Mark the fact is you were employed at KGOE during the early 70's, the station the late great Dick Haskey built as an engineer. My observation of your behavior around young people and public were at KGOE while you were setting up remotes and at the studios, not to mention when you had to broadcast from the transmitter shack when the morning jock was a little late. I never said you were employed at KNJO, I only said that Larry King as an engineer, offered a nice contrast to your personality in public.
As far as hassling little children and young people, if this were the case I am sure I would have heard about it from my superiors at the time.
Your superiors were not around while you were setting up remotes most of the time, but on one occasion that really stands out; I and Larry King were at the Park Oaks shopping where you were setting up for a live remote for KGOE in a store front, when you went off on some kid for asking you a question about radio, we were so disgusted and shocked that Larry and I invited the boy over to KNJO in the same center to show him how real radio people behave. That boy you went off on Mark became a major talent in Ventura County radio and remembers you very well.
I never went on the air using profanity
You must be clueless about how many people in Thousand Oaks herd you do it, besides hearing you myself; I have several witnesses.
I am not a corporate engineer for Salem Communications
Then the superiors and staff members at Salem should not refer to you as such when asked, and they were asked about your status at Salem. I guess George Putnam was not the only person mislead by corporate management at Salem!
There are some important lessons here for all people in radio to learn here:
1. When you are in the public eye representing your radio station; you should be on your best behavior on or off duty.
2. If you don't have a warm friendly outgoing personality, you should stick to the studio or transmitter shack!
3. Radio Stations should be careful whom they send out to greet the public during remotes; you never know which client that rude nasty personality might offend.
4. Some people have very long memories.
Case in point:
In my forty plus years in broadcasting, Mark was the first engineer I encountered with such a personality displayed in public, but not the last. Recently I happen to be at a restaurant with a group of engineers from the Los Angeles area, including the late Brad Sobel. While we were eating pizza across the street from the radio station the engineers were building, the wife of one engineers sent an air personality over to join us for a slice. That engineer went into a rage, calling his wife and demanding she come over to the Pizza restaurant ASAP. Keep in mind, we were at a public restaurant loaded with guess, the wife walks from across the street and the moment she stepped into the restaurant this engineer got up and went into a screaming rage over his wife offering a slice of pizza to unpaid air talent. Turns out a few guess in the restaurant were soon to be former clients of that radio station, as mentioned that engineer was also air talent at the station. You would be surprised how fast that episode at the pizza place spread around town; one engineer/air talent can do allot of damage to a radio station in short order.
I lost all respect for that engineer, himself air talent and never spoke to him again. What I find most ironic about that engineer is he and Mark are good friends and contract for the same company, what a small world!
If I ever caught a member of our staff disrespecting a listener or being rude in public, it would be their last day with us! These types of people can do allot of damage to your stations image in the community; sometimes the damage is permanent! Community radio stations really have to be on guard with the types of folks they have connected to the station.
As far as Salem is concerned, it’s too much like Clear Channel for my taste!
They both like to power down or shut down small to medium market station in favor of already over saturated major markets.
When speaking with upper management, the truth rarely comes out.
Both are very weak when it comes to serving in the public interest.
Disgruntled present and former employees are not hard to find.
I have been following Salem operations since KDAR hit the airwaves back in the eighties; I have never been impressed with their operations or taste in engineers! I ask direct questions and expected honest answers from their management; considering who they claim to be!
Steve
I saw with my own eyes
