Publicity Already Dying Out
by Brian Maloney, January 12th, 2007 at 08:24am
Quite clearly, publicity over Tom Finneran’s hiring at WRKO is already dying out. In today’s Boston Globe, yesterday’s press conference rated just a brief mention in the Living / Arts section, rather than a full story:
A new platform for Finneran: radio
By Carol Beggy & Mark Shanahan | January 12, 2007
A week ago, Tom Finneran copped a plea and offered what sounded like a heartfelt apology to his friends, family, and former constituents. Yesterday, the former House speaker was singing a different tune. “I’m immensely proud of my record,” the disgraced Democrat declared. “I wouldn’t change a thing.” And why should he? Just days after admitting that he lied under oath, Finneran has landed on his feet, hired to host a morning talk show on WRKO. Announced yesterday by Entercom execs Julie Kahn and Jason Wolfe, the gig gives Finneran not only a platform from which to prattle on about politics, but also a fat paycheck. “I’ll be able to pay the mortgage,” Boston’s newest drive-time jock said with a wan smile. Finneran wouldn’t divulge what, in fact, he’s being paid to host the four-hour show, but we’re told it’s about half as much as the $416,000 he was pulling down as president of the Massachusetts Biotechnology Council. (The former legislator was forced to quit that lucrative position after pleading guilty to the federal charges.) Unbothered by the felony on Finneran’s resume, Wolfe praised his new hire’s “intelligence, wit, and passion,” promising a show that is both “educational” and “compelling.” It remains to be seen, of course, what the listeners think, but Finneran, who’s become Boston’s very own G. Gordon Liddy, isn’t worried. “I have a pretty thick skin,” he said. The show starts Feb. 12.
With Finneran’s show not kicking off for a month, any momentum the station could have gained from publicity over Finneran’s felony conviction will have been lost.
Entry Filed under: Finneran Deal
2 Comments
1. Nate | January 12th, 2007 at 9:05 am
This whole Finneran thing is a disgrace and is the last straw with me for WRKO… look what they’ve done: fired John Depetro, brought sports broadcasts onto a talk radio station, got rid of Spencer Hughes’ show, fired their news crew, and now this with Finneran? Scotto was the only one who was able to make this non-morning person laugh at 6:30AM. Having heard Finneran as a fill-in, I might as well stay in bed. Intelligence, wit and passion? Mr. Wolfe can’t be talking about Finneran, who is dry, boring, dull, and bland. I hope the station goes down and take management with it. This is probably the best thing that could happen to WTKK.
2. Bill Schumm | January 13th, 2007 at 1:25 pm
Sorry, “Carol & Mark” of the Globe. But Finneran cannot possibly be “Boston’s G. Gordon Liddy.” Liddy’s conviction was for the political crime of refusing to testify against the President of the United States. Regardless of what you think about his politics, even his most stringent enemies have never accused him of lying or shading the truth. No doubt the gang in the newsroom of the Globe think that “political incorrectness” is a crime even worse than falsely painting an honest man as being the equivalent of a corrupt Democrat.