Fraters Libertas

Radio Report

Turns out those Time Magazine Bloggers of the Year co-host some sort of radio show, Saturdays 12 - 3 PM, on AM 1280 the Patriot (and streaming continuously here.) I can testify from listening to it, it's all good stuff. If you don't believe me, take the word of a media professional (Salem Communications General Manager John Hunt):

The success of the Northern Alliance Radio Network has been tremendous. All of the contributors, including those who publish Power Line, offer an intelligent and lively perspective on news of the day. We're proud that John and Scott have been recognized in the new TIME magazine category, Blog of the Year."

In other news, a very unfortunate incident from the KSTP Chris Krok show appears in today's Pioneer Press. I heard some of it happen live on Wednesday night, but I wasn't sure if it was a hoax or real. All things considered, too bad it wasn't a hoax.

The parents of a Cottage Grove boy killed in a bus crash this week got into an on-air screaming match Wednesday with a confrontational St. Paul talk-radio host.

Profanities flew as Angela Eppler-Scheller and her husband, John Scheller, spent several minutes arguing with Chris Krok, host of KSTP-AM "Kroktalk," which airs 8 to 10 p.m. weekdays. They apparently called after Krok criticized local TV stations for airing bitter, accusatory comments Eppler-Scheller made at a news conference earlier Wednesday.

It sounded every bit as bad as that reads. Worse yet, Krok replayed the exchange later during his show, in case anyone missed it. It was all very sad and uncomfortable. Before the bereaved parents called in to object, Krok was actually making some valid points about media manipulation and certain televisions stations' editorial judgment in taking advantage of emotionally charged situations. But then it got ugly, fast.

Lesson learned, for the sake of propriety, there are some things that shouldn't be subject to critical analysis in the public forum, no matter how profound or entertaining the material. It's a judgment call of course, but the reactions of grieving parents immediately after their child's death seem to fall into this category. And I hope KSTP doesn't continue to try and get publicity from this unfortunate display.