Again from His Purplosity, and on the subject of his earlier post on Rhandi Rhodes I’m pointed to a post by Skippy who lists a number of liberal radio voices who have been canned, eased out or otherwise metaphorically “disappeared” under suspicious circumstances.

But, he leaves out the best talk radio host ever in my book, the great Michael Jackson (not that one) who is considered by many in the radio business as having been the first talk show host.

His was on KABC until 1997, when the station unceremoniously demoted him to weekends. After being in drive time for more than 35 years, Jackson wasn’t too happy with his weekend gig at KABC, and eventually left the station in 1998.

He is famous for his “little black book,” which contains the name and phone number of anybody who is anybody-the rich, powerful, famous or infamous. Jackson has interviewed every U.S. President since Lyndon Johnson, and he was the first and only talk radio host to interview President Bill Clinton following the Monica Lewinsky scandal.

His show is erudite, intelligent, informative — but unfortunately he doesn’t get into any shouting matches with his guests, he doesn’t pontificate about how the world is going to hell in a handbasket because of the evil Americans who don’t agree with him and his callers seem to be more interested in asking questions than sharing their learned opinions on every subject. In other words, his show doesn’t appeal to the angry morons who seem to be the most coveted audience in America.

Interestingly, he just spent the last couple of years at a Clear Channel station KLAC. Of course he was let go this last November when Clear suddenly decided to change from the talk show format to oldies. As it said in this article in the Long Beach Press Telegram:

The change comes at a time when, perhaps, Jackson has never been better. His in-studio guest list reflects that: Tom Brokaw, Peter Jennings, Al and Tipper Gore all in the last week, all shunning phone interviews they might have given other radio hosts to meet in person with Jackson.

“Nobody turns us down,’ he says proudly.

But that only adds to the sting Jackson feels in losing his show. He explains the machinations that have put the political right in talk- show ascendancy, while making liberal hosts such as himself an endangered species.

“Talk shows are dominated by conservatives, probably because they reflect the political leanings of station managers, who, in the main, come up through the ranks of sales rather than through news, entertainment and programming. Also, they are in the main, although not entirely, hoping to emulate the success of (Rush) Limbaugh.’

KLAC, its sister station, KFI [on which appear Limbaugh, Elder, Hannity et al] and nearly 1,300 others are owned by Clear Channel Radio. But those vast holdings may prevent the company’s front office from correctly measuring the politics, public opinion, and personalities in its local markets.

Says Jackson, “The change at KLAC had nothing whatsoever to do with me.’ And, he adds, it had nothing to do with the rise of conservative talk-show hosts. “I don’t want to sound like sour grapes. I don’t want to sound as if hosts on the political right have driven me out. The decision was a business one where the owners feel that they can make more money by cutting the staff, in front of the microphone and backstage, and by running canned music.

“My show was way ahead of expectations in the ratings at this stage of development. I had been on the air for just one and a half years, and the company had decided that they were not going to spend any money promoting the project. By contrast, look around. Our successful sister station, KFI, is publicized and advertised everywhere.’

The guy is the absolute best and he is having trouble staying on the air in Los Angeles, for Gawd’s sake! This makes no sense whatsoever.

It is possible, he says, that Clear Channel has misread the L.A.-area market, and has failed to grasp the presence of an extensive audience for a liberal talk show. (He defines a liberal talk-show host as one “open to all points of view.’)

“California is different from the rest of the nation,’ he says. “Every single major elective office in the state is held by a Democrat: the governor, lieutenant governor, the assembly and senate, the mayor of L.A., the attorney general, all of them. And so, KLAC turns off the microphones to talk.’

No kidding. Los Angeles is one of the most liberal cities in the country and we have no liberal talk shows. We have one of the best talk show hosts in the country right here, the man who is credited as inventing the genre and he can’t keep a job.

Sorry. This simply does not compute.

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