WISN changes "Talk Star" Rules

Some of you may remember that local Clear Channel radio station WISN held a "Talk Star" contest--kind of an American Idol for yakkers--to fill an empty morning drive-time slot. I thought about trying out, until I read the local paper's media guy say that the implication was that they would not hire someone who deviates from their conservative tone that the rest of the station's talkers have.

Well, as it turns out, largely through the efforts of former contributor here Tim Schilke and the readers of the Daily Kos, the liberal contestant, Nicole Devlin, actually won. (Yay us!) However, as Tim notes, WISN is changing the rules:

In the spirit of "fair and balanced" airtime, ClearChannel management has hijacked the Milwaukee Talk Star competition out from under us. Instead of fulfilling the original contest rules ("That person will be offered a two-year contract to be the morning drive talk show host on News-Talk 1130 WISN"), they are putting Nicole on the morning show with a raving lunatic wingnut, Dan Deibert. He's been the temporary fill in on this morning show for a few months now, and he's earned the permanent gig as "Talk Over Man", doing his best company man impression as he fulfills his role as ClearChannel thought policeman.

This guy is so far right he makes Jerry Falwell look like Michael Moore. And he's loud. Certainly louder than Nicole, and louder than most of his callers. His voice is loud, his opinions are loud, and most of all, he's ignorant. His suburban bubble is so evident, so transparent, that he may as well be playing trivial pursuit against George Castanza from Seinfeld. His ignorance shines through on a daily basis, highlighted by his giddy laughter when a caller in the wake of Hurricane Katrina suggested that the hurricane might be simply "culling the herd".

Nicole's first show is this Monday from 5:30-8:30 a.m. I think WISN needs a call-in campaign. "What contest did this guy win?" is a good question.