Some Dahl Facts for his fans

Subject:

Comments:
: Just the Facts : - a collection of educational articles and opinions : -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- : -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- : Readers respond to Dahl and Mancow : July 6, 1999 : BY ROBERT FEDER SUN-TIMES COLUMNIST : Cards, letters and e-mail across the television-radio desk: : : Ken Johnson: In preparing for his wife's lawsuit with Mancow Muller, perhaps Steve Dahl should listen to some of his old tapes to hear what he has said about Garry Meier (and Garry's wife) since the breakup. Steve has no right to play injured victim after his attacks on Garry. : Gene Morrissey: Do you remember when WCKG-FM (105.9) used to consist of Howard Stern, followed by Jonathon Brandmeier and then followed by Steve Dahl? When did the station become Stern, followed by Brandmeier and then followed by five hours of commercials? : Eric Wyatt: I am a Dahl fan, [but] the energy that marked Dahl's shows years ago is all but gone. Large patches of dead air do indeed fill his programs, and this is by far his most uninteresting supporting cast. Most galling is the fact that WCKG cuts off the far more interesting and energetic Jonathon Brandmeier in favor of Steve's first half-hour, which is the worst of the broadcast day. : Jeanie Wagner: I've been a Dahl fan since Disco Demolition, and now I can't listen because of the indulging, wimpy, spineless sidekicks. It's not their fault, of course. That's how they keep their jobs because that's the way Steve likes it. : -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- : For Steve Dahl, it was the tale of the tapes : : October 21, 1999 : BY ROBERT FEDER SUN-TIMES COLUMNIST : Steve Dahl secretly recorded conversations among staffers at WCKG-FM (105.9) because he suspected they were saying mean things about him behind his back. : He was right. : In snippets Dahl has played on his WCKG afternoon show, two station employees can be heard mocking him as "Steve Dull," calling him names and ridiculing his show. "We're going to get him," one of them says. "We're definitely going to get him." : The two staffers, who doubled as producers and part-time hosts, eventually were fired. Although he did not cite the tapes in urging their dismissal, Dahl said he suspected the two of leaking information and writing disparaging messages about him on online bulletin boards. : The conversations were recorded in WCKG studios and production areas with cameras and audio equipment that had been installed more than a year ago for security purposes and internal communication, Dahl said Wednesday. : "I have never played those tapes for management," Dahl said. "I merely used them for my own edification so I could feel confident that I had done the right thing. It was a personal matter." : Dahl said he was not concerned about any legal problems with taping the conversations. : "I did it within my organization to confirm my suspicions. This was in a studio filled with microphones and cameras. Legally, I don't feel they had any expectation of privacy in that case." : -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- : HOT TYPE : Chicago Reader October 29, 1999 Section One : STEVE DAHL’S BOOTLEG: THE TALE OF THE TAPE : by Michael Miner : Radio is tricky to write about because it’s so loosely linked to reality. Names don’t come with faces, and you can’t always believe the names. Steve Dahl, to his credit, has a first name and a last, but the other key players in this drama are known to Chicago as Shemp, Pugs, and Kelly. : Then there’s the noisy chorus that comments on the action. God knows who those people are. : The curtain went up last Thursday on a strangely deferential Robert Feder column in the Sun-Times. Without so much as raising an eyebrow, Feder allowed Dahl to explain away behavior that a more judgmental writer would have pilloried. : Feder asked Dahl to talk about some tapes of chortling colleagues he’d been playing on the air. In one of the snatches of conversation Dahl shared with his WCKG audience, a male voice could be heard exclaiming, "The guy [Dahl] lives in a visual fantasy world!" A female voice responded, "Yeah, you know, it’s like, yeah, sure, sooner or later we’re going to be out to get him. But not right now. We’re not in any position to right now. We’re not stupid." : The next voice was Dahl’s, live on the air. "That’s funny," he said. "That makes me laugh." : Feder reported that the tapes captured