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Written by Blogging Editor
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Wednesday, 25 April 2007 |
 Is the Hotline under the control of government? The host, Rick Howe denied the allegation levelled against him and station management during Wednesday's show. The allegation was contained in an email obtained by Howe through a third party. It angered Howe, who used the word 'defamed' to describe its content. Howe read the email to his listeners.
It's difficult to imagine a show that butters its bread with political slings and arrows under the control of government. How can a show that raised the ire of Premier Rodney (I refuse to do the Hotline) MacDonald be under the control of government?
To suggest some subjects are 'taboo' is absurd. The Hotline doesn't screen calls and only has a seven second delay. The delay allows the producer (or Howe) to bleep out inappropriate language before it goes to air. It's the norm in talk radio. It's not used as a tool to dump callers that entertain 'taboo' subjects. If that were the case, 99 per cent of the callers wouldn't make it to air.
Is the Hotline under the control of government? No, of course not. Just ask former Tory cabinet minister Ernie Face.
Does Howe deserve to have his opinions challenged? Of course he does. His opinions are challenged here.
Who's Pulling Howe's Strings? I'm sure he'd say he doesn't have strings. Just misguided opinions. ;-)
HOTLINE TRIVIA:
When CTV Atlantic anchor Steve Murphy hosted the Hotline, all calls were screened. Callers were also limited to one call per day and in some cases, just one or two calls per week. It's also interesting to note that in order to get on-air, callers would have to leave their telephone number with the Hotline producer. When and if their turn came up, they would receive a call from the Hotline. In some cases, that call never came.
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