McGee show's bombs make smaller blasts

Tim Cuprisin in his "Inside TV & Radio" column in today's Milwaukee Journal Sentinel says some of his readers question his news judgment. For example, today's paper also has this story, McGee under fire for criticism, about Alderman Michael McGee's comment on his father's WNOV (860AM) radio show that Leon Todd should be "hung" for supporting the current effort to recall the alderman from office. One email to Cuprisin said,

"Did you hear the comment about Leon Todd? Do you think he should be hung? How is this not newsworthy? You cover TV/radio, and this was on the radio. What are you afraid of?"

Cuprisin replies that he's not afraid, he just disregards such comments from the son as part of the elder McGee's shtick.

What does Cuprisin find newsworthy?

The most interesting thing about these e-mail complaints is that they always come after one or both of Milwaukee's two big talkers, Charlie Sykes on WTMJ-AM (620) and Mark Belling on WISN-AM (1130), whine about the McGee show.

So it's not newsworthy that a public official says on a radio show [mp3] that a critic should be hanged, and that such commentary is unexceptional on that show, but it is not only newsworthy but "whining" when conservative talk show hosts discuss it? Cuprisin says that's because ratings determine the newsworthiness of what's said on the radio. And not just newsworthiness; ratings also determine right and wrong.

When it comes to getting spanked for crossing the line, it was an offensive crack about Mexican immigrants that led to a suspension for Belling in November 2004.

You might have thought the problem was what Belling said but now we learn that it was only wrong because of his Arbitron numbers. Cuprisin might be on to something here. If today's column isn't controversial it could be because the paper's circulation has dropped so much.