620 WTMJ is now claiming that Jessica McBride was not fired because of the Eugene Kane piece or her “ideology”. They say they just “moved up” a decision they made a few weeks ago because of the controversy. This excuse is being sent to (apparently) anyone who emails John Schweitzer, station manager.
Funny, but that’s not what Schweitzer said a few days ago. He said it was “in the works,” but not that the decision had been made. From the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel:
General manager Jon Schweitzer said Friday that the move had been in the works, but was sped up by McBride’s attempted comedy bit that featured a reference to a 4-year-old girl killed earlier this week in a drive-by shooting.
Sounds like WTMJ is trying to cover its butt, but doing a poor job of it. Mark Belling has revealed that the decision by WTMJ was probably also influenced by recent focus groups that suggested some less conservative material should be put on the radio.
I couldn’t help but notice that WTMJ has been trying to become a WLS clone by hiring the same station announcer, whose promos range from obnoxious to irratating to the disposal of local personalities (Ken Herrera and Jessica McBride). Even though I live near Chicago, I listen to WTMJ because the talk stations out here have little local coverage, especially in the evening. TMJ is decaying creatively.