Gabriel, a influential St. Louis disc jockey whose exuberant personality and passion for blues and gospel entertained radio audiences from the 1950s to the present, died at Mercy Hospital South on October 19.
A mainstay on KDHX 88.1 FM, he hosted Gabriel's Tin Pan Alley every late-night Sunday for decades.
Gabriel was born Mitchell Hearns in Louisiana in 1930, but grew up in East St. Louis where he came to know and worked with many of the legends of rhythm and blues, both regional and national, including a significant relationship with Ike Turner. In 1958, he released “Boxtop” by Turner on his own Tune Town label. Copies are among the holy grails of rhythm and blues, as it was the first recording of Tina Turner (under the name Little Ann).
“Ike would ask me to pick [Tina] up and take her to the gig or the studio or whatever,” he once recalled. “I was the only one he trusted to pick her up. He knew I wouldn’t try to hit on her.”
Gabriel owned a record store in St. Louis called the House of the Blues and had his own recording and performing career, releasing singles under various names — “The Flock-Rocker,” “Gabriel, His Trumpet and Band of Angels,” and “Gabriel & the Angels” — on which he often played trumpet and was sometimes backed by Ike Turner’s band and legendary St. Louis guitarist Bennie Smith.
According to the St. Louis Radio Hall of Fame, his career in radio began in 1952 with WOKZ in Alton, Illinois, and then WTMV in East St. Louis and KATZ, where he held down a five-hour Sunday night/Monday morning slot through the late ‘60s. In 1969, he quit the station after a programming change.
“I can no longer with a clear conscience play the music which you have selected me to play,” he said in his resignation letter. “Radio stations are not the only ones to blame for this garbage, sharing the blame equally are record companies that take noise, distortion and in most cases people with little or no talent, make recordings and in turn the radio stations (including KATZ) play this so-called music 24 hours a day on the minds of the young.”
Pennsylvania lost a radio broadcasting giant with the passing of Robert “Bob” E. Day, of Clearfield who died unexpectedly yesterday at the age of 71, reports the Progress-News.
“We are shocked,” a representative, who declined to be named and spoke on behalf of WOKW 102.9 FM as a whole, said. “He was an icon. Everyone in Central Pennsylvania recognized his voice.”
Day joined WOKW 11 years ago after 40 years at WCPA.
The spokesperson said Day was talented enough to be a successful broadcaster anywhere in the country but he loved the small town atmosphere of Clearfield.
A native of Michigan, Day moved to Clearfield to work for WCPA. His first day on the air was Dec. 14, 1967 and the first song he played was “Hello, Goodbye” by the Beatles. The Beatles were one of Day’s favorite bands.
The WOKW spokesperson said Day volunteered countless hours of his time for local charities and causes, and helped a lot of people quietly behind the scenes as well.
Mark Falvo, of Clearfield, Day’s longtime radio broadcast partner for Clearfield Bison Football games and other sports, said Day was exceedingly generous, and a kind and honest person, in addition to being a great broadcaster.
“I lost a mentor and a great friend,” Falvo said. “I’m going to miss him.”
➦In 1904...pioneering NBC radio announcer Ford Bond was born in Louisville, Kentucky.
For more than twenty years in the 1930s and ’40s, he was the announcer for soap operas (Backstage Wife, Stella Dallas, David Harum, Easy Aces, etc), the American Album of Familiar music and other shows, including the advertising voice for a product called Bab-O. He also was one of the NBC radio announcers of the 1934 World Series and the 1934 Baseball All-Star Game. Later he served as radio consultant on Thomas E. Dewey‘s 1948 campaign for president.
He died at St. Croix, Virgin Islands on August 15, 1962 at age 57. ➦In 1928…RCA announced the creation of the Radio-Keith-Orpheum holding company, more commonly known as RKO, with David Sarnoff (general manager of RCA) as its chairman of the board.
➦In 1932...the "Fred Allen Show" premiered on radio. Allen's radio show (1932–1949) made him one of the most popular and forward-looking humorists in the Golden Age of American radio.
His best-remembered gag was his long-running mock feud with friend and fellow comedian Jack Benny, but it was only part of his appeal; radio historian John Dunning (in On the Air: The Encyclopedia of Old-Time Radio) wrote that Allen was radio's most admired comedian and most frequently censored.
A master ad libber, Allen often tangled with his network's executives (and often barbed them on the air over the battles), while developing routines whose style and substance influenced fellow comic talents, including Groucho Marx, Stan Freberg, Henry Morgan and Johnny Carson; his avowed fans also included President Franklin D. Roosevelt, and novelists William Faulkner, John Steinbeck and Herman Wouk (who began his career writing for Allen).
➦In 1940...Ellie Greenwich, songwriter with Jeff Barry on "Leader Of The Pack" by the Shangri-Las, "Be My Baby" by the Ronettes, "River Deep, Mountain High" for the Supremes & Four Tops and many others, was born in Brooklyn, New York.
Ellie Greenwich
Joining forces with legendary producer Phil Spector, a string of legendary hits were created, including: "Be My Baby," "Da Doo Ron Ron," "And Then He Kissed Me," "Chapel Of Love" and "River Deep, Mountain High." With Barry, this trend continued with number one smashes, such as "Hanky Panky," "Do Wah Diddy" and the epic "Leader Of The Pack," co-written with Shadow Morton.
