Do radio stations hire idiots on purpose?

The BBQ Pit
1

Wheee…this may be my first pit thread. Be gentle.

So the topic round the water coolers this morning is this report out of Haltom City (near Fort Worth, TX) of some police officers in trouble. The article in the link is fairly explanatory, but if it starts asking for a freebie login, here’s the short of it: while executing a search warrant, a sergant and two detectives took soft drinks from the suspect’s fridge, and drank them. The sergant was fired, the two detectives suspended for 15 days, and two other detectives who witnessed the event but failed to report it were given written reprimands.

But that’s not what my rant is about. If you want to chew this one up, feel free…it’s good pit fodder.

My rant is with one of the local radio stations, and their morning talk show. My God, I’ve never met someone who actually uses “LALALALALALALA” as a debate tactic. Can I even call it a tactic? In between suggesting people should storm the mayor’s house, lynch the officer who actually did report this to IAD, whenever someone tried present an opposing view point, he’d just shout louder and louder at them until they gave up.

Why do you put an asshole like this on the air? Why do you give him a pulpit to preach from? He’s got the mental acuity of a rhesus monkey. We know when he gets new e-mail because his computer, which also runs the snarkboard*, plays the default Outlook e-mail alert all the time…ON AIR. And not just during talk times, but during songs and paid advertisements too!

When someone tries to talk about the seriousness of policemen breaking laws, he tried to bring up firemen as a counter example. “So if a fireman is trapped in a burning building, right? He got the old guy out, but he’s trapped in there, and this old guy had an oxygen tank which could save this guys life until they get to him, so he uses that guys oxygen tank, and that’s theft, so they have to fire him, right? RIGHT!?! HA! HA!!” Forgive me, that is how he talks.

Several people, both his fellow DJs in the studio, and callers to the show, tried to answer this claim. No one could. He’d keep shouting “HA!” at them, certain he was victorious. Never mind that fire fighters are charged with fighting fires and saving lives, not upholding the law. If a police officer is fired for stealing a soda, why, there should be no tolerance anywhere! Steal a pen from your office, and you should be out of there!

Even the other DJ (there’s, like, four of them on this show, so if I keep saying “other DJ”, it’s probably someone new each time) who supported him seemed embarassed by his behavior. Which is saying something, as he’s usally the loud-mouther sports guy who likes to sleep with listeners who come to the studio to participate in contests. An impressive feat, consdering his attitudes towards women.

Gah, I may just not have enough vitriol here, but this really pisses me off. I’m not looking for every station to be NPR, I just want reasonably intelligent DJs. And music, goddammit! I don’t wanna hear some friggin’ game where a couple of schmucks guess the prices of dildos so they can win tickets to see a washed-up rock group on their third reunion tour.

Some days, it’s really not easy being a Texan who listens to rock. Especially in the mornings. :frowning:

*snarkboard: my term for the collection of snarky little audio snipets DJ’s like to play during their show. Why call someone a poopyhead, when a clip of Jim Carey from some movie will do the same?

2

To answer the OP, Yes. Yes they do.

3

Yes, they hire people like that on purpose. Some of them get very successful at it. They can be very popular, with a certain segment of the population. Then again, so are whoopee cushions.

4

Hell, all I had to do was be caller 10 to see REO Speedwagon earlier this year!

5

It almost sounds like the OP is talking about a local radio guy named Russ Martin, but he’s funny as hell and on a talk station, so no music.

6

Well, his idiocy kept you listening, didn’t it?

That’s the whole point. Keeping listeners listening long enough to hear the ads. Shock jocks/idiot talk shows seem to be able to accomplish this task quite well, capturing both the listener who agrees and the listener who is adamantly opposed. Suckers.

7

Baba booey.
Baba booey.

8

Not Russ, though I know him by reputation. It’s a more ‘edgy’ station.

9

In the short run, I guess it did. Like a train wreck in slow motion, I kept listening to see if anything could avert total disaster. In the long run, however, this particular DJ has been driving me away. Dallas/Fort Worth now has a Jack FM station (which I understand is becoming common around the US), that has no DJs at all, and plays a highly randomized playlist. At first, I rebelled…I liked DJ’s (of old), and the thought of someone hooking their 4,000 gb iPod to a radio transmitter set on “shuffle” seemed…cheap. But the way my usual morning show has been degrading, I’m turning to Jack more and more because even disco is still music.

Well, technically. :dubious:

10

You obviously have no rhesus monkey DJs in your area, for they truly are the best.

11

The horror.

Seriously, did they pilfer any doughnuts as well? Now that should be a firing offense.

Obviously he is overqualified for his job. He should be promoted to program director. :smiley:

12

Yes, they do.

Ever since Jeremy Paxman got recognition for being a hard-hitting, aggressive interviewer, everyone else wants a slice of the pie; now all they think they have to do is continually badger, interrupt, contradict, goad and misrepresent the interviewee and they’ll be on track for a BAFTA.

John Humphrys is about the worst for this right now; he wants to be seen as a hard-nosed political interviewer, but he doesn’t have the tools; his debating style leans heavily on logical fallacy. He just comes across as an obnoxious prick.

13

Hooray!!! Thanks for doing your part to drive down the ratings of this schlock. Maybe soon they’ll be off the air.

But I doubt it.

14

That’s why I feel this could be an interesting debate. There hasn’t been a statement from the city yet as to why they took what actions they did. Is it because “it’s theft, no matter how insignificant, by an officer of the law” kind of situation? Is it because it jeapordizes the investigation into a suspected child abuser, by risking any evidence they gained in the search? Or behind-the-scenes politics? Small Texas towns are great for that last one. Horrible at hiding it, but great at having it.

The biggest reaction has been, of course, to the one firing. Apparantly, the sergeant has been on the force for 26 years. To be fired over a soft drink? I’ll betcha there’s a court case over this one…

15

The guy who played Artemis Gordon is doing radio now? Good for him! :wink:

16

Why not name the D.J. and the station? What are you protecting them for?

17

InkBlot, your first mistake was listening to FM talk radio.
Your second mistake was not turning the radio off sooner.
I trust you have learned your lesson.

18

That was Ross Martin. I’m so ancient I remember him playing Andamo on Mr. Lucky.

19

My BIL is a former DJ, who is now a big-deal-wheelie-dealie. General Manager, or some such thing for a group of stations in a pretty large market to remain unnamed, just in case someone recognizes him from this.

To answer the OP: If that putz is any indication, they’ve been hiring idiots for several years now.

20

Who else can they hire? I’m not sure why anybody smart would apply to work at a standard radio station these days - if you’re not stupid when you apply there, listening to the same 200 songs over and over again and being forced to talk constantly will MAKE you stupid.
The talk I hear on classic rock-type stations is pretty dumb, but since they avoid the two staple topics of younger stations - taking a shit and getting stoned - they sound like geniuses by comparison. Which is still pretty boring. If I don’t have a CD on, these days I’m listening to the news for fun.