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The Busiest Guest In Local Talk Radio
It's not uncommon for a guest to show up on multiple talk shows every now and then, but I only know of one who not only appears every week, but has his own regular guest slot on not one but four different radio stations.
His name is Tom Korski and he's the executive editor of a site called Blacklock's Reporter, a subscription based digital-only political publication that covers the minutiae of what's going on in government in Ottawa that others miss. He's a very funny and entertaining guy, which may explain why so many local outlets here have him on all the time.
He's on Alex Pierson's show every Tuesday and Thursday at 10:45 AM.
Over on CFRB, Jerry Agar has given him a regular slot on his show on Thursdays at 11:35 AM.
He's on Marc Patrone's show on Sauga 960 every Friday towards the end of the program.
And he also appears frequently (although not every week) on Roy Green's semi-national talk show over Corus on weekends.
When he makes it on all of them, that's about 60 minutes combined a week. Not bad for someone who doesn't actually have his own radio show. I can't think of anyone else who gets so much airtime on so many different stations for free.
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Re: The Busiest Guest In Local Talk Radio
Alper is generally only on when a famous rock star dies. Korski has a regular segment on three stations and four shows. That's pretty unusual.
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Thread Starter- mic'em
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Re: The Busiest Guest In Local Talk Radio
I find Tom Korski an good listen, and try to have ears on 640 when he is scheduled to appear with Alex.
- BowmanvilleBob
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Re: The Busiest Guest In Local Talk Radio
Both Korski and his wife, Holly Doan, are accomplished former broadcasters who founded Blacklock's Reporter back in 2012. They have been embroiled in numerous lawsuits with the federal government and their former staff regarding a variety of issues.
Regardless of the merits of his contributions, Korski's presence on so many Toronto radio stations illustrates the lack of interest on the part of media owners to develop new voices, even among conservative circles. Perhaps 960 can be forgiven, given its miniscule audience and lack of advertising, for taking the easy road by copying it's larger competitors, but there's certainly no excuse for Bell and Corus to use the same commentator on multiple shows, particularly when both organizations maintain full-time staff in Ottawa to cover national politics. This lack of effort is another reason why talk radio is languishing in the radio ratings in Toronto.
Last edited by BowmanvilleBob (December 17, 2023 2:30 pm)
- Chrisphen
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Re: The Busiest Guest In Local Talk Radio
BowmanvilleBob wrote:
Regardless of the merits of his contributions, Korski's presence on so many Toronto radio stations illustrates the lack of interest on the part of media owners to develop new voices, even among conservative circles.
Not only owners, but producers and directors. If the contributor is easily available that'll trump most other editorial judgement. Who knows, maybe he's paying for the access?
I've said it before - It would shock the average person to realise just how much broadcast news and analysis is governed by lazy convenience.
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The unique thing about Korski is his organization reads every single word of every single release, report and bill provided by the government. Some of them can be thousands of pages long. Hidden on page 734 can be a gem that most reporters, who have to file on the hour, have no time to look into or even find. They also go to every hearing. That's what makes him valuable and I suspect why so many stations are seeking him out. Plus, he has radio experience, so he sounds good on air.
As far as being paid time, I doubt it. What he gets out of it is a freebie de facto ad for his publication, which isn't cheap - it costs around $400 a year to subscribe. Which is why I don't!
I know he's not popular with the Ottawa press corp., because he refuses to play by their rules. Whether that means he's an a-hole or not, I honestly don't know, but they definitely come up with stuff no one else does. And I, for one, find him hilarious on air. So I don't mind hearing him on so many places on the dial.
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Thread Starter- BowmanvilleBob
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Re: The Busiest Guest In Local Talk Radio
And for those looking for another point of view, there's always this...