John Ziegler (talk show host)

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

John Ziegler (born March 28, 1967)[citation needed] was the evening (7-10 PM) host of a radio talk show called The John Ziegler Show on KFI AM 640 in Los Angeles, California from January 12, 2004 until November 13, 2007.[1] Ziegler described himself as "more libertarian than conservative, more conservative than liberal, and more cynical and skeptical than anything else."[2] Ziegler has been fired from three radio broadcast positions due to the content of his program making him a controversial host.

Ziegler announced that Tuesday, November 13, 2007 would be his last broadcast at KFI. He emailed his fans, "My four years on the air at KFI have been filled with many extraordinary and memorable moments, but for many reasons it is clearly time for that period in my life to come to an end. While I am have extremely mixed thoughts and emotions about this reality, I am positive that it is the best result for my physical and mental health. I am also hopeful that it is the best for my career as well."

He did not specifically mention the reason for his sudden and surprising departure from the show. However, he had alluded to producing a documentary for several months prior to his departure, and he stated that the past fourteen months have been difficult for him. In January 2008, Ziegler launched www.therealkfi.com, which details his side of the story of his time at KFI, including his conflicts with KFI management and fellow on-air talent. Currently he delivers on air commentary and is a fill in host on KGIL, another news/talk station in the Los Angeles market.

He has been a strong supporter of President Bush's policies following 9/11, but his support of the President has lessened following the Terri Schiavo controversy[citation needed] and Bush's liberal stance on illegal immigration[3] and, as of June 2007, Ziegler stated (referring to the President's role in pushing for an immigration reform bill) that "for all intents and purposes, I'm done with President Bush - I'll still support him on Iraq, but I think that everything he did here is actually going to hasten the surrender in Iraq [...]."[4] Concerning the issue of U.S. party politics, Ziegler has said that "the only dog I have in that hunt is that the more power Republicans have, the less power Democrats have; it's the lesser of two evils as far as I'm concerned, on most issues".[5] Ziegler is an agnostic,[6] referring to himself as a "recovering Catholic",[7] and "not at all a supporter of organized religion".[7]

Contents

[edit] The John Ziegler Show

The program was mostly news based political commentary, but it also brought up other issues such as events happening in Ziegler's personal life.[8] The John Ziegler Show was advertised as Getting it Right at Night[citation needed] and a common catchphrase that Ziegler used to describe the show was "three hours of rationality in a world of ever increasing insanity"[9].

A regular feature of the show was Ask John Anything, a monthly opportunity to ask Ziegler about his opinions on anything.[8] Ziegler has said the most frequent question he received for the Ask John Anything segment were from people who want to know why he and newscaster Leah Brandon were not dating each other.[citation needed] On one occasion he expressed annoyance at having to answer the question of how much he earned per year - $145,000 (2006).[citation needed] Other features include What Have We Learned This Week, a review of the guests and topics covered on the show in the previous week[citation needed], Sounds of the Week, a Friday countdown of five sound bytes that aired during the week and were either newsworthy or comical[10], and the banter between Brandon and Ziegler, which was often based on news stories and usually had a lighter tone than the rest of the show.[10] He loves to say "...but i digress."

The show ended with Ziegler concluding that "remember that tonight, like every night, even though we are now ____ days since 9/11, still no sign of Usama bin Laden, and even though long ago we betrayed the pledge we made back then, let's not forget we once promised that...", followed by a soundbyte from a Bush speech: "We will not tire, we will not falter, and we will not fail", and a soundbyte from The Path to 9/11 miniseries asking "Are there any men left in Washington? Or are they all cowards?".[11]

In early 2006 John Ziegler and his newscaster Leah Brandon purchased a horse called "Luckie’s Revenge".[12] After improving its health Leah tried to move the horse to her house. This created a conflict between John and Leah in June 2006 because the horse was not adjusting to Leah's house and Leah felt that it should be moved back to the barn. The conflict between the two was about who should pay for this new cost and was a segment on the show on June 7, 2006.[citation needed]

