Conservative talker Michael Graham loses job over Islam talk
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For the Michael Graham fans out there, he's available again. WMAL, AM630 in the D.C. area officially canned him after he reportedly refused to apologize on air for equating Islam with terrorism.
While I don't agree entirely with what he said, I do agree almost entirely with the point he was trying to make -- that is that many in the Islam religion are turning a blind eye to what those like the Taliban, Bin Laden and others are doing in the name of their religion.
I'll get my talk radio fix from other sources now. With sources like XM and Sirius, I'm not as limited in who I can listen to in my car. I've personally tuned out WMAL in the past for stupid programming decisions and I'll easily do it again. They employed the ultra whiney (voice) and ultra liberal Victoria Jones (imported from the U.K. originally, though WMAL apparently got her from a New York station and brought her to D.C.) She was so blatantly ignorant of any semblance of balanced discussion -- as in having Jesse Jackson on for an inteview that instead became Jesse's own turn to preach on all of talking points without the Tim Russert or Ted Koppel (or any of a host of others) counter balance to toss in a question every now and again to ask if any of Jackson's information might not be based in fact, might be exaggerated or otherwise have been a contorted version of events. It was disgusting to even hear and caused me to exchange about 3 e-mail commentaries with the program director at WMAL while otherwise completely ignoring his station. It took about 6 months after she was gone off the air for me to bring myself to listen to 'MAL again. One of the things that was keeping me listening at all was Michael Graham and his tell it like it is discussions on topical issues.
The sad thing is that many times I disagreed with Graham, as he would take a position that (though he claimed to be a conservative, and normally sounded like one) that was almost completely the antithesis of what a conservative would believe. Of course he was probably doing it to generate noise and ratings. Something 'MAL is apparently starving for, and which I suspect they've just dearly cost themselves in this move.
Anyway, news report can be found here: Radio and Records site
A few words from the report:
Talk Host Fired Over Controversial Comments About Islam
Michael Graham's suspension by management at ABC Radio's WMAL/Washington for recent on-air comments in which he characterized Islam as a terrorist organization has turned into a permanent furlough for the controversial midday talker. The Council on American-Islamic Relations have continued to denounce Graham's comments as "hate-filled" and have called for the talk host's ouster ever since he made the comments on his program in late July.
In a statement released by Graham regarding his firing, the talk host said, "The First Amendment and I have been evicted from ABC Radio in Washington, DC. It appears that ABC Radio has caved to an organization that condemns Talk radio hosts like me but has never condemned Hamas, Hezbollah and wouldn't specifically condemn Al Qaeda for three months after 9/11. As a fan of Talk radio, I find it absolutely outrageous that pressure from a special interest group like CAIR can result in the abandonment of free speech and open discourse on a talk radio show."
Asked to comment on Graham's accusations, WMAL President/GM Chris Berry told R&R, "Typically we don't comment on personnel matters, but given the misstatements being communicated, I want to set the record straight. Some of Michael's statements about Islam went over the line — and this isn't the first time that he has been reprimanded for insensitive language and comments. I asked Michael for an on-air acknowledgement that some of his remarks were overly broad and inexplicably he refused. Michael has also tried to position this by saying that we were pressured into taking disciplinary action against him. For the record, we make our decisions independent of external pressures or third parties. We will not permit an employee to willfully violate our policies or disregard management direction."
While I don't agree entirely with what he said, I do agree almost entirely with the point he was trying to make -- that is that many in the Islam religion are turning a blind eye to what those like the Taliban, Bin Laden and others are doing in the name of their religion.
I'll get my talk radio fix from other sources now. With sources like XM and Sirius, I'm not as limited in who I can listen to in my car. I've personally tuned out WMAL in the past for stupid programming decisions and I'll easily do it again. They employed the ultra whiney (voice) and ultra liberal Victoria Jones (imported from the U.K. originally, though WMAL apparently got her from a New York station and brought her to D.C.) She was so blatantly ignorant of any semblance of balanced discussion -- as in having Jesse Jackson on for an inteview that instead became Jesse's own turn to preach on all of talking points without the Tim Russert or Ted Koppel (or any of a host of others) counter balance to toss in a question every now and again to ask if any of Jackson's information might not be based in fact, might be exaggerated or otherwise have been a contorted version of events. It was disgusting to even hear and caused me to exchange about 3 e-mail commentaries with the program director at WMAL while otherwise completely ignoring his station. It took about 6 months after she was gone off the air for me to bring myself to listen to 'MAL again. One of the things that was keeping me listening at all was Michael Graham and his tell it like it is discussions on topical issues.
The sad thing is that many times I disagreed with Graham, as he would take a position that (though he claimed to be a conservative, and normally sounded like one) that was almost completely the antithesis of what a conservative would believe. Of course he was probably doing it to generate noise and ratings. Something 'MAL is apparently starving for, and which I suspect they've just dearly cost themselves in this move.
Anyway, news report can be found here: Radio and Records site
A few words from the report:
Talk Host Fired Over Controversial Comments About Islam
Michael Graham's suspension by management at ABC Radio's WMAL/Washington for recent on-air comments in which he characterized Islam as a terrorist organization has turned into a permanent furlough for the controversial midday talker. The Council on American-Islamic Relations have continued to denounce Graham's comments as "hate-filled" and have called for the talk host's ouster ever since he made the comments on his program in late July.
In a statement released by Graham regarding his firing, the talk host said, "The First Amendment and I have been evicted from ABC Radio in Washington, DC. It appears that ABC Radio has caved to an organization that condemns Talk radio hosts like me but has never condemned Hamas, Hezbollah and wouldn't specifically condemn Al Qaeda for three months after 9/11. As a fan of Talk radio, I find it absolutely outrageous that pressure from a special interest group like CAIR can result in the abandonment of free speech and open discourse on a talk radio show."
Asked to comment on Graham's accusations, WMAL President/GM Chris Berry told R&R, "Typically we don't comment on personnel matters, but given the misstatements being communicated, I want to set the record straight. Some of Michael's statements about Islam went over the line — and this isn't the first time that he has been reprimanded for insensitive language and comments. I asked Michael for an on-air acknowledgement that some of his remarks were overly broad and inexplicably he refused. Michael has also tried to position this by saying that we were pressured into taking disciplinary action against him. For the record, we make our decisions independent of external pressures or third parties. We will not permit an employee to willfully violate our policies or disregard management direction."
