We're Losing Colin McEnroe, too….

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…but hopefully he will find another home, or another time-slot, as he did after WTIC foolishly cancelled his 10 am show more than a decade ago. Whether or not you love or hate his politics, he’s brilliant, informed and intellectually curious. And unlike most broadcasters, he’s not afraid to criticize those in power.

One of the most disturbing aspects of the changes at WTIC-AM is that the station is now dominated from 6 am to 3 pm by right-leaning hosts: Ray Dunaway will broadcast from 6 to 9, Jim Vicevich from 9 to 12, and Rush Limbaugh till 3 pm. What’s wrong with this picture? Connecticut’s 50-thousand watt powerhouse radio station needs to offer some balance.

14 COMMENTS

  1. i could almost agree that the radio media needs balance, but what of the major newspapers and internet news sites (aol, yahoo, cnn, etc) and network tv? they are way slanted to the left. why does no one call for balance in those realms? one would have to be ignorant or disingenuous to not call for balance everywhere in the media.

  2. There have been many times that the only thing I looked forward to each day was Colin’s show, which always put a smile on my face.

    WTIC has lost another long-time listener. There is no reason to listen to the station anymore. It’s a shame.

  3. … like Air America, Colin failed to produce ratings. Apparently the only places for liberal talk radio will be publicly subsidized or legally mandated venues. In essence, all 253 of you liberal listeners can’t pay the bills at the station!

  4. me too, no reason to listen any more. I used to tune in for traffic and weather, and then left the morning and Colin show on. Guess this is another habit I can dump in 2009. I can’t handle more than 5 minutes of Vicevich, Dunaway or Rush. At least Diane helped balance Dunaway. No longer needed, will get my traffic and weather before I leave the house and listen to CDs.

  5. Very sad situation. And despite the conspiracy theorists who think all media are falling off the left side of their flat little world, there’s not much balance out there. There’s certainly none at WTIC anymore. Politics aside, Colin offered one of the few shows outside of NPR that put an effort into humor and intellect on the radio. The AM band is really becoming a desert.

  6. There’s two aspects to all this media blood letting that bother me.

    The first is that so many people seem to absolutely believe that the media is totally one-sided as liberal. To be sure, there are many in the media who lean to the left. As there are to the right. But the industry itself has one leaning – to make money. However that may be done. They cater to what they feel will get them the greatest audience and therefore the greatest income stream. Why so many people believe with all their heart that the media is liberal is beyond me. Look at WTIC as an example. There was ONE program out of the entire program day that could be considered liberal. Now it is gone.

    The second thing that is disturbing is how the comments throughout the web on this topic border on the violent. That is *really* scary to me.

  7. That’s terrible news for Connecticut. He was one of the first journalists who called Joe Lieberman to the carpet for his unwavering support of the war in Iraq. This is a huge loss for Connecticut.
    On the other hand, if Colin has some extra free time, perhaps he can come and sing in the choir at AHCC!!

  8. I love the canard the right puts up. Rabid right wingers like Rush, who is oh so proud of his “Barack the Magic Negro” song are somewhat conservative, but it’s only to balance out the “liberal” CNN and Yahoo news (yahoo!?). It’s classic working of the ref. Just accuse every main new source other than FOX news and Rush Limbaugh “liberal” and presto, problem solved.

    If WTIC wants to put up wall to wall conservatives fine, but maybe we should think about charging them for the radio spectrum they get to use FOR FREE. Why for free? Radio stations that use radio spectrum, which is owned by the people, for free because they are providing a “public service”. So listening to wall to wall conservative propaganda is a public service? Time to relook at radio licensing laws.

  9. McEnroe also was prepared to insite a riot. And that is what talk radio is all about. He was fair, allowing a crazed Conservative like me to get my side out there as long as it wasn’t prepackaged. I rarely agreed with him on anything political, but he was always open to a debate and gave as good as he got. Colin will be fine. He writes well and has a curious mind. Radio is a tough business in any economic cycle and CBS is cutting back everywhere. Feel no sorrow for McEnroe. He is Irish and used to the indifferent cruelty of life. Hell, he could even write another book.

  10. After reading a few days worth of the various responses to this whole affair, it’s pretty discouraging. It probably is discouraging for Colin to have to find a new job, but we all go through it at some point. Undoubtedly he will be fine wherever he ends up.

    What is more personally discouraging is the vitriol (always wanted to use that word) that this has generated on the web. This is one awfully angry state and country.