Marathon
spirit is honored
Radio voice lauded, unheard
By
Tom Hennessy
Staff
columnist
The
buttons on my car radio are mostly set for talk-radio stations. By pressing
them in rapid-fire order, I often hear different people giving the same
lock-step opinions on the same subjects. It is a small illustration of
the grip the political right now has on talk-radio in Southern California.
A
more dramatic illustration, as noted in prior columns, is the fact that
Michael Jackson, the dean of talk radio in the Southland and perhaps the
most polished person in the business, has been unemployed for nearly a
year.
Simply
put, he is not right-wing enough. In fact, he is not right- wing at all.
Nothing
underscores the absurdity of this situation more than the fact that on
Saturday in Chicago, Jackson will be inducted into the Radio Hall of Fame.
The ceremony, moderated by TV host Larry King, will be broadcast live
on one of Jackson's old stations, KNX (1070 AM) at 7 p.m.
Jackson,
a talk-show veteran of more than 30 years, is one of five people being
inducted. The Radio Hall of Fame is a relatively exclusive group. It has
115 members, fewer than half the number enshrined at its baseball counterpart
in Cooperstown, N.Y.
Also
being inducted in Chicago is Gene Autry, the late California Angels owner
who began his radio career as a yodeling cowboy. The other three: Jim
Bohannon, network talk-show host, Mel Karmazin, president of Viacom, Inc.,
and Orion Samuelson, a Chicago broadcaster known as America's "Voice
of Agriculture.''
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