two part-tie radio hosts Dahl already suspected of ripping him behind his back. They were soon fired by the station at Dahl’s urging. But Feder didn’t tell their side of the story. He : didn’t even identify them (they were Pugs and Kelly). And he didn’t say that taping a private conversation and putting it on the air might be ethically and legally problematic. "I really tried to be neutral," Feder tells me. "I had every intention of following the story as it develops, and I highly doubt that this is the last that I’ll be reporting on it." : Dahl told Feder the taping had been done with cameras and audio equipment already installed in a WCKG studio for security purposes. Dahl said, "I have never played those tapes for management. I merely used them for my own edification so I could feel confident that I had done the right thing. It was a personal matter." He’d taped "to confirm my suspicions. This was in a studio filled with microphones and cameras. Legally, I don’t feel they had any expectation of privacy in that case." : Feder told enough of the story that bright readers could figure out the rest. Dahl had taped and aired two people’s private conversation; then, arguably motivated by what he heard on that tape, he got WCKG to take : their jobs. : "He just put it out there as it is and let the chips fall where they may," says a radio executive who admires Feder’s craft. "The best way is to let somebody hang himself." : : Pugs and Kelly began hearing from attorneys who’d sized up the conceivable damages and wanted a slice of that sizzling bacon. All they were asking Pugs and Kelly to do was sue Dahl and WCKG, which is owned by Infinity Broadcasting, which is controlled by CBS. And after the dust settled they’d have a lifetime of fun looking for another job in radio. : Pugs and Kelly, who hosted a Saturday night show on WCKG and filled in at other times, are actually John Myron and Kelly Mohr. Kelly is married to Shemp, actually Mark DeYoung, who’d been Dahl’s producer until Dahl fired him in August. Expecting a second child and trying to close on a house, Kelly was in no position to quit in protest when Dahl booted her husband. : Understandably, Kelly and Shemp aren’t saying much. "I was thinking about a quote for you," said Kelly earlier this week, trying to be helpful. "If he thinks people talk badly about him in the studio, he should take walk down to the sales department." : Dahl tried to call me during a commercial and missed me. So told Ali, his personal assistant, to give me a message. The message was: "Those people are all idiots, and they don’t know what they’re talking about." : : For messages by the carload, the place to go is Crowbar. "CROW" stands for Chicago Radio Online Watch -- a board launched two and a half years ago by Zecom Communications. It’s no place for the faint of heart, and : nothing posted there can be taken at face value. : "You have three types of people, especially in the case of a Steve Dahl," explains Zecom president Marty Zivin, who can tell pretty well who Crowbar visitors are. There’s a silent majority that laps up the action from the sidelines. Then there'’ the 10 percent who are "Dahl haters" and can’t get enough of him. "Every time he burps on the air they write," says Zivin. And 15 percent are radio insiders doing smash mouth. It’s common knowledge that over the years Steve Dahl’s burned a lot of bridges." : Between the haters and the smash mouthers, Dahl has been annihilated daily, as debate rages among monikers such as Dulls Bitch, Are You Goofy?, LawZilla, Jubilation T. Cornhole, What a Crock!!!!, and Still a : Fan. Fortunately an occasional posting rings of sober authority. For example, police sergeant Alan Hurlbut, star 3109, cooly dissected the matter and reported, "I ran this by my assistant state’s attorney at coffee this morning and he was of the opinion that the state code violation on eavesdropping was clearly violated. He also indicated : that there would probably be civil recovery if the victims had a good attorney." And a Northwester law school instructor with communications law as a specialty wrote in to predict that "the victims can recover damages in at least six figures" and that if they took the matter to state or federal prosecutors they could have Dahl arrested. : Sadly, the Chicago Police Department tells me that Sergeant Hurlbut, star 3109, doesn’t exist. My research persuades me the Northwestern instructor doesn’t exist either. Someone wise in the ways of