Posted on 03/03/2008 4:13:19 PM PST by Impeach98
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE - March 3, 2008
CONTACT: Melanie Morgan at: Melanie@MelanieMorgan.com
(SAN FRANCISCO) – Renowned radio personality and national conservative leader, Melanie Morgan, delivered her final broadcast on talk radio powerhouse KSFO 560 AM today – Monday, March 3, 2008.
The owner of KSFO radio, Citadel Broadcasting, decided not to renew Morgan’s contract as part of the company’s announced across-the-board financial cost cutting.
Melanie Morgan has been a fixture on KSFO for the past 14 years, enjoying a run from 1994-2008 that far exceeded industry standards for longevity.
During that time, Morgan emerged as one of the nation’s most dynamic conservative activists, using the radio airwaves to motivate listeners who shared her passion to take action and fight for causes important to them.
Morgan’s on-air activism included an effort that removed the carcinogen MTBE from gasoline in California, launching of the historic Recall Gray Davis campaign that led to the election of Arnold Schwarzenegger as Governor of California, and co-founding the nation’s largest pro-troop organization, Move America Forward (website: www.MoveAmericaForward.org).
“It has truly been an honor for me to work at KSFO for the past 14 years. What I loved most about my time at KSFO was that it allowed me to connect with listeners and take action to make real changes in the world,” said Melanie Morgan.
“We never had a one-way dialogue with our listeners, and we never believed that we had to resolve ourselves to accept the status quo. We got out of our chairs, left our homes and offices, and circulated petitions, rallied for our troops and met with government leaders.
“We did all this to make sure that we left an even better world for our children than the one we had inherited from generations before us,” Morgan said.
As part of her ongoing conservative activism, Morgan has traveled to the Middle East twice to interview U.S. Troops stationed in Iraq and Kuwait. Her broadcast efforts from Iraq resulted in her winning the Associated Press’s Mark Twain Journalism Award, and The Peninsula Press Club’s award for Best Interview or Talk Show.
“Meeting our troops who are on the frontlines of the war against terrorism stands as the most powerful experience in my broadcast career,” said Morgan.
Morgan’s career with ABC began in 1981 when she was a television reporter for KGO TV. In 1984, she became an on-air personality for KGO radio where she worked for six years before switching over to ABC-San Francisco sister-station, KSFO 560 AM, co-hosting the Lee Rodgers and Melanie Morgan show. In 2006, Citadel Broadcasting acquired the ABC Radio group. She has reported on the scene from the Marine barracks bombing in Beirut, Lebanon; the Mexico City earthquake; and the Tiananmen Square massacre in China.
Melanie Morgan says her focus in the days ahead remains unchanged: She will remain a conservative activist leader.
“My commitment and dedication to serve as a leader in the movement to support our military men and women continues to grow, and I am very proud to serve as Chairman of the pro-troop non-profit group, Move America Forward,” Morgan said.
Melanie Morgan is not compensated for her work with Move America Forward, a fact since the group was first launched in 2004.
Morgan will also continue her weekly column for the news website WorldNetDaily.com and will continue to serve as a television analyst on news programs on cable and broadcast television stations and networks.
“My passion and commitment to the troops who are fighting in Iraq, Afghanistan and around the world are foremost in my heart. While I will miss my good friends Lee Rodgers and Officer Vic, and our great producer Sheri Yee, I am excited to stay close to the conservative grassroots. And I’ll always lead with my chin out,” Morgan concluded.
Living in the northeast I’ve only heard her on rare occasions, but what I’ve heard, I’ve liked. She’ll do fine...
The Fox News Channel should pick her up for some work.
Mel could definitely fill-in for Laura Ingraham... if Tammy Bruce can fill in for Laura at times, Melanie can do so as well... Melanie has filled in for Mark Levin in the past, too...
Citadel reporting losing over $800 mm in the fourth quarter of 2007, annual losses topped a billion. It acquired a ton of radio stations and in many markets ad revenus has taken a nose dive so it was forced to take major write downs.
bttt!
That would be cool if she filled in for Rush once in a while too.
Melanie is a national treasure due to her solid conservative leanings and to her heroic stance in defending our military service men and women both here and abroad. Her devotion goes well beyond talk; her actions speak far louder than words.
“Some people spend an entire lifetime wondering if they made a difference. The Marines don’t have that problem.”
...Ronald Reagan
Please Contribute to Move America Forward
If they couldn't shut down the influence of talk radio, then the only thing left to do was to dismantle conservative talk radio.
I was laughed at then, but it's happening now.
-PJ
Well, Citadel can always borrow money from the Boys Club of the Bronx and hire Al Franken.
Thanks for the ping. Bump for Melanie Morgan. Thanks for all that you have done, Melanie.
A sad day in SF Radio.
My best to the lovely Melanie.
I always expected Lee Rodgers to retire, since I believe he's been broadcasting from a home studio in Arizona for the past few years. Also, evening local host Brian Sussman has been filling in for him for a year now. I didn't expect Morgan to go, but perhaps her activism made her a juicy target.
Plus, there's always the tit-for-tat that goes on. Since long-time liberal talk-show host Bernie Ward was eliminated from KGO due to child porn allegations, I guess an opposite sacrifice was demanded. Morgan was the logical choice since her husband, Jack Swanson, was the program director of both KGO and KSFO.
-PJ
The lovely Ms. Morgan is the most effective Conservative Activist on the West Coast - and possibly the nation.
She has scalps on her lance and she has counted coup on many Leftists...
Ms. Morgan is a patriot, a leader and a warrior who walks the walk....
She will be missed.
Thanks for the ping!
Brilliant! :-)
I appreciated the funny.
Obviously you’ve never heard Morgan when she’s allowed out on her own. She filled in for Mark Levin not too long ago and it was rather painful to listen to. She isn’t strong enough to carry a show. Part of the problem is that she stutters, lots of “aaaahs and Ummms”. She doesn’t have a great grasp of the language which causes her to sound outright foolish as she casts about for what she thinks is a $5 word (and either misuses it or mispronounces it) when a 25 center would have sufficed. She’s no intellectual and is not capable of being the lead. If you’ve seen her on Hannity and Colmes you quickly realize that she doesn’t hold her own well in an argument as she becomes shrill and petulant. She’s far better suited to her work as an agitator and activist. The Cindy Sheehan of the conservative set, as it were.
Her husband is Operations Director. Obviously this time around it wasn’t enough.
Don’t kid yourself. It’s about the bottom line - the reason that a business exists. The Morning Show has two other personalities, the OWNER of that show (Lee Rodgers) and Officer Vic who OWNS the traffic report. They really didn’t need a third so why spend the money?
What the heck are you talking about? This is a business. There’s no tit for tat when someone one one station is let go. Ward was an embarrassment and couldn’t be allowed to continue his association with the station. Morgan’s firing had not a thing to do with it. And, how do you figure that she was a target simply because her husband is Operations Director? If anything, that is what saved her last time around. It certainly is not a detractor. If anything, it kept her in that chair longer than anyone else would have been kept on.
I’ve heard her filling in for Levin, and she was wonderful. She can’t stutter or do the “Ah” & “Um” more than Tammy Bruce does... Bruce is a disaster next to Morgan...
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