’s success in becoming a one-of-a-kind multi-platform media company with unparalleled reach and impact.