Wednesday, October 17, 2007

Who is Melanie Morgan's Minder?

Melanie Morgan is one of the most prominent power brokers in California politics.
She is regularly given credit for starting the successful recall of now former Governor Gray Davis. The Marin Republican party named her Conservative of the Year. (link to Marin Republican party page)

When I wrote last week about Morgan's heavy promotion on the ABC Radio station, KSFO, of her counter protest to Code Pink's action I was hoping that someone higher up in the ABC Radio corporation or within Citadel Broadcasting would pay attention to Morgan's use of the public airwaves for this action. (This quote is from the MAF site, so if you want all that context --that won't change any meanings--go there.)

I am furious about this insult to our troops, and I am organizing a counter protest for Wednesday, October 17th at high noon. I am planning to bring as many of our KSFO audience as possible, plus do a big Move America Forward push for a large crowd.
-Melanie Morgan on Move America Forward's website


What was upper management's response? I'm guessing it was a memo to Morgan saying something like, "be sure to mention that your counter protest is meant to be a non-violent protest". Maybe someone just checked with the insurance company and asked if they would be covered if a fight breaks out on this ABC Radio-promoted event. Sure enough, this morning after Morgan promoted the event again and called Code Pink traitors, she says how she is going to confront them and tell them exactly what she thinks of them; she throws in at the last minute in the most sarcastic voice possible, "of course only in the most non-violent of ways." As George W. Bush reportedly said to his CIA briefer after he got his Aug 6. PDB. "All right. You've covered your ass, now."

Audio link MP3 here WMA here.
You really should listen how she spits out the word traitors (and she knows what we do to traitors in the country, right?) and then switches to the sarcastic, "of course only in the most non-violent of ways." Tone is important here. And note when she says "we" and "our". Who is she speaking for, where is she saying this, who is paying for this?


I'm sure that nothing will happen. It will just be Morgan shouting how non-violent she is at some poor Code Pink member. The TV cameras will eat it up. Wheee! No harm, no foul. This time.

Since it seems that the only time upper management pays attention to what Morgan actually says on the air is when I point it out to them or their advertisers, I do wish that they would pay more attention to the behavior of their own people than to me. I'm not the one bragging on the radio show about all the work being done to make sure the TV cameras are at the event and I'm not the one telling the TV producers that unless they show up they will lose credibility. ABC Radio station KSFO wants the PR they are getting. Just be sure to spell their names right is the old saying. And if something goes wrong, remember folks, approval for this goes to the top.

Now also might be a good time for Citadel Broadcastings' internal people to look at how the time is allocated on this program to various advertisers, charities and non-profit groups. Maybe someone should clock how much time is devoted to Move America Forward and its requests for money or to sell merchandise on Morgan's site. Check out the week before Sept. 15th or the weeks before today just to give two recent examples. 4-5 minutes an hour, hour after hour, day after day. That must add up.

I'm sure that both Citadel Broadcasting and Move America Forward are recording the in-kind advertising in the appropriate places on the balance sheets. I'm sure everyone is covered on the personal side, these people are very smart and I don't doubt that is it correctly accounted for. On the corporate side I'm sure that Citadel knows how to account for all this, they can't be confused like the general public might be. Of course if there are problems we will never know, they don't break out that info to the public, only internal auditors will know.

By the way, I've heard that Citadel might be bringing back a big name in radio. I'll bet they will need to squeeze every dime out of the other stations to pay his salary and cover any insurance in case they have to fire him.

I'm not an accountant, I don't know how these things work, but when you give lots of air time to one group it has to be recorded by that group, right? Or doesn't it count if the whole program is an infomercial for the host's group? But if an infomercial raises a lot of money for the people putting it on, doesn't that need to be recorded somehow? I mean money does flow from listeners to the group based on where they heard it. I suppose a political talk radio show can give free time to a group like MAF, especially when the chairman of MAF is the host of that show. What if this host is so strongly identified with this group that her public appearances always mention this association and all the guests on the radio station acknowledge that she is the head of the organization?

I'm sure that it is all very clear and there are no issues, after all, this is an important money issue and we know how accurate people are when it comes to accounting for finances.
But it's just so very confusing to the public. But again, I'm sure the accounting people at Citadel will have it all figured out and guidelines will be followed to the letter of the law.

Because conservatives are all about the rule of law, right?

3 Comments:

Metro said...

Isn't there some organization in the States that looks after the mentally unfit?

That's who should be minding Our Lady of the Concentration Camps.

12:35 AM  
spocko said...

Well there was a group that looked after the mentally unfit, but they were defunded because supposedly "the community" was going to take care of them. And they did, but putting them on the streets and then having to walk by them on their way to work.

Movement conseratives like Lee Rodgers hates the people on the streets but sees no connection to his "small government" and cruel anti-human policies and the way that the mentally ill are left to fend for themselves.

And as for "Our Lady of the Concentration Camps"? I thought that was Michelle Malkin?

10:44 AM  
Metro said...

Whoops--my mistake. But yeah, her too.

Hey--maybe the initials "MM" are a clue to finding right-wing loonies? Michelle Merkin, Melanie Morgan, Mickey Mouse?

Good FSM! Maybe Marilyn Manson's been on their side all along!

10:41 AM  

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