Bill sponsor Malik more unbiased than WPRO news
Here’s an interesting instance of media bias: a WPRO preview story on a proposal to eliminate the state sales tax was less balanced than an op/ed in the Fall River Herald News written by the bill’s sponsor, Jan Malik. The WPRO report uses an interview between conservative talk show host Matt Allen, a supporter of [...]
John DePetro’s disdain for undocumented workers
When six-year old Derrick Johnson was struck and killed by a pickup truck driven by Andres Morales, the community mourned a tragic death. There is no question that the terrible event was an accident, Morales had no intention or wish to harm the boy. Perhaps the accident was preventable, perhaps not, but the case has [...]
RI state of mind and misleading headlines
“Rhode Island Most Miserable State” said numerous articles, as Gallup released its latest polling for the Gallup-Healthways Well-Being Index on stress levels and enjoyment in various states. The problem with the headline is that it misrepresented the data Gallup provided, which can be seen here. Sadly, The Providence Journal mistakenly reported that Rhode Island was [...]
Conservative Hate Radio Falls Out Of Fashion
Will Rhode Island soon hear a kinder, gentler WPRO? Probably not, but Lew Dickey, CEO of WPRO’s Atlanta-based parent company Cumulus, is hinting that we might start hearing less about Republican politics and more about the Red Sox baseball. “We’re seeing a shift in spoken word radio from political-based talk over to sports,” Dickey told [...]
RIPR Should Hire Andrew Gobeil To Do Talk Radio
Rhode Island Public Radio should hire Andrew Gobeil to host a moderate and fair call-in talk radio show. The Ocean State could really use this. I haven’t spoken to either party about about this idea, but it sure seems to be a no-brainer to me. RIPR is a great young radio station in need of [...]
Valicenti New WPRO Host, Gobeil Has Been Fired
The WPRO Morning News Show will have a new face in the near future. Gene Valicenti, a news anchor with NBC 10, is taking over as the host, sources confirmed, while Andrew Gobeil was fired earlier today and Tara Granahan was reassigned off the air. She will become the assistant program director who will work [...]
Web Editor Dee DeQuattro Is Leaving WPRO for ABC6
WPRO digital reporter Dee DeQuattro is leaving the station she is suing for a new job on December 21. On January 2, she starts as the assignment editor for ABC 6 and ABC6.com. She’ll also do a morning TV spot and keep her own political blog in her new position. “I’m excited to pursue a [...]
Almonte: State Should Negotiate With Labor
Ernie Almonte – former auditor general, a candidate for governor and a member of the 2011 pension reform panel – told WPRO this morning that the state should be negotiating a settlement to the landmark pension law and subsequent lawsuit with leaders of organized labor. He said the specifics of the legislation were never debated [...]
‘Homeless Like Me’ Project Catches Media’s Attention
If any good came from my Thanksgiving weekend Homeless Like Me project, it might be that it focused some attention on the people without homes rather than homelessness as a social ill or what some call the homeless industrial complex. Tim White hosted an excellent conversation about it on Newsmakers this weekend. (The segment on [...]
Chafee: RI Should Honor Religious Tolerance
After unceremoniously flipping the switch, Governor Chafee said he is surprised Rhode Islanders aren’t more supportive the state’s long history of religious freedom and tolerance but said he’s surprised more of the local media isn’t focusing on how those values contrast with controversy over the holiday tree. “I’ve been surprised there hasn’t been more respect [...]
Holiday Tree Debate About Freedom, Not Christmas
Let me be clear about something: just like every other reasonable Rhode Islander, it matters very little to me what the state calls its seasonal decorations. That is not at all why RI Future has dedicated so much space to this issue. We’re revisiting this topic so often because WPRO, one of the most influential [...]
Heartfelt Sympathies to Laid-Off ProJo Employees
The big local story of the day will be neither the 2012 election or the Son of Sandy, as the Providence Journal cleverly called it this morning … rather it will be the employees of said newspaper who lost their jobs yesterday. I hear 26 people were let go – 16 union and 10 non-union [...]
Twitter in Politics; Cicilline Responds to Tweets Today
There’s no deficit of copy dedicated to how Twitter is changing politics, such as this New York Times story from Sunday about how the micro-blogging social network platform has spawned “a revolution of sorts” in Saudi Arabia. Twitter helped me to point out to WPRO morning host Andrew Gobeil that he neglected to mention the [...]
Progress Report: Talk Radio in RI; Chafee and Narragansett Indians; Tom Brady and Jamie Dimon; Debate Reaction
Most interesting thing happening today: Matt Allen, Ian Donnis, Ted Nesi and Josh Fenton debate the influence of talk radio in Rhode Island politics at RIC. While radio may not seem like the medium of the future, as the most passive way to consume content I think it is likely to rise again. And even [...]
Mean Mike Riley Demands Softballs from Dan Yorke
Just in case, after Mike Riley berated not only Jim Langevin during the WPRI debate but also the moderators several times too, you needed any additional evidence that this guy can’t get along with anyone he gave it to you on the Dan Yorke show yesterday. Riley actually had the audacity to berate Yorke this [...]
Progress Report: Grading Chafee’s Speech; Cicilline, Gemma and WPRO; Costly State House Seats; ‘On the Road’
The cable networks may have cut away from Linc Chafee’s speech at the DNC last night, but trust those of us who were streaming it on the internet: Rhode Island’s independent governor nailed it. He spoke about pride in country, love of the land, social responsibility and fiscal responsibility, and then said, “The values I [...]
DePetro Courted CoWorker While Defending Christmas
The first time WPRO’s John DePetro propositioned a co-worker who filed a sexual harassment suit against him was in a bus on the way to a rally to defend Christmas at the State House, according to an amended complaint filed today in Superior Court. According to the complaint, the bus – like the Barrington vacation [...]
DePetro Barrington House Owned by David Caprio
The Barrington house where radio shock jock John DePetro allegedly sexually harassed WPRO coworker Dee DeQuattro is owned by former state Rep. David Caprio. Sources who spoke on the condition of anonymity confirmed the address of the house in question as being 32 Lorraine St., a very high end vacation rental known as Beach House, [...]
WPRO’s John DePetro: ‘I Have Been Suspended’
John DePetro said he was suspended until Monday for talking to me about the sexual harassment lawsuit brought against him, he said in an email to me today. Here is the email he sent me in its entirety: I have been suspended for my part in the story that appeared about me this morning. I [...]
DePetro Talks About Harassment Lawsuit
The silence emanating from WPRO is deafening. They bill themselves as the station of record, but give not even a mention to its infamous moral-crusading shock jock John DePetro being on the hot seat for allegedly having a moral lapse with a coworker. She claims he took her to a house he uses for sex [...]
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