Also, during these years, Greenwich reigned as one of New York's top demo/session singers and vocal arrangers, working with artists ranging from Dusty Springfield and Lesley Gore to Ella Fitzgerald, Bobby Darin and Frank Sinatra. One of her most exciting sessions was re-arranging the background vocals on Aretha Franklin's "Chain Of Fools" and working with Cissy Houston and the 'Sweet Inspirations.'
During one of her many demo sessions, Greenwich met and "discovered" Neil Diamond and went on to co-produce all his early hits such as "Cherry, Cherry" and "Kentucky Woman," doing background vocals as well.
She died of a heart attack in New York City August 26, 2009.
➦In 1963...Bob Dylan began to record "The Times They Are A-Changin'" at Columbia Recording Studios in New York City.
➦In 1971...The Hot 100..One of The Top 100 Songs of the Rock Era "Maggie May" remained king on this day for Rod Stewart. It had to be a pretty good song to keep "Superstar" by the Carpenters away from #1. The Osmonds were singing about a "Yo-Yo" while Cher made her move (10-4) with "Gypsys, Tramps & Thieves". Joan Baez, meanwhile, took a more serious tone with "The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down" at #5. The rest of the Top 10: Lee Michaels with his only hit "Do You Know What I Mean", Donny Osmond ventured off for a solo hit with his remake of the Steve Lawrence song "Go Away, Little Girl", the Stampeders' great song "Sweet City Woman" was at #8, Isaac Hayes moved from 50 to 9 (how's that for a hot song?) with "Theme From 'Shaft'" and Stevie Wonder's 27th career hit "If You Really Love Me" was at #10.
➦In 1972...WOR 98.7 FM becomes WXLO. (Now WEPN 98.7 FM/ESPN)
➦In 1976...The Hot 100..Although it was their 22nd hit and 11th Top 10, supergroup Chicago scored their first #1 on this date with "If You Leave Me Now". Rick Dees had to surrender with "Disco Duck". What a shame. Otherwise, a pretty dynamite Top 10 with Walter Murphy's "A Fifth Of Beethoven" still in the list after 22 weeks, the great Boz Scaggs song "Lowdown", Orleans with "Still The One" and Wild Cherry's former #1 "Play That Funky Music".
The rest of the Top 10: "(Shake, Shake, Shake) Shake Your Booty" by K.C. and the Sunshine Band, Hall & Oates were up with "She's Gone" and two great new entries--"Love So Right" from the Bee Gees, which moved from 16-9 and "Rock 'N Me" by Steve Miller.
➦In 2001...Apple introduces the iPod.
Bill Mazer (undated)
➦In 2013…Longtime New York City Radio/TV sportcaster/program host (WNEW-TV, WNBC-AM, WOR-AM, WFAN-AM, WEVD-AM, WVOX-AM) "the Amazin'" Bill Mazer, who earlier in his career worked in Grand Rapids, Michigan and Buffalo, died at the age of 92.
Born Morris Mazer, he was raised in Brooklyn and a fan of the Dodgers, spent 60 years in broadcasting before he retired in 2009. After 16 years covering sports in Buffalo, N.Y., he returned to New York when he was hired by WNBC-AM in 1964 to host a groundbreaking sports talk show in the afternoon.
“The first call was a kid, and he said, ‘I just want to ask you one question,’” Mazer told New York Newsday in a 2011 interview. “I said, ‘OK, go ahead.’ He said, ‘Who’s better: Willie Mays or Mickey Mantle?’”
Mazer later worked for New York’s WFAN, the first full-time sports talk station, which debuted in 1987.
Mazer served as an analyst for NHL games on CBS and did commentary for the Knicks, Nets, Rangers and Islanders before he joined WNEW-TV in 1971 to anchor its nightly sports coverage. On Channel 5’s Sports Extra, he often teamed and argued with former New York Jets defensive back John Dockery.
Entercom has announced the promotion of Miguel “Mijo” Irizarry to the role of Program Director at WPOW Power 96 in Miami.
Mijo will also host the station’s midday timeslot, weekdays from 10:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. ET. He previously hosted the station’s evening drive.
“Mijo’s passion for radio and for Power 96 is unmatched,” said Keriann Worley, Senior Vice President and Market Manager, Entercom South Florida. “We are pleased to elevate him to the role of Program Director and look forward to the station’s continued growth under his leadership.”
“I am thrilled and honored to take on the role of Program Director,” said Mijo. “There’s a unique renaissance movement happening in South Florida, and Power 96 leads the way. We’re going back to our roots and treating our brand like the boutique radio station it was designed to be. The Power 96 staff aren’t just coworkers – they’re family.”
WPOW 96.5 FM (100 Kw) Red=Local 60dBu Coverage Area
Mijo joined Power 96 in August 2017. He has held on-air roles for sister station Today’s Hits 96.5 TDY (then Wired 96.5) in Philadelphia and Hot 104.7 in Portland, ME, where he also served as the station’s Music Director.
