Where to begin with former Governor John Rowland and his role as an afternoon drivetime talk show host on WTIC?
His self-inflicted troubles have gone national via Media Matters:
A federal investigation is underway into allegations that the afternoon drive time host on Hartford’s CBS Radio affiliate WTIC-AM and former GOP rising star received hidden financial support from one of the 2012 candidates for Connecticut’s 5th Congressional seat, Republican Lisa Wilson Foley, and did not disclose it on the air as he attacked her primary opponent.
Hartford Courant columnist Kevin Rennie first turned the focus on WTIC:
The public will be interested to see politicians with no discernible standards continue to appear on Rowland’s afternoon talk show. Payola was the term for pay to play records on the radio in the 1950s. We may know soon if Rowland and the Foleys contrived to create a political version of that scheme at WTIC. What the management of WTIC countenanced or condemned will also be worth knowing, as radio stations operate over the public airways and hold a public trust of their own.
The New Haven Register editorial page has called on WTIC to fire Rowland:
The dishonest way in which Rowland handled his duties as a WTIC host makes him unworthy of employment at Connecticut’s biggest radio station, regardless of whether prosecutors file criminal charges.
And don’t miss Colin McEnroe (WNPR/Htfd Courant) on Why We’re Still Writing About Rowland.