On Friday April 13th 2007, the John Ziegler Show changed its format to include the last hour of every show being caller-dominated (9:00pm to 10:00pm). Prior to this change, the show accepted callers only when Ziegler asked for an opinion on a given subject.[12] The change came in effect on Tuesday April 17th, and not on Monday, the first day of the week was not used in these terms since as Ziegler explained, there was a need to discuss the still-developing Virginia Tech massacre.[13]

On November 13, 2007, one day after he announced his surprising departure from KFI, Ziegler broadcast his last show. It was a recap of nearly four years that he had covered from issues of illegal immigration to the upcoming 2008 presidential election and people like Governor Schwarzenegger to Barbara Boxer. His first hour was the latest on the O.J. Simpson hearing from armed robbery and kidnapping charges. The second hour was vintage John Ziegler making a fiery, passionate, and continued support for the Iraq War and his disrespect for the politicians and also in the medium of radio who don't stand on principle but on polls of America's War on Terrorism including the Iraq War and War in Afghanistan in response to the September 11, 2001 attacks on the United States of America. The last hour of his broadcast had Ziegler sardonically thanking the people who he covered and disagreed over issues extensively like Arnold Schwarzenegger, Maxine Waters, and Barbara Boxer. However, in his very last segment, he was emotional and genuinely thanked California State Senator Tom McClintock, Andrew Breitbart, David Horowitz, Kim Goldman, his producers and staff, Leah Brandon, and his seemingly loyal radio audience gauged by his website being inaccessible during Ziegler's last night on KFI due to web traffic.

[edit] Celebrity interviews

Ziegler was characteristically more blunt in the context of on the air interviews and contacts with public figures than most talk show hosts. When Arnold Schwarzenegger called in to his show on the eve of the special election in 2005, Ziegler told the optimistic California governor that there was little doubt all propositions would lose the next day.[citation needed] Post-election, Ziegler was convinced that Schwarzenegger would move to the political left because of the influence of his wife Maria Shriver and his desire to be re-elected.[citation needed] Following Schwarzenegger's State of the State speech with his bond proposal, Ziegler commented that "48 hours ago we all thought USC was the greatest football team in the nation, that the coal miners were found alive, and Schwarzenegger was allegedly a Republican."[citation needed] Ziegler has later claimed that it can be argued that this interview with Schwarzenegger in 2005 was "[Schwarzenegger's] last interview while he pretended to be anything close to a conservative. Ever since then he has been a socialist, while keeping that (R) next to his name so that he could claim, absurdly, that he's being bipartisan".[14]

On September 11, 2007, Ziegler interviewed Republican Presidential primary candidate Ron Paul in studio. The main topics of the interview were the Iraq War, terrorism and illegal immigration.[15]

[edit] Position on current issues

Concerning the candidates in the presidential primaries of 2008, Ziegler has stated: "If I had to vote today, I would vote for Fred Thompson"[16] and "[Thompson]'s not a perfect candidate, but I do think that he's the best the Republicans have and I do think he matches up well against Hillary Clinton".[16]

On the Democratic candidates in the race, Ziegler has stated, following the Democratic candidate debate of June 3rd, 2007, that "the top three Democratic presidential candidates are all unabashed, unapologetic, blatant socialists, and nobody seems to notice, nobody seems to care, nobody is calling them on it - it's utterly remarkable."[17]

[edit] Controversies

In late 2006, John Ziegler drew nationwide attention for being the first to criticize John Kerry for the statement that "You know, education, if you make the most of it, if you study hard and you do your homework, and you make an effort to be smart, uh, you, you can do well. If you don't, you get stuck in Iraq."[18] Ziegler had heard Kerry's speech played on a local TV station.[19] He criticized Kerry's statement on the air on October 30 and played the audio several times during that show. In conjunction with the show of October 30, Ziegler had the Kerry audio posted at the KFI website, and it was picked up by bloggers[20] and the Drudge Report[19] on its way to becoming worldwide news. Ziegler took credit for placing the story in what Ziegler perceived to be its proper context, thereby leading to it becoming a major news story.[20][19][21][18]