NuVoodoo Media Services announces that its recently completed 12th and latest NuVoodoo Ratings Prospects
The latest study revealed that severe weather events significantly increase listener tune-in, second only to commercial-free music sweeps. That’s good news for radio stations, coming on the heels of a Winter Weather Outlook released Thursday by NOAA’s Climate Prediction Center that revealed that Winter 2018-19 could bring above-average temperatures to the northern and western United States, with likely wetter-than-average conditions in parts of the South and East. NOAA reported that there’s a 70 to 75 percent chance of El Niño forming later this fall and lasting through winter 2018-19 (December through February).
These data from NuVoodoo’s Ratings Prospects Study XII show the gravity of severe weather to change listening.
Leigh Jacobs, EVP, Research Analysis, NuVoodoo Media Services, noted: “When we net out the potential lift of any of these situations against the far smaller potential for tune out, severe weather is the number one change agent for both News and Talk P1’s. When you view the data through the filter of those most likely to participate in the ratings, the possibilities get more enticing still.”
In response to these new findings, NuVoodoo EVP/Marketing, Mike O’Connor has developed a new capability for the NuVoodoo ad tech stack: First-Alert Weather Branding that helps Spoken Word stations maximize the opportunities to build listening and brand affinity created by severe weather occurrences.
Regarding the study results and potential campaigns for spoken word stations, O’Connor said: "Severe weather ranks high on our list of catalysts for Spoken Word radio listening, but spending money on severe weather-center branding makes little sense during a string of beautiful, sunny days. With NuVoodoo First-Alert Weather Branding, we can limit client campaign exposure to Nielsen hot Zips, and deploy budget only when those Zips have a threat of severe weather in the forecast."
Carolyn Gilbert, President, NuVoodoo Media Services, said: “The addition of predictive AI to the NuVoodoo ad tech stack allows our team to execute dynamic digital campaigns for marketing clients, providing station imaging only when it’s relevant to listeners. This is a powerful addition to our arsenal that helps stations drive listening and maximize opportunities to build listener engagement and brand loyalty in a meaningful and measurable way.”
NuVoodoo Ratings Prospect Study XII was fielded in June to over 3,000 radio listeners between the ages of 14 and 54 across all PPM-rated markets.
* For more details, view NuVoodoo’s short webinar on the new First-Alert Weather Branding campaigns at: nuvoodoo.com/webinars.
The Southern California Broadcasters Association has released its most comprehensive and exclusive automotive research study to date entitled, “The Real Value of Southern California Radio to the Automotive Industry”.
The SCBA’s new research study is in partnership with Nielsen Audio and is the second project
together for both organizations in the past fifteen months.
The study shows that people in the market to buy a new car who were exposed to dealer ads on the radio, visited dealerships and their websites and ultimately bought vehicles in strikingly high numbers. Just as important, the study found broadcast radio significantly improves consumer perceptions of auto dealerships and that radio’s creative messaging for auto marketers is right on target.
“The Real Value of Southern California Radio to the Automotive Industry” reveals compelling new data on the power of Broadcast Radio to motivate and influence Southern California Radio listeners regarding vehicle purchases. Conducting surveys with 900 Radio listeners and playing multiple dealer ads for each, the study conclusively demonstrates the impact that Radio provides for auto dealers and OEMs in Southern California.
“This research study will change minds, hearts, and budgets for Broadcast Radio”, said Thom Callahan, SCBA President. “Radio is not getting the share of automotive budgets it so richly deserves, and this new automotive study not only raises the inherent value of Radio, it decisively proves that Radio drives dealer website and search engine investigation by potential auto buyers”, said Callahan. “Our great partnership with Nielsen Audio has produced another compelling set of reasons for Broadcast Radio’s true strength”.
"In Nielsen's second year of partnership in this important study, data shows that broadcast radio drives interest and research, improves consumer perception and increases brand awareness, delivering consumers to auto dealers and driving purchases,” said Brad Kelly, Managing Director, Nielsen Audio. “The car culture of Southern California is the perfect proving ground for radio's far-reaching influence on one of the biggest purchases a consumer will make over the course of their lifetime."
The Real Value of Southern California Radio to the Automotive Industry is the only comprehensive and exclusive automotive study in the nation produced for its members and clients by the Southern California Broadcasters Association.
iHeartMedia today announced the first annual live iHeartRadio Podcast Awards to be held at the iHeartRadio Theater Los Angeles on Friday, January 18, 2019 at 8 p.m. PT. The first-ever major live awards event voted by the listeners to honor the very best in podcasting will span 22 categories and will celebrate the incredible talent and wide variety of leaders across the booming podcasting industry.
Hosted by Holly Frey, co-host of “Stuff You Missed in History Class,” one of today’s biggest history podcasts; Charlamagne Tha God, nationally-syndicated on-air host and co-host of “The Brilliant Idiots” and “The Breakfast Club” podcasts; and Bobby Bones, top Country radio host, multiplatform personality and host of the leading Country music focused podcast “Bobbycast” and creator of the Nashville Podcast Network, the event will run 90 minutes and will include a live audience with a live stream hosted by on-air and TV personality Mario Lopez. Presenters include Payne Lindsay (“Up & Vanished”), Aaron Mahnke (“Lore”), and Jake Brennan (“Disgraceland”), with more to be announced.
