WKBT's JENNIFER LIVINGSTON IS MY NEW HERO

I have posted anything on this blog in awhile. I prefer the more fun and less controversial post on the retro blog. However, I wanted to comment on this story because it hits home to me. Since I'm involved in the Countdown to Halloween, I decided to post this here since it is also in keeping with many of the themes of this blog.

Not since Jet Blue flight attendant Steven Slater have I been so proud of someone for standing up for themselves. No doubt you have seen this video of WKBT anchor Jennifer Livingston responding to a hateful e-mail from a viewer.

I'm glad management let her strike back at the idiot that wrote that hateful e-mail. From my experience in the media here in the Ozarks, if one person sends the station or newspaper an asinine complaint about an on-air person, that on-air person loses their job or gets "reassigned."

Some people are leaving snide remarks on You Tube and Facebook attack Livingston for doing this. These people do not realize the stupid crap that we in the media put up with from some people. She referred to this person as a "bully" and that is as accurate a description of many of these people.

Many people complain about silly things like hearing a commercial too often or the radio station is playing too many African-American artist (Sadly, that is a frequent complaint in the Ozarks and they usually don't use the term "African-American" when they make this complaint). I even worked at a country radio station (Don't hold it against me) where a woman complained that we played too many songs "which portrayed spousal abuse in a negative way" and "took the women's side when the husband is usually the victim." We had to stop playing "Thunder Rolls" by Garth Brooks, "Broken Wings" by Martina McBride and "Goodbye Earl" by the Dixie Chicks. Only in the Ozarks do we giving into the request of the proud mother of a wife beater.

People also don't realize there are people who do nothing but make complaints to the media. These people must have about six TVs tuned to each station and several radios on at all times, so they can hear or see something to complain about. Everyone in the media in this town knows these people, because they have all had to deal with these stupid people. Now these people are even more obnoxious, because they can friend every TV and radio station, every on-air personality or newscaster and attack them when ever they want. They also now have the advantage of suckering in more stupid right-wing, media bashing nut jobs to help them. This, of course, goes along with my last post.

Much of this comes from one simple factor, these people who make these complaints do not think that people in the media are human beings. They would just as soon see us unemployed or dead. Many of these media complainers do this for attention. I doubt these people would want anyone to criticize them at their job, but they see no problem lashing out at those of us in the media.

If the managers of media outlets would ignore these people or allow the on-air talent to address these critics, as Jennifer Livingston so eloquently did, rather than giving in to them, we have less of this hateful bullying toward talented, dedicated people trying to provide people with the information they need. Let's face it, if Ozarkers had their way, all of the highly intelligent journalist would be replaced with Baptist preachers or auctioneers with big cowboy hats.

Of course, opinions, like this one, is why I'm considered the Super Villain of the Ozarks!!! Mwu-HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!  

VIDEO: WKBT Anchor Jennifer Livingston’s On-Air Response to Viewer Complaint About Her Weight - TVSpy

"HIT THE SLIDE & RIDE" WHY STEVEN SLATER'S IS A HERO?

There has been quite a bit of attention aimed at JetBlue flight attendant Steven Slater, who got feed up with dealing with obnoxious passengers. After one passenger bludgeoned him with a suitcase and then called him a derogatory name, he told the passenger off over the plane's intercom, grabbed a beer off the drink cart and slid down the inflatable emergency exit slide.

The Washington Post reports that many flight attendants see Steven Slater as a hero and are glad that he brought to public attention the kind of bad behavior they have to put up with from airline passengers.

It is not just flight attendants. I'm hearing from people in both food service and retail here in the Ozarks. They think what Slater did was cool and would like to do it themselves. As one person told me this week, "I've worked in stores in K.C and St. Louis, but people in Springfield are the worst. They think want everything their way and if you don't give it to them they complain to management to get you fired."

I was shocked to learn from a person, who works for a national retail chain, that Springfield customers frequently removed the store's signage from displays and throw it in the trash. Why? "They said it was in the way."

Part of the problem is the whole "customer-is-always-right" philosophy. At one point in our nations history, this was probably good business practice. TIMES HAVE CHANGED.

The customer now exploits this to their ill-gotten advantage. They have employees over a barrel and if they don't get their way they can get them fired.

Since this story broke, I have made jokes about the radio station I work at needing an "inflatable emergency slide." When I worked in Lebanon at a country station, I thought the country music audience were the worst people to deal with. I moved to Springfield to work at a large cluster and found out that there is an audience worst than country to deal with: TALK RADIO LISTENERS. Talk radio listeners are conditioned by idiots like Rush, Hanity, Dr. Laura, and Beck to be angry, hateful and self-righteous. They also are told, by the host, not to trust radio station employees because we are part of the "evil media." All technical problems during their show are caused by us "evil employees at the local affiliate" because we got into radio to play "evil Communist-Satanic rock music" and we will do anything to keep the "good, Christian, patriotic, conservative, Midwestern, white, heterosexual, senior citizen" talk radio listeners from hearing what these overpaid idiots have to say. I get abused by more deranged old white people than I deserve.

I got into the industry to entertain young people because most of the Ozarks radio markets ignore them. I did not get into radio (or the media) to pander to old, white, conservative bigots with more money than me.

Another thing, I got into the industry to be on the radio - to be the star. These scum-sucking old, white, conservative bigots get more airtime to give their hateful, bigoted right-wing opinions on the radio because just by calling in to shows. Even if the show was about needlepoint these stupid, scummy old people will call-in and start talking that Birther trash or how they are against gay marriage.

I can't believe that the radio industry thinks some old white goober named Wendell has anything important to say! AND DON'T GET ME STARTED ON THOSE CHILD ABUSING, METH MAKING MORONS IN THE TEA PARTY MOVEMENT!

I find it interesting that the people who get mad when I complain about the abuse I suffer from these old talk radio listening scumbags, as well as complain about the media for turning Steven Slater in to a hero, usually have some worthless non-job like "adventure capitalist" or "pet transport."

One day I'll fix these old goats. I'll top Slater's exit by slide. I plan to play at CD of "If You Seek Amy" by Britney Spears during Rush Limbaugh. I'm going to Crazy Glue it in the CD player so nobody can stop it. None of the old coots who like Rush Limbaugh better than me will be able to hear what their fat overpaid savior has to say. Then, as my favorite Dr. Sues character would say, "They will all cry boo-hoo-hoo."

And I will laugh, "Mwu-HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!"