03 December 2004

One more reason to turn off 101.5

Can't shake the devil's hand
and say you're only kidding
-They Might Be Giants

If you're within range of the ear-sore that is New Jersey 101.5, this is yet another reason not to listen to them. It's from the Windsor-Hights Herald, the weekly local paper.

Craig Carton and Ray Rossi, hosts of the "Jersey Guys" show, decided to focus their spout of bile on a Muslim gathering at the Hightstown High School celebrating the end of Ramadan. The went so far as to state that the school should be swept for bombs before anyone was allowed back in. Carton is quoted in the article, where even in the post-program spin he manages to sound like an asshole.

There are also some bonus quotes from another bigot in Cranbury. He actually tried to justify his position by citing separation of church and state. As if he wouldn't be the first one writing letters of condemnation if the school board declined a Christian group use of the facility for a Christmas pageant.

Thankfully our school board is more sane and stated that the facilities are free for use for anyone who fills out the paperwork and pays the fee.

1 comment:

Rob said...

It's all about ratings. O'Reilly gets ratings. Hannity gets ratings. Locally - NJ 101.5 gets ratings. Yes, at the expense of other people.

Carton is a dick, plain and simple. I have the displeasure of having to listen to their bile before or after their halfway decent traffic reports and the 2 or 3 minutes I tune in usually disgusts me. However, what disgusts me more is Ray Rossi.

Why Ray? Because I met Ray back in college on a field trip when he was the midday DJ at WPLJ under the nom-de-'plume' of Bobby Valentine. I'm a radio geek and I know where many of the guys in the area are from and go to - what stations they move around to. Ray is an all around nice guy, from what I saw back then and from what I hear from other radio folks. He's been in New York area radio for over 20 years and last did mornings on the country station (before it succumbed to the forces of NY radio consolidation).

He's the straight man to Carton's idiot - but I think he doesn't stand up to Carton enough as the voice of reason on the show. That makes me sadder. That a man with what I thought was a decent amount of integrity can't stand up to an idiot. But the idiot is the one driving the ratings.

Make no mistake - NJ 101.5 is now nothing more then the local Fox news - spouting a conservative agenda of FUD - Fear, Uncertainty and Doubt - and riling people up. They've always tried to rouse the masses - but before it was for issues that really mattered: Tax reform, toll reform, government issues that made a difference in peoples' lives. The issues it goes after now - are nothing more then ratings grabbing fluff. Unfortunately, it's working. And it is sad.

--*Rob