Since the introduction of podcasts more than a decade ago, the entertainment industry has seen a steady increase in listenership and popularity across the medium, with over 44 percent of Americans having listened to a podcast. Today, podcasts have twice the reach than all of satellite radio and the iHeartRadio Podcast Network has seen a nearly 200 percent year-over-year growth in podcast listening in the past year.
“Podcasting has roared onto the audio scene, creating the most excitement since the advent of streaming music services. The iHeartRadio Podcast Awards will provide a forum to celebrate the high-caliber, creative content that has made podcasting a major new audio category -- and that truly reflects America’s favorite podcasts, voted by the listeners themselves,” said Conal Byrne, President of iHeartMedia’s Podcasting Division. “We look forward to hosting this transformative, annual event and encouraging everyone in the podcasting industry to push the envelope and inspire even more creators in this space.”
The iHeartRadio Podcast Awards will honor the most entertaining and innovative podcasts of 2018 as well as celebrate podcast fans by giving listeners the opportunity to decide the winners in 17 of the 22 categories with podcasts “Atlanta Monster,” “Dirty John,” “Hardcore History,” “Joe Rogan,” “Radiolab,” “Serial,” “Slow Burn,” “Stuff You Should Know,” “The Daily” and “The Habitat” nominated for Podcast of the Year.
Fans can vote for their favorite podcasts beginning today through January 6, 2018 online and socially across Twitter and Instagram. Visit iHeartPodcastAwards.com for a complete list of nominees and voting details. Winners will be announced during the live show and stream filled with unique celebrations at the iHeartRadio Theater Los Angeles.
“The podcasting space is on fire and we are excited to recognize its leaders, as decided by the fans and a panel of industry creatives and experts,” said Bob Pittman, Chairman and CEO of iHeartMedia, Inc. “We are delighted to use our expertise with events and awards shows to build the first major industry awards show for podcasts, to use our unparalleled size and scale to promote and market the event – and to include these great companies and luminaries in the celebration.”
Nominees include podcasts from all creators, distributors and platforms — not just those developed by or available on the iHeartRadio Podcast Network.
iHeartRadio carries more than 20,000 podcasts from its own podcasts to other major podcast publishers ranging from NPR, Wondery and WNYC to ESPN and Gimlet. iHeartMedia also recently acquired Stuff Media, LLC, the leading for-profit publisher of entertaining and informative podcast content, which includes the HowStuffWorks podcasting business. Conal Byrne, President and CEO of Stuff Media has now become the President of the iHeartRadio Podcast Division.
iHeartMedia/Minneapolis has announced an extended contract agreement with Dave Ryan, host of the top-rated Dave Ryan in the Morning Show on CHR KDWB 101.3 FM.
Ryan will continue to wake up Twin Cities listeners per a new, multi-year agreement with co-hosts Steve-O and Falen.
Ryan celebrated his 25th Anniversary as the morning host of KDWB this past June, first debuting on KDWB in 1993. The Dave Ryan in the Morning Show continues as one of the most popular shows in the Twin Cities. Ryan will also continue his role as a Talent Mentor for iHeartMedia where he is helping to develop the next generation of on-air talent and personalities.
“Dave Ryan is a Twin Cities institution and I’m so glad he will continue to anchor mornings for KDWB," said Rich Davis, Program Director for KDWB. "He’s a true talent whose hard work, entertaining topics and views on pop culture have kept him beloved by listeners and fans and at the top of the ratings for so many years.” "We are so excited that we have renewed the Dave Ryan Morning Show on KDWB," said Jeff Tyler, Division President, iHeartMedia Minneapolis. "It’s an honor to work with him, he truly is a legend and an example of how to be the best at your craft. We are all excited to be part of more success for Dave in the future."
KDWB 101.3 FM (100 Kw) Red=Local 60dBu Coverage Area
“I’m so grateful to be working at a station as legendary as KDWB as well as working with one of the most passionate teams in radio.” said Ryan. “KDWB has a palpable energy that's unrivaled in this industry. No other station sounds quite like KDWB and I'm honored to be a part of that for at least another three years.”
CBS Corp. interim chairman Richard Parsons is resigning because of health issues. New board member Strauss Zelnick will succeed him.
Richard Parsons
In a statement Sunday, Parsons said he has been fighting multiple myeloma and complications have now arisen that has led his doctors to advise reducing his workload. Parsons had only joined the CBS board about six weeks ago.
“Unfortunately, unanticipated complications have created additional new challenges, and my doctors have advised that cutting back on my current commitments is essential to my overall recovery,” Mr. Parsons said, adding, “I trust CBS’ distinguished board, now led by Strauss Zelnick, as well as CBS’ strong management team led by Joe Ianniello, will continue to successfully guide this Company into its very bright future.”
Strauss Zelnick
The Wall Street Journal reports the departure of Mr. Parsons is the latest shake-up on the CBS board, which has been going through a transition phase since Leslie Moonves was forced to resign as chairman and chief executive in early September because of allegations of sexual harassment and assault. Mr. Moonves has denied he ever forced himself on anyone. Two other CBS board members—Bruce Gordon and William Cohen—resigned less than a month ago.
