Re: Barnicle on air today

[Donna Halper <dlh@donnahalper.com>]

>Garrett, regarding former newspaper folks who go on the air, wrote--
>
>I'll agree with you that a lot of *opinion columnists* make bad *talk
>hosts*.
>
>However, there are a lot of great print *reporters* who have done
>quite well for themselves in broadcast: Steve and Cokie Roberts,
>pretty much all the regulars on ``Washington Week in Review'', Allen
>Abel, Daniel Richler, [snip]


And back in the 20s, 30s, and 40s, it was considered totally normal for 
radio to borrow from newspaper.  I was just talking with Bill Buchanan, who 
wrote for the Record and several other Boston newspapers, and he was often 
asked to be a guest host on WBZ radio in the 40s and early 50s.   H.V. 
Kaltenborn, regarded as perhaps the first "radio newsman" back in the early 
20s, got his start at the Brooklyn Eagle before going over to have a long 
and successful career as a network commentator.   It used to be very 
commonly done-- a big name newspaper person would be given a radio show 
whether he or she had a "radio voice" or not.

As for Barnicle, I still think he got off easy, given his lack of ethics as 
a print journalist.  Several of the other highly publicised columnists 
fired for plagiarism here and in other cities still can't find work.  It 
looks as if Barnicle is being rewarded for what he did rather than 
criticised (during the John Kennedy Jr. tragedy, one would have thought he 
was a network correspondent given how often he was interviewed... sigh...).

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