2005 was a year of confrontation for Ziegler, who devoted large portions of his show playing audio of his personal confrontations with Robert Blake[citation needed], Jesse Jackson (whose bodyguard broke the KFI microphone)[22], O.J. Simpson[23], Senator Barbara Boxer[24][25][26] and Mark McGuire[27]. The year concluded with Ziegler broadcasting live while surrounded by people protesting the execution of convicted murderer Stanley Tookie Williams and chanting "racist" to Ziegler, ultimately resulting in KFI security demanding his show wrap earlier than planned for that remote broadcast.[citation needed]

Ziegler was suspended from KFI for two days after an on-air exchange about the Iraq War with fellow KFI talk show host John Kobylt on September 11, 2006.[citation needed] (No public disciplinary action was taken against Kobylt.) Ziegler and Kobylt stopped cross-promoting each other's show.

On November 12, 2007, Ziegler mentioned in the first segment of his 9 pm hour, that the following night's program, November 13, would be his last at KFI. Citing situations he could not disclose, he admitted that the "separation was amicable" between him and management. There was no mention as to where he would be going or where he might end up. Previous KFI hosts who have left under such “amicable” circumstances have often moved to other radio stations in the LA area, namely John and Ken. John and Ken had a multi-year stint at KABC in the mid 1990s before reclaiming their evening drive time slot on KFI.

On January 10, 2008, Ziegler posted a website detailing his final months at KFI, his opinion on why he departed from the station and revealed what he claims is behind the scenes information. In the four pages of text on his website, he stated that management forced him to do the show from a remote location during 2007 and that The John and Ken Show was fraudulent.[28]

[edit] Biography

John Ziegler was born in a U.S. air base in Heidelberg, Germany,[29] and grew up in the small village of Washington Crossing, Bucks County, Pennsylvania. In 1985, Ziegler graduated from the Catholic Holy Ghost Preparatory School located in Bensalem, Pennsylvania.[30] Concerning his family's religious background, Ziegler has stated that he "grew up in an incredibly, very strict Roman Catholic family on both sides, my mother and my father's side. I've got numerous aunts who've been in the convent. I went to Catholic highschool, Catholic college, as did almost all of my relatives, so, I mean, I'm very steeped in Catholicism".[31]

After graduating from Georgetown University in 1989 with a degree in Government and a minor in Theology and Philosophy, Ziegler became a sportscaster, moving his way up to a full time position at WTOV in Ohio.[32] He left the position to write a book about high school football in Steubenville, Ohio called Dynasty of the Crossroads.[citation needed] After the book, he took a position as a sportscaster at WRAZ in Raleigh, North Carolina but was fired in 1995 after making a joke about his belief that O.J. Simpson was guilty.[citation needed] After the firing, he spent days watching the O.J. Simpson murder trial, going into depression after the verdict was returned. Ziegler has said that during this period of depression, he "had a very, very, very serious plan to kill O.J. Simpson"[33], carrying out the justice that he felt the system failed to uphold.[34] Ziegler revealed on his November 21, 2006 KFI broadcast that he once had a romantic relationship with Kim Goldman, sister of murder victim Ron Goldman, who has also been a frequent guest on the show commenting on topics related to O.J. Simpson.[35]

He then began a career in talk radio, working at various stations before ending up at WWTN in Nashville, Tennessee, where he was fired for making comments that an employee of the station found derogatory. He later ended up at sports talk station WIP, and was once again fired by the station's program director after Ziegler had used the word nigger on the air by spelling out the letters of the word. Ziegler has explained this event as him referencing what the boxer Mike Tyson said at a press conference, where Tyson referred to himself using that word.[36] He then began writing columns for The Philadelphia Inquirer and Philadelphia Daily News and hosted a sports talk show on CN8, which later resulted in his winning an Emmy.[citation needed]