A former chief executive of Time Warner Inc., Mr. Parsons was brought in to lend a steady hand to CBS in the wake of Mr. Moonves’ departure. He had also developed a close relationship with Shari Redstone, a vice chair of CBS and president of National Amusements Inc., the controlling shareholder of the broadcaster.
Zelnick, who joined the CBS board at the same time as Mr. Parsons in early September, has an array of media experience having held senior posts at BMG Entertainment and 20th Century Fox. He is currently chairman and chief executive of videogame publisher Take-Two Interactive Software Inc.
One of the first priorities for Zelnick and the board is to determine who will be its next chief executive. Mr. Ianniello, chief operating officer, was named acting chief executive in September and is a candidate for the position, but the company is also expected to consider outside candidates as well.
Saudi Arabia’s foreign minister offered his condolences on Sunday to the family of a Washington Post columnist killed in the country’s consulate in Turkey almost three weeks ago, but offered no new information on how Jamal Khashoggi was killed or if the country’s crown prince was involved.
Speaking during an exclusive interview with Fox News’ Bret Baier, Saudi Foreign Minister Adel Al-Jubeir said that the country is currently investigating Khashoggi’s death and that the 18 people implicated in his slaying would be punished appropriately.
“The individuals did this out of the scope of their authority,” he said, adding that none of those involved in Khashoggi’s death had close ties to Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman. “There were not people closely tied to him. This was an operation that was a rogue operation.”
“When you have a situation like this, you want the information you put out to be as accurate as possible,” he added.
President Trump said during a campaign rally on Saturday that he will soon be talking to Mohammed bin Salman, the country's powerful 33-year-old crown prince.
Saudi authorities announced that Jamal Khashoggi, a Washington Post columnist, died in the Saudi Consulate in Istanbul after a fistfight with officials there. That explanation has sparked allegations of a cover-up intended to shield the powerful crown prince.
Saudi Arabia said 18 Saudi suspects were in custody and intelligence officials had been fired. But critics believe the complex scheme that led to Khashoggi's death could not have occurred without the knowledge of bin Salman.
The Saudi government's overnight announcement that Washington Post contributor Jamal Khashoggi died in a fistfight at its consulate in Turkey was "insulting," and provided another reason Crown Prince Mohammad Bin Salman is "gonna have to be replaced," Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., told Fox News Sunday.
"I think it’s insulting to anyone who’s analyzing this with any kind of intelligent background to think that, oh, a fistfight led to a dismemberment with a bone saw," Paul said, referring to unconfirmed reports that the Saudi squad at the embassy included a man toting a bone saw. (Nebraska Republican Sen. Ben Sasse similarly told CNN's "State of the Union" on Sunday that "you don't bring a bone saw to an accidental fist fight. ... The Saudis have said a whole bunch of crap that's not right, accurate, or true.")
Paul added: "I think we should put this brazen attack, this brazen murder in context with Saudi Arabia. Saudi Arabia has basically over the decades been the largest state sponsor of radical Islam and violent jihad. They sponsor thousands of madrassas that teach hatred of Christians and Jews and Hindus around the world. So this isn’t the first instance, this is just another in the line of long instances of Saudi insults to the civilized world."
The Kentucky senator said the solution was for new leadership in Saudi Arabia -- a proposal echoed by Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., who said on Fox News last week that Crown Prince Mohammad Bin Salman "has got to go."
Before a room full of adoring fans, Fox News host Tucker Carlson argued on Saturday that the media industry is conveying "moral superiority" and playing "a game" by acting outraged at the murder of American resident and Washington Post columnist Jamal Khashoggi.
"The whole game is people who have no basis for moral superiority sort of impose their moral superiority on you," Carlson said of the widespread media backlash to Saudi Arabia. "The outrage is so false."
According to The Hollywood Reporter, he said that "Jamal Khashoggi" is a name nobody knew two weeks ago. "They use that to bully you into submission," he said of the unified outrage. "It's a game. Don't play along."
"Just stop lecturing me," Carlson said, before miming, "You don't care enough about Khashoggi!"
Carlson, who appeared at the Politicon conference along with Democratic strategist James Carville, conveyed no surprise at Khashoggi's grim fate, reportedly at the hands of individuals close to the ruling Crown Prince.
"The Saudis, and I don't mean this as a compliment, are acting entirely in character with their character," he said. "That's what they do."
Carlson called the Saudi kingdom "a primitive evil theocracy in the desert," and said he's not "pro-Saudi."
Saudi Arabia is suspected of having groomed a Saudi employee at Twitter to help the country's leadership by spying on the accounts of dissidents, according to a new report.
The New York Times reported Saturday that Western officials told Twitter in 2015 that one of their employees, Ali Alzabarah, was being groomed to spy on the accounts.
Twitter was reportedly unable to find evidence that the employee gave company data to Saudi Arabia, but fired him in December 2015.
Jamal Khashoggi
A representative from Twitter told The Hill that the company did not have anything to add yet about the Times' report on Saturday afternoon.
The Times reported that the alleged efforts appeared to be part of a larger push by the Saudi royal family to use hundreds of people to flood social media with pro-Saudi messaging and smother the voices of dissenters.
The report comes amid uproar over the death of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi, a vocal critic of Saudi leadership, inside the country's consulate in Istanbul earlier this month.
