Keri Rodrigues
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Keri Rodrigues (AKA Kerianne Rodrigues) (born 7 February 1979 in Atlanta, Georgia) is an American talk radio personality. She is the youngest female talk show host in the United States, hosting her program weekdays in morning drive on 1480 WSAR in Fall River, Massachusetts . Rodrigues describes herself as a “pitbull Democrat” and has a distinct talk style that is unique from other so-called “liberal talk show hosts”. Although she is quick to attack conservative callers, she is also willing to call out Democrats she feels are acting outside the public interest.
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[edit] Biography
Rodrigues spent a large portion of her childhood moving around the country with her native Bostonian parents, making stops in San Francisco, California; Fairfield, Connecticut; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; and finally settling in Somerville, Massachusetts her sophomore year of high school.
While attending Somerville High School, Rodrigues performed in many professional theatre productions and starred in two independent films winning several awards at national film festivals. Rodrigues is also an accomplished musician, studying cello, percussion, and voice; winning awards at the New England Conservatory of Music for classical performance, and awards for jazz percussion from Berklee College of Music*
In 1996 Rodrigues was invited by the 104th United States Congress to participate in the National Young Leaders Conference as a member of the Congressional Youth Leadership Council.
Rodrigues attended Temple University studying broadcast journalism and political science. It is in Philadelphia that her professional broadcasting career began, although not at her college station.
[edit] The Keri Rodrigues Show
According to the Spring and Fall 2006 Arbitron ratings for Bristol County, Massachusetts; The Keri Rodrigues Show is the number one talk program in the listening area, winning over offerings in both Boston and Providence during the same time slot. Although Rodrigues does all of her own guest booking and program research, behind the scenes, producers Derrick Berrier and Jeff White create the audio montages that have become a popular part of the program. Her very first show featuring Fall River Mayor Ed Lambert, Congressman Jim McGovern and former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright.
The format of her 3-hour weekday program is host commentary, interaction with Keri and other members of the WSAR staff, phone calls and guests. The show covers primarily politics and pop culture on the local and national level with a wide range of topics of interest. The show features several recurring segments, some with a distinct satirical theme.
The segment called "Under the Bus" provides listeners with an opportunity to nominate their "bum of the week." Her "College of Useless Knowledge" is also a popular segment of the broadcast.
Rodrigues often calls herself an "opinion" journalist, taking the time not only to talk about news stories, but often investigate and break them.
Rodrigues is referred to by some fans as "the Pint-size Portuguese Pundit."
[edit] Radio career
Rodrigues began her career in radio at WBZC in Pemberton, New Jersey, a small community station located in South Jersey. Rodrigues parlayed a “special project in journalism” covering the elections into a permanent position as the News Director of the station. During that time, Rodrigues also hosted the popular, “Radio Anarchy” program mixing her eclectic musical taste with political and social commentary, winning her accolades from the local media, including The Philadelphia Inquirer.
Rodrigues then worked as a producer for 1210 WPHT in Philadelphia, working with hosts including Dom Giordano, Michael Smerconish and Rollye James. At the same time, Rodrigues also worked as the Production Director and Program Coordinator for 1540 WNWR also in Philadelphia.
From Philadelphia, Rodrigues went on to become an executive producer at 640 WGST in Atlanta, where she was also a traffic reporter for 96 Rock, Cool 105.7 and Lite 94.9. She also worked as a hub news anchor for 710 WNTM in Mobile, Alabama. It was in the southeast that Rodrigues established her reputation as a take-no-prisoners producer under the tutelage of legendary talk producer Eric Stanger.
Mentors then guided Rodrigues toward a tour of duty in a newsroom, and she relocated back to Massachusetts taking a position as an afternoon news anchor for heritage Worcester news/talk station 580 WTAG. Rodrigues then began covering stories for CBS News and the Clear Channel News Network where she was first heard nationally. She was one of three reporters selected to cover both national political conventions leading up to the 2004 elections, for which she earned the 2005 Associated Press Award for Special Events. She was also moonlighting as a morning show personality at Worcester heritage station WSRS-FM working with Austin Davis.
Rodrigues was then promoted to a position at the Clear Channel cluster in Providence. (Upon leaving Worcester she was awarded a key to the city by then Worcester Mayor, Lieutenant Governor Timothy Murray.) In 2003 Rodrigues was working as a reporter at 920 WHJJ in Providence when she was thrust behind the microphone, filling in for popular afternoon drive talk host Arlene Violet on a moments notice. After that, Rodrigues became a multi-purpose player for the cluster -- including assuming the role of morning show personality on WWBB (B101) in Providence -- after beating out a field of seven radio personalities, actresses and comediennes auditioning for the position.
In October of 2005, an opportunity presented itself when the management at 1480 WSAR invited Rodrigues to tackle the position of program director and afternoon drive talk show host in the nearby Fall River market. Rodrigues jumped at the chance and hit the ground running.
Rodrigues also writes a popular newspaper column published in the weekly publication "O Jornal" called "Keriocities" where she discusses local and national political issues.
In 2006 Rodrigues was nominated for a coveted Clarion Award recognizing excellence in the field of communications.
[edit] Controversies
Rodrigues is one of the region's strongest voices in the fight against a proposed liquified natural gas facility set to be located at Weaver's Cove Energy, in a densely populated neighborhood in the north end of Fall River. She has been a tireless advocate against the proposal which is facing staunch opposition from the community as well as local officials.
Rodrigues was outspoken in her fight to defeat then-encumbent District Attorney Paul Walsh as he sought reelection during the 2006 election season. Rodrigues, citing several controversial court cases (including cases involving sexual abuse), and is thought to be one of the major forces behind his defeat to newcomer C. Samuel Sutter, the current Bristol County District Attorney.
In March of 2007 Rodrigues broke a story about a Somerset, Massachusetts highway worker who was subjected to continued sexual harassment over a period of several years. When trial began, Rodrigues was the lone member of the media in the courtroom, later encouraging other members of the media to pick up the story. At the end of jury deliberations, the town of Somerset was slapped with a nearly $2.8 million judgement. Rodrigues was criticized by Somerset Town Highway workers for failing to present their side of the case.
[edit] Personal life
From a very young age Rodrigues had an interest in broadcasting. She often talks about “incriminating audio” that may be circulating created at the age of seven, when she first started dreaming of hosting her own talk show. She began calling into talk radio at the age of seven, hoping to interact with her broadcasting mentor David Brudnoy of Boston’s WBZ 1030.
Rodrigues has one son, Matthew Thomas Henry Smith, born on November 30, 2007.
She devotes much of her free time to volunteering within the community and attending civic meetings.
Rodrigues is the Chairwoman of the Bristol County Democratic League in Bristol County Massachusetts.