In 2002, wanting to return to radio, Ziegler was hired by Louisville, Kentucky radio station WHAS. Once again, his tenure did not last long, as during a Ask John Anything segment, he discussed the physical attributes, intimate attire, and genital grooming of Darcie Divita, a former Los Angeles Lakers cheerleader and WDRB morning television host with whom Ziegler had a relationship until Divita broke up with him. WHAS fired him on August 27, 2003, and Divita sued for $2,700,000, claiming libel and defamation of character. However, on May 24, 2005, Ziegler was found not liable for damages as Divita was deemed a public figure by virtue of being a television personality. The case is currently on appeal.

Subsequent to his experiences of being fired and sued for saying what he believes was the truth, he has authored another book, The Death of Free Speech, which argues that American discourse has suffered because of political correctness, and that these taboos are not consistently enforced.

In 2003, while still employed by WHAS, he joined forces with Louisville Democrat and current 3rd district Congressional Representative John Yarmuth to debate political issues on the weekly WAVE program Yarmuth & Ziegler, with Yarmuth taking the progressive side and Ziegler, the conservative side.[37] This gig lasted through November of that year.[citation needed] In 2006, Ziegler supported the Yarmuth election campaign for Kentucky's 3rd congressional district[38], both financially and as a political adviser.[citation needed] Yarmuth won the election to Congress, defeating his incumbent Republican opponent Anne Northup.[39]

On January 12, 2004, Ziegler began work at KFI as a late evening host.[40] He moved to the 7-10 p.m. slot on February 21, 2005. On January 12, 2006, Ziegler celebrated his two year anniversary at KFI, the longest period of time he's worked at a radio station without getting fired.

In the April, 2005 issue of The Atlantic Monthly, Ziegler was the focus of a cover profile written by David Foster Wallace exploring his show as a window into how American talk radio works.

In addition to radio work, Ziegler has occasionally appeared on Scarborough Country[41] and has written op-eds in the Los Angeles Times[42][43][44][45].

On November 26, 2006, Ziegler filled in for Matt Drudge on his nationally syndicated Sunday night talk show. In the first segment, he played Michael Richards's tirade without editing out "The N-word".[citation needed] Ziegler also filled in for Matt Drudge on April 8, 2007.[46][47]

On Monday, February 19, 2007, Talkers Magazine named John Ziegler on their "Heavy Hundred" list as #54 of the 100 most important radio talk show hosts in America.[48]

Off the air, Ziegler enjoys playing golf[49] and is the self-proclaimed pastor of the First Church of Tiger Woods[46][50]. Relating to his admiration for Tiger Woods, Ziegler has stated that Tiger Woods is probably the greatest argument for the existence of intelligent design over evolution.[citation needed]