Khashoggi's death has heightened the international focus on efforts to silence critics of Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman and others in the royal family.
Saudi operatives have been reportedly mobilized to harass dissenters on Twitter since the 2010 Arab Spring, according to multiple American and Saudi officials who spoke to the Times.
Cable news depicts a divided country, with talking heads fighting from the left and right on deeply polarizing political issues. But according to a new study, the United States might not be as split as the media portrays.
CNN reports More in Common, an initiative dedicated to understanding political polarization, recently released the results of their project called "The Hidden Tribes of America."
They found that 67% of the country is what the organization calls the "Exhausted Majority," a group that is displeased by America's polarization and would like for people to find a common ground.
"There's a tremendous anxiety about the division and a sense with the majority of people that their voice isn't being heard," Tim Dixon, co-founder of More in Common, told Brian Stelter in the latest Reliable Sources podcast. "That it's these strident, hateful, often uncompromising us versus them voices" that are receiving attention.
Tim Dixon
Dixon cited the Brett Kavanaugh hearings as an example of the majority's distress. Their research found that 70% of people said they blame both the left and the right for the conflict over his nomination.
"There is a tendency I think for the whole nature of the political polarization to become so distasteful that there's a large number of people who are just stepping back from it altogether and just sort of don't want to choose a side," Dixon said.
When asked by Stelter how much blame should be assigned to the media, Dixon said it's a significant factor in the country's tensions. More in Common has asked similar questions in different countries, and even though divisions exist elsewhere, respondents are not able to clearly say who they view as their enemy.
"I think the difference is partisan cable television came many years earlier in the United States than any other country, and I think that's really had a significant effect," Dixon said. The problem is that the partisan model seen on cable news makes money, he said.
Social media also plays a role in the problem. People tend to follow and be followed by others with the same opinions as them, and they're likely to receive backlash if they say something contrary to the typical beliefs of their side, Dixon said.
Senator Mark Warner believes that it's time for government to end its hand-off approach to social media and put some regulations in place, with the Virginia Democrat saying Friday, "You have to put up some guardrails."
Speaking at a Virginia community college before a small group that included many local officials, Warner said that social media companies like Facebook and Twitter had for years strongly urged the federal government to stay away from regulating them because they were afraid Washington would, quote, "screw it up."
A lot of that thinking changed, however, in the wake of Russia's weaponizing of social media as part of its interference in the 2016 election.
Warner said that federal lawmakers can no longer allow social media to act without any constraints, saying, "You have to put up some guardrails."
The senator said regulation is particularly needed because about half of Americans now get their news from social media, but many don't know where that news is coming from. He said, "People have the right to know whether they are talking to a robot or a machine."
He also stated that social medial companies have a, quote, "moral and legal obligation" to take down sites that advocate hate and killing.
Georgia Radio Hall of Fame organizer John Long, Sean Hannity and Hannity's former WGST boss Eric Seidel. CREDIT: Mark Arum
A cavalcade of Atlanta radio vets were inducted into the Georgia Radio Hall of Fame Saturday night.
Among those who entered the hall were Majic 107.5/97.5 host Silas “SiMan” Alexander, Classic 102.9 host Mitch Faulkner, retired WGST/WABE host Denis O’Hayer, former Star 94.1 newsman Rob Stadler, former 96rock and Eagle host Steve Mitchell, former 96rock jockJeff Winter and Cox Media Group D.C. veteran radio reporter Jamie Dupree.
Eric Seidel - who discovered both Clark Howard and Sean Hannity while running WGST in the 1990s - was also inducted, along with Bob Neil, who ran Cox’s radio operations for many years before retiring in 2011.
Bill Mayhugh, a longtime Washington-area radio host who had an overnight jazz and easy-listening program for almost 30 years, helped raise millions of dollars for charity and was a founder of the Marine Corps Marathon, died Oct. 12 at an assisted-living facility in Olney, Md.
He died on his 91st birthday, according to The Washington Post. He had complications from a broken hip, said a son, Jack Mayhugh.
Mayhugh was a native Washingtonian who began his career as a jazz drummer when he was 16. He turned to broadcasting in 1949, reading the morning news on WFAX-AM in Fairfax County, Va.
Early in his career, he was the host of a morning show and a children’s show, and he had a brief turn as a television announcer in the early 1950s before finding his niche as a DJ and interviewer, where he brought a musician’s insight to the airwaves. He first joined WMAL 630 AM in 1953 as the host of “Mayhugh’s Moods” from 10 to 11 p.m.
Early in his career, Mayhugh said, he learned the secret of radio’s particular sense of intimacy.
“People don’t sit in groups and listen to the radio,” he said in 2009. “You must speak just as though you’re talking to just one person.”
During the 1950s, Mayhugh produced and hosted an ABC Radio show of jazz big bands appearing at the Glen Echo ballroom in Maryland, where he chatted with such well-known musicians as Count Basie, Woody Herman and Stan Kenton.
In 1954, Mayhugh moved to WOL-AM, where he began with a late-night show before shifting to a daytime slot for eight years. He returned to WMAL in 1964 as host of the “All Night Show,” which ran from midnight (later changed to 1 a.m.) to 6 a.m. He was a fixture on WMAL for 29 years.
