Category Archives: journalism

R.I.P.Dick Clark: The DJ’s DJ, the eternal MC, knew when to shut up

As a broadcaster, I was in awe of Dick Clark.

Back when disc jockeys didn’t scratch and rap, they talked over the records up to vocals and did their thing during the intros and outros of the songs they played. It wasn’t  a very respectable job. Fun, but not respectable.  Dick Clark made it respectable.

As the DJ entrepreneur, Clark elevated the species. He represented that the disc jockey could do more than just say  “that was…here is…coming up next.”

By knowing how to shut up and play the music, he displayed his genius and made a mint doing it.

Clark was always the class act among DJs. He wasn’t particularly funny, nor witty. He was just pleasant.  He was a “personality.”  He wore a suit and tie. Oh, and did I say, he knew when to shut up.

Clark was definitely old school when I was coming up in broadcasting in the mid-70s.  My very first paid broadcast job was as a rock DJ in Houston, TX, where my claim to fame was being the first to play the Ramones.

At the time, a guy named Howard Stern was liberating the DJ world by actually talking and not playing music.

That appealed to me. 

Compared to Clark, it was downright radical. I don’t  know what Dick Clark felt or what he thought. He was always just a happy, positive  sort, who played the music. Or presented the acts on “Bandstand.”  He knew who the star was. It wasn’t him.

Knowing that made him bigger than any disc jockey around.  I wish I had followed his role.

Clark was the eternal MC who figured out how to make it all work as a business.

His heirs? There’s really only one person out there who came up from the DJ ranks, Ryan Seacrest.

Inoffensive and bubbly, Seacrest is the perfect “that was, here is” guy.

He becomes a star by getting out of the way.

But alas, he’s no Dick Clark, pop culture’s eternal MC.

I can see him at the Pearly Gates now, about to introduce a great new trumpet player named Gabriel….

On Trayvon Martin/George Zimmerman, Marion Barry, and Ralph Barbieri

The Trayvon Martin case shows how society still struggles in the old Black and White paradigm.

The ultimate arrest of George Zimmerman is just the beginning. Now the  real argument can begin about what happened on the night of Martin’s death.  That couldn’t happen until there was an arrest and a charge, and now we have that. The month-and-a-half delay we’ve  had was caused by a racist mindset.  In a game of “Who’s the Perp,” Zimmerman or Martin, the knee-jerk reaction ruled the day. Of course, the perp is…

Law enforcement stood its ground as long as it could. 

But, of course we don’t know who the perp is really.

We only knew the stereotype. Maybe now we have a chance at the truth. But given the burden of proof and the availability of evidence, getting justice will not be easy.

 BARRY

In spite of all this diversity we have in our society, America is still stuck in that oldblack/white paradigm. Throw in a little Asian into the mix, and see how hard it is to get justice. Make the perp of the racism a black leader of some prominence in the nation’s capital, and guess what you get? Certainly, no relief for Asian Americans. 

The case of Marion Barry  http://aaldef.org/blog/fighting-barrys-racist-eruption.html shows how difficult it still is for Asian Americans to get the respect they deserve. If such an obviously racist comment as Barry’s gets barely a wrist slap, we certainly aren’t as far in this race thing  as we think.Sure, there have been rebukes from D.C. politicians, but Barry is still in his job as responsible, credible, respectable D.C. councilman.

If any of us had indicated a desire to run members of a specific race out of our neighborhoods, blacks, whites, Asians or Latinos, we would be slapped so hard we wouldn’t know what hit us. But Barry, who has survived FBI crack stings, drug convictions, jail time, remains standing as a public official. This Asian race flap? Just a “2,” he says, on a scale of one through ten. Racism? Against Asian Americans? Are you kidding?

http://blog.sfgate.com/eguillermo/2012/04/11/getting-away-with-racism-in-our-nations-capital/

RALPH BARBIERI

I don’t really know Ralph personally, but how can you not say you “know” him after he spent most of his adult life letting you know what he thought?

That’s the life of the talk show host. Did I listen? Well, I’m a Giants fan and had the radio on in the afternoon.  So let’s see, I know Ralph worked at Sport Magazine, was in adverstising, lived in Hawaii, grew up in Northern California, went to USF, had some alcohol and driving issues, worked at KNBR, adopted a son, liked long winded questions, worked at KNBR, tangled a lot with Brian Sabean, liked thin crust pizza, worked at KNBR, picked up Tolbert as a partner, liked Sean Estes, worked at KNBR, revealed his Parkinson’s, worked at KNBR, worked at KNBR, worked at KNBR.

Something stands out in that litany.  His longevity at KNBR. As a guy who has worked in TV and Radio and know what a revolving door it can be, I admire the fact that he endured so long. And yet, I also know that when you’re behind the mike and you think it’s such an intimate thing, it is. But only between the listener and you. The corporation is no family, and despite what the Supreme Court says, is not a real person. Corporations sign the checks. And then they don’t.

I wish Ralph well. I didn’t realize his age, but KNBR getting rid of a 66-year-old? They probably know what that will cost them. From the reports I’ve seen, Ralph was apparently well compensated.

And I know he was a vegetarian. Coming from a PETA household as I do, I know you can save a lot of money not eating meat.

Good luck Ralph. And go Sharks.

Linsanity’s chill: ESPN fires, suspends employees for Lin headline

After hearing from Asian Americans around the country, ESPN took action and fired the writer responsible for the “chink in the armor’ headline. And it suspended an anchor for using the same tired cliche.
That’s both good and bad.
Good, in that it punishes the perps. Bad, in that it should send a chill through the ranks of wordsmiths in journalism.
I take no joy in seeing someone lose their job. Indeed, I think a public apology on all ESPN shows would have been sufficient.
The problem with firing is that the mesage to ESPN workers sounds more like censorship than a corrective action.
We’re fighting racism, not free speech.
And yet, what happened when we were free to talk about Lin?
People started ching-chonging and using racist language because they don’t really know how to be clever or smart about Lin without resorting to race.
It shows how ignorant and how limited people are about Asian Americans.
When Lebron or Kobe have a great game, no one breaks out the fried chicken and watermelon jokes. Everyone knows that’s racist. For Asian Americans, no one seems to care. Maybe now they will.
I’m sure ESPN didn’t want to be a buzzkill and spoil the party. But by taking an extreme zero tolerance stand against slurs, it shows it means business.
Lin’s performance today helping the Knicks beat the defending champion Dallas Mavericks means Linsanity has legs.
Maybe now we can all celebrate it without a lapse into racism.