[edit] References

  1. ^ KFI AM 640 website (retrieved May 19, 2007)
  2. ^ The John Ziegler Show, KFI, April 4, 2007
  3. ^ See for example: The John Ziegler Show, KFI, May 29, 2007 (7PM hour), May 17, 2007 (7PM hour), or April 9, 2007. Ziegler has discussed the topic of illegal immigration on his show on a more or less nightly basis during the first half of 2007.
  4. ^ The John Ziegler Show, KFI, June 28, 2007 (8PM hour)
  5. ^ The John Ziegler Show, KFI, May 28, 2007 (7PM hour)
  6. ^ The John Ziegler Show, KFI, April 17, 2007 (7PM hour)
  7. ^ a b The John Ziegler Show KFI, May 16, 2007
  8. ^ a b The John Ziegler Show, KFI, May 14, 2007
  9. ^ The John Ziegler Show, KFI, June 27, 2007 (7PM hour)
  10. ^ a b The John Ziegler Show, KFI, July 6, 2007 (9PM hour)
  11. ^ The John Ziegler Show, KFI, July 20, 2007 (9PM hour).
  12. ^ a b The John Ziegler Show, KFI, April 13, 2007
  13. ^ The John Ziegler Show, KFI, April 17, 2007 (9PM hour)
  14. ^ The John Ziegler Show, KFI, June 19, 2007 (8PM hour)
  15. ^ The John Ziegler Show, KFI, September 11, 2007 (7PM and 8PM hours)
  16. ^ a b The John Ziegler Show, KFI, July 6, 2007 (7PM hour)
  17. ^ The John Ziegler Show, KFI, June 4, 2007 (9PM hour)
  18. ^ a b The Big Story, Fox News, Nov, 2006 (on YouTube, retrieved May 18, 2007)
  19. ^ a b c The John Ziegler Show, KFI, October 31, 2006
  20. ^ a b The John Ziegler Show, KFI, October 30, 2006
  21. ^ The John Ziegler Show, KFI, Jan 1, 2007 (9PM hour)
  22. ^ The John Ziegler Show, KFI, May 2, 2007
  23. ^ The John Ziegler Show, KFI, August 1, 2007
  24. ^ John Ziegler's editorial My trip to Barbara Boxer's Alito press conference (January 25, 2006)
  25. ^ The John Ziegler Show, KFI, June 21, 2007 (7PM hour)
  26. ^ The John Ziegler Show, KFI, Jan 1, 2007 (7PM hour)
  27. ^ The John Ziegler Show, KFI, Jan 9, 2007 (7PM hour)
  28. ^ www.therealkfi.com - The Real KFI
  29. ^ The John Ziegler Show, KFI, September 5, 2007 (7PM hour)
  30. ^ John Ziegler's biography at KFI AM 640 (retrieved December 1, 2006)
  31. ^ The John Ziegler Show, KFI, July 16, 2007 (7PM hour)
  32. ^ John Ziegler's biography at KFI AM 640 (retrieved December 1, 2006)
  33. ^ The John Ziegler Show, KFI, April 17, 2007 (8PM hour)
  34. ^ The John Ziegler Show, KFI, April 11, 2007
  35. ^ The John Ziegler Show, KFI, November 21, 2006
  36. ^ The John Ziegler Show, KFI, November 9, 2007
  37. ^ Biography of Congressman John Yarmuth (Congressman Yarmuth's official House of Representative site, retrieved June 18, 2007)
  38. ^ The John Ziegler Show, KFI, October 25, 2006 (8PM hour)
  39. ^ CNN.com's Elections 2006 (retrieved June 18, 2007)
  40. ^ The John Ziegler Show, KFI, January 12, 2007 (7PM hour)
  41. ^ The John Ziegler Show, KFI, June 12, 2007 (8PM hour)
  42. ^ Ziegler, John: "Bipartisan Benedict Arnold" Op-Ed in Los Angeles Times, June 23, 2007 (retrieved June 26, 2007)
  43. ^ Ziegler, John: "World Cup shows their true colors" Op-Ed in Los Angeles Times, June 24, 2006 (retrieved July 27, 2007)
  44. ^ Ziegler, John: "How the liars won" Op-Ed in Los Angeles Times, November 10, 2005 (retrieved July 27, 2007)
  45. ^ The John Ziegler Show, KFI, June 20, 2007 (7PM hour)
  46. ^ a b The John Ziegler Show, KFI, April 6, 2007
  47. ^ The John Ziegler Show, KFI, April 6, 2007
  48. ^ TALKERS magazine article featuring the list of "Heavy Hundred 2007" (TALKERS magazine site retrieved April 15 2007)
  49. ^ The John Ziegler Show, KFI, May 4, 2007
  50. ^ The John Ziegler Show, KFI, June 18, 2007 (9PM hour)

[edit] External links