Beginning in the 1950s, he was a frequent emcee at charity events, including golf tournaments and other benefits. For more than 20 years, he hosted an annual 25-hour radio marathon to raise money for leukemia research. He was credited with raising more than $15 million for that cause alone.
Throughout his career, until he left the airwaves when WMAL switched to an all-news format in
1993, Mayhugh acted as the writer, producer, director and host of his shows.
➦In 1891...radio actor Parker Fennelly was born in Maine.
He was a longtime member of Allen’s Alley on NBC’s Fred Allen Show, portraying Titus Moody with a strong “Down East” accent. He was much in demand for numerous radio series based in New York, and over a 20 year span played a countrified New Englander on Snow Village Sketches, which kept popping up on various networks.
He guested on numerous live early TV shows including Lux Video Theatre, Philco Television Playhouse and Studio One.
He died at age 96 on Jan. 22, 1988. ➦In 1939...the first televised pro football game was telecast from Ebbets Field in Brooklyn, New York. NBC’s flagship, W2XBS, carried the action. Brooklyn beat Philadelphia, 23-14. NBC later changed those experimental call letters to WRCA, and even later, to WNBC. ➦In 1956...Billboard announced that Elvis Presley had notched seventeen chart hits this year alone.
➦In 1961...Chubby Checker performed "The Twist" and "Let's Twist Again" on The Ed Sullivan Show. Both songs received renewed radio airplay despite already being hits and, amazingly, "The Twist" went all the way to #1 again, becoming the only song of the Rock Era to reach #1...twice.
➦In 1969…Paul McCartney issued an official press release through Apple stating that he was not, in fact, dead, as had been rumored. He then retired to his farm in Scotland where LIFE magazine tracked him down to prove he was still alive.
➦In 1977...The Hot 100..Debby Boone remained #1 with "You Light Up My Life", holding off Carly Simon's "Nobody Does It Better". Shaun Cassidy was up with his Eric Carmen remake "That's Rock 'N' Roll" and K.C. and the Sunshine Band dropped with "Keep It Comin' Love". Newcomer Heatwave was up to 5 with "Boogie Nights".
The rest of the Top 10: Foreigner and "Cold As Ice", the Commodores with "Brick House" at #7, Donna Summer's "I Feel Love", the former #1 for Meco--"Star Wars Theme/Cantina Band" and Johnny Rivers landed in the Top 10 for the first time in five years with his final Top 10--"Swayin' to the Music".
➦In 1977...The Album Charts..Rumours by Fleetwood Mac was in uncharted territory. It had spent 24 weeks at #1, six more than any other album in the Rock Era to that time. Simple Dreams by Linda Ronstadt was a solid #2 and Steely Dan was rocketing up from 26-3 with Aja. The debut of Foreigner moved up to #4.
The rest of the Top 10: Shaun Cassidy, Rita Coolidge at #6 with Anytime...Anywhere, the Rolling Stones debuted in the Top 10 with Love You Live, Elvis Presley's Moody Blue was #8, I Robot by the Alan Parsons Project and Livin' on the Fault Line from the Doobie Brothers at #10.
➦In 1986...NY Personality/Traffic Reporter Jane Dornacker was killed in a helicopter accident while working for WNBC 660 AM Radio in New York City (which became WFAN in 1988).
Dornacker was aboard during two unrelated crashes of the helicopters leased to WNBC. She survived the first crash, but was killed in the second crash into the Hudson River, which occurred as she was in the middle of a live traffic report.
Her death came shortly after that of her husband, Bob Knickerbocker, orphaning their 16-year-old daughter. The NTSB investigation determined the cause of the fatal crash to have been use of improper parts and poor maintenance on the part of Spectrum Helicopters of Ridgefield Park, New Jersey.
➦In 1992...Dodgers/Yankees Radio/TV sportscaster Red Barber died.
Red Barber
At the age of 21, he hitchhiked from his home in Sanford, FL to Gainesville, FL and enrolled at the University of Florida, majoring in education. During his first year he worked at various jobs including part-time janitor at the University Club. There in January 1930 Barber got his start in broadcasting.
An agriculture professor had been scheduled to appear on WRUF, the university radio station, to read a scholarly paper over the air. When the professor's absence was discovered minutes before the broadcast was to begin, janitor Barber was called in as a substitute. Thus the future sportscaster's first gig was reading "Certain Aspects of Bovine Obstetrics".
After those few minutes in front of a microphone, Barber decided to switch careers. He became WRUF's director and chief announcer and covered Florida football games that autumn. Then he dropped out of school to focus on his radio work. After four more years at WRUF he landed a job broadcasting the Cincinnati Reds on WLW and WSAI when Powel Crosley, Jr., purchased the team in 1934.
On Opening Day 1934 (April 17), Barber attended his first major league game and broadcast its play-by-play, as the Reds lost to the Chicago Cubs 6–0. He called games from the stands of Cincinnati's renamed Crosley Field for the next five seasons.
Barber had been hired by Larry MacPhail, then president of the Reds. When MacPhail moved on to be president of the Dodgers for the 1939 season, he took the play-by-play man along. In Brooklyn, Barber became an institution, widely admired for his folksy style. He was also appreciated by people concerned about Brooklyn's reputation as a land of "dees" and "dems".
