| Kim Vestal |
I have no issues with Vestal --she's quite versatile and sounds good on the air.
I do have issues with the way the decision went down as I heard through the grapevine that a woman would get the gig all along and that the whole hiring process amounted to a dog and pony show.
If I'm Atkinson or Schofield I'd be royally pissed off especially considering a woman traffic anchor already has a morning drive position at KCBS, the very good, Kim Wonderly. So why did Entercom have to have another woman in the afternoon? Would a man have gotten the PM gig had their been a man in the morning? What utter bullshit.
It's PC run amok and double standard galore at the all-news station --I could understand if there was a light amount of women talent employed at KCBS. I'm thoroughly aware of the mandatory hiring practices of minority and women candidates, still marked in stone at the FCC and most particularly SF, the hotbed of liberal credo but this specific action bothers the hell out of me.
KCBS has loads of women; both news anchors, news reporters, and oh by the way, a woman News Director, Jennifer Seelig. In fact, there's so many women at KCBS they could start a N.O.W. chapter at a moments notice.
And loads and loads of women traffic anchors, morning, noon and night. Would it, then, have killed the decision makers, like Seelig and Entercom SF suit, Don Bastida, to hire a guy in the PM drive spot? (Which was the gig formerly executed by Cheryl Raines who was dumped in May) It's not as if all-news 740 has a shortage of females as I recently noted.
I have fairly progressive ideals and generally am center-left on basic politics but there comes a point when stupid, insipid, UNFAIR hiring practices run amok and good, old-fashioned, is he-or she qualified for the job? What happened to that age-old relic? Or is it just a farce and was this process just a farce and guys like Schofield and Atkinson basically got screwed? You know they did.
What a joke.
Gee, Rich, what's next? There are still way more men than women in broadcasting in general. American women make up slightly more than 50% of the population. At least now you'll have another opportunity to inquire about whether the new traffic reporter on KCBS has original or replacement breasts like FLOTITS. right?
ReplyDelete> I do have issues with the way the decision
ReplyDelete> went down as I heard through the grapevine
> that a woman would get the gig all along
> and that the whole hiring process amounted
> to a dog and pony show.
Yes, Rich, this is how it works everywhere today. Whether it's book publishing or TV news or PR rep, they go by cosmetics. Everything today is gender- and racially-based, from who wins the Nobel Peace Prize (Obama...for literally nothing) to who gets the latest traffic slot on KCBS. And btw, don't know for certain if it was her, but last week I heard a voice doing afternoon traffic I'd never heard before and she talked about a backup "northbound" on the Bay Bridge. So yeah, good choice, KCBS...
One reason I never listen to them anymore in the car and rely on Apple's CarPlay for my traffic info. Another reason is the wall-to-wall commercials, with news repeated every ten minutes, as Rich says. If you just put all the news togther that KCBS does in one hour, you could fit into a roughly six minute window. The rest is commercials, promos, and self-aggrandizement.
DeleteI have no qualms about Kim Vestal ("Get your buns out of bed"). But while you're going off about men not getting a fair shake, what about minorities? None of the people you mentioned have a darker colored skin. So it appears a lot of groups weren't represented. I have to go now. I need to go south on 101 from San Francisco to San Rafael.
ReplyDeleteProbably came a cheaper then the men also. Entercom dumped two very high profile DJs in Chuy Gomez and Victor Zaragosa after flipping Q102 from 90's-00's hip hop to 60s-80s RnB in an apparent cost savings effort. Q102 90's-00's Hip hop was cool for about a month- then it became repetitive. The same will occur with the "new" format. All of these niche formats that get flipped every other year suffer the same fate. Perhaps if radio weren't so formulated, they'd be more successful. For once, I'd like to hear of a station TRY to just allow the DJ to come in, build his playlist based on his/her mood, or the mood of the day and just play music. I under stand a Top 40 station having a formula but these niche stations could be so much more better. Both Gomez and Zaragosa would have excelled at that. They also both also resonate across demographics- age and ethnicity. Radio is indeed as dead as El Camino Real thru Colma.
ReplyDeleteThey dumped Chuy and Zaragosa and flipped Q102 to essentially the old KISS-FM format? how stupid can you get...both those guys OWNED the 80s...smdh...again...
DeleteRich -
ReplyDeleteI think you're overthinking this.
I'm pretty sure there's a woman afternoon traffic anchor for the same reason that their voice imaging is now female, who happens to be the announcer for the Oscars.
You know that these choices are all insanely deeply researched decisions, and they've figured out that women are more appealing to their key demographics.
It's the same reason that the warning voices in western aircraft cockpits are always female - pilots, who are predominantly male, react more quickly to the female voice...
> It's the same reason that the warning voices
Delete> in western aircraft cockpits are always female...
As a licensed pilot I can tell you that's hogwash. Most of the warning voices in cockpits are male. Don't believe me? Even if you aren't a pilot, all you have to do is go to YouTube.
>> KCBS has loads of women... And loads and loads of women traffic anchors, morning, noon and night.
ReplyDeleteAt least you didn't say binders of women, or else you'd really be in trouble.
Not that I'm an export on this, but I thought it was because every time you have a male lead anchor you have a female traffic reporter, and vice versa. If Jeff Bell is the PM drive anchor (lead) you have a female traffic reporter. When you hear the change in voice you are more likely to pay attention.
ReplyDeleteI just crossed off KCBS to ever listen to again.
ReplyDeleteGeorge Rask, still with KCBS????
ReplyDeleteEven though I have no insider info just given how traffic is often a female position this comes as no surprise
ReplyDeleteAfter 40 years as a broadcaster her most acute and thoroughly worn out comment "Get your buns out of bed" tattles that she was likely gotten on the cheap. Next stop, the Saturday Farm Report.
ReplyDeleteIf she was going the traffic around 7PM today, I would say she is too informal in getting the info on the air. She did not give enough info on the cause of back-up (i.e., where the accidents were located) so that I could know whether to get off the freeway. She needs to be a little more professional.
ReplyDeleteI hear George Rask every weekday morning at KCBS. Great voice. Wish he could completely replace Dave Fowkes.
ReplyDelete