In 1939 Barber broadcast the first major-league game on television, on experimental NBC station W2XBS. In 1946 he added to his Brooklyn duties a job as sports director of the CBS Radio Network, succeeding Ted Husing and continuing through 1955. There his greatest contribution was to conceive and host the CBS Football Roundup, which switched listeners back and forth between broadcasts of different regional college games each week.
For most of Barber's run with the Dodgers, the team was broadcast over radio station WMGM (later WHN) at 1050 on the AM dial.
Prior to the 1953 World Series, Barber was selected by Gillette, which sponsored the Series broadcasts, to call the games on NBC Radio Network along with Mel Allen. Barber wanted a larger fee than was offered by Gillette, however, and when Dodgers owner Walter O'Malley refused to back him, Barber declined to work the Series and Vin Scully partnered with Allen on the telecasts instead. As Barber later related in his 1968 autobiography, Rhubarb in the Catbird Seat, it was O'Malley's lack of support that led to his resigning from the Dodgers later that October.
Soon afterward the crosstown Yankees hired Barber. In 1955 he took his long-running television program Red Barber's Corner from CBS to NBC. It ran from 1949 until 1958.
Under the ownership of CBS in 1966, the Yankees finished tenth and last, their first time at the bottom of the standings since 1912 and after more than 40 years of dominating the American League. On September 22, paid attendance of 413 was announced at the 65,000-seat Yankee Stadium.
Barber asked the TV cameras to pan the empty stands as he commented on the low attendance. Although denied the camera shots on orders from the Yankees' head of media relations, he said, "I don't know what the paid attendance is today, but whatever it is, it is the smallest crowd in the history of Yankee Stadium, and this crowd is the story, not the game." By a horrible stroke of luck, that game was the first for CBS executive Mike Burke as team president. A week later, Barber was invited to breakfast where Burke told him that his contract wouldn't be renewed.
After his dismissal by the Yankees in 1966, Barber retired from baseball broadcasting.
Taylor w/Chaka Kahn 1975
➦In 1999...WWRL/WRKS personality Sonny Taylor died.
His obituary in the NY Daily News notes millions of New Yorkers who remember the golden age of WWRL 1600 AM, when its playlist and personalities helped shape the whole direction of popular music, also will remember Sonny Taylor,
He programmed WWRL for four years, starting in 1975. Later, he programmed WRKS and he was a deejay at both WWRL and WNJR, where he started in 1966. "Like many radio people, Taylor got around: St. Louis, Chicago, Miami. He spent the '90s at WMMJ in Washington, where he was working until he died. "
➦In 2004...bass singer Bill Reed, original member of the Toronto-based singing group The Diamonds (The Stroll, Little Darlin’) died at age 68.
➦In 2009...Radio/TV personality Soupy Sales died.
Sales was born Milton Supman, got his nickname from his family. His older brothers had been nicknamed "Hambone" and "Chicken Bone." Milton was dubbed "Soup Bone," which was later shortened to "Soupy".
Sales enrolled in Marshall College in Huntington, WV where he earned a Master's Degree in Journalism. While at Marshall, he performed in nightclubs as a comedian, singer and dancer. After graduating, Sales began working as a scriptwriter and disc jockey at radio station WHTN (now WVHU) in Huntington. He moved to Cincinnati, Ohio in 1949, where he worked as a morning radio DJ and performed in nightclubs.
On January 1, 1965, miffed at having to work on the holiday, Sales ended his live TV broadcast by encouraging his young viewers to tiptoe into their still-sleeping parents' bedrooms and remove those "funny green pieces of paper with pictures of U.S. Presidents" from their pants and pocketbooks. "Put them in an envelope and mail them to me", Soupy instructed the children. "And I'll send you a postcard from Puerto Rico!" He was then hit with a pie. Several days later, a chagrined Soupy announced that money (mostly Monopoly money was unexpectedly being received in the mail. He explained that he had been joking and announced that the contributions would be donated to charity.
Sales hosted a midday radio show on WNBC 660 AM in New York from March 1985 to March 1987. His program was between the drive time shifts of Don Imus (morning) and Howard Stern (afternoon), with whom Sales had an acrimonious relationship. An example of this was an incident involving Stern telling listeners that he was cutting the strings in Sales' in-studio piano at 4:05 p.m. on May 1, 1985. On December 21, 2007, Stern revealed this was a stunt staged for "theater of the mind" and to torture Sales; in truth, the piano was never harmed.
Sales' on-air crew included his producer, Ray D'Ariano, newscaster Judy DeAngelis (recently retired as AM Drive news anchor on 1010 WINS), and pianist Paul Dver, who was also Soupy's manager.
When Soupy's show was not renewed, his time slot would be taken over by D'ariano. Near the end of his contract, Sales lost his temper on the air, and began to speak very frankly about how he felt he had been treated poorly by the station, and how he felt betrayed that D'ariano would be taking over the show. The show went to break after a commercial - Sales was off the air, replaced without comment or explanation by program director Dale Parsons. Soupy would not return to the air.
➦In 2016...Chicago radio legend Herb Kent, the Cool Gent, whose career on the air spanned more than 70 years, died at age 88. He was known as the longest-serving DJ in radio history.