Chicago radio warns me that both these postings -- and many others -- are probably the work of a certain famous local radio personality who hates Dahl and wants to put him away. The radio personality denies this. : : After wandering for days in a culture characterized by extravagant noms de plume, endless and unusable off-the-record conversations and unattributable fear and loathing, I was astonished to receive E-mail from John Myron AKA Pugs. "I haven’t really been speaking to anyone on this subject," said Pugs, "but I think it’s time I start." : And for 500 words Pugs went on about Steve Dahl. "Growing up he was my hero. Other kids had Ryne Sandberg or Walter Payton but I had Steve. However, Steve Dahl has become an angry, bigoted egomaniac whose insecurities, jealousies and complete distrust of others has eroded his once rabidly loyal fan base . . . He attempted to publicly humiliate and professionally stigmatize me as someone that can’t be trusted. Steve Dahl is a very influential man in Chicago radio and the blacklisting I fear this has caused will follow me throughout my : career." : Pugs pointed out that Shemp had just been fired and Kelly was eight months pregnant when his chat with her occurred. "To say that Steve Dahl was on our shit list would be an understatement," he acknowledged. "Venting your frustrations to someone you trust in what you perceive to be private seems a fairly common form of workplace therapy. : And so it is. : -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- : The Daily Herald 2-3-00 : Ted Cox : : End of the dial: : Former WCKG 105.9-FM employees Kelly Mohr and John Myron, known on the air as Kelly and Pugs, are suing afternoon host Steve Dahl for violating their right to privacy. : Dahl secretly taped conversations in which they dissed him and then played the tapes on the air. Mohr and Myron were fired from 'CKG last year. They are seeking compensatory damages for "intentional and malicious acts ...in reckless disregard for their rights." As an old media law student, I'd say they have a much stronger case than Janet Dahl has against WKQX 101.1-FM morning host Mancow Muller. : -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- : The following article was selected from the Internet Edition : Article URL: http://chicagotribune.com/business/columnists/kirk/ : Jim Kirk : : Lawsuit fallout? : While WCKG-FM 105.9 afternoon host Steve Dahl : broadcasts from Hawaii this week, station management is mum about the : lawsuit filed against him and the station by Kelly Mohr and John : Myron, who were fired by the station last year. : On Friday, Mohr and Myron--who had worked as fill-in hosts at the : station--filed suit against Dahl, WCKG and the station's owner, : Infinity Broadcasting Corp., alleging that Dahl broke federal and : state wiretap laws and state privacy laws when Dahl taped the pair and : then replayed bits of the conversation on the air last year. : A lawyer for Dahl also declined to comment Monday. : -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- : DAHL BROKE WIRETAP LAWS, EX-PRODUCERS CONTEND IN LAWSUIT : : By Tribune Staff : February 26, 2000 : Former WCKG-FM 105.9 producers Kelly Mohr and John Myron filed a lawsuit in U.S. District Court against WCKG and afternoon personality Steve Dahl, alleging that Dahl broke federal and state wiretap laws by secretly taping a conversation between the producers and replaying it on the air. : Mohr and Myron also allege that the taping was an invasion of privacy. : The suit claims that Dahl taped Mohr and Myron having a private conversation in September and then, on at least three different occasions in October, played excerpts during his afternoon show. : Published reports at the time stated that Mohr and Myron had made derogatory comments about Dahl during the conversation. : Both were fired last year; they claim they were terminated because of the conversation, which Mohr and Myron say was relayed back to management by Dahl. : The suit seeks undisclosed damages and a permanent injunction to prevent Dahl from further broadcasting the conversation. : Executives from WCKG couldn't be reached for comment. Dahl would not comment late Friday.WCKG-FM : -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- : : Brandmeier may take Dahl's slot at WCKG : October 6, 2000 : BY ROBERT FEDER SUN-TIMES COLUMNIST : If the bosses of WCKG-FM (105.9) have their way, Jonathon Brandmeier will replace Steve Dahl as afternoon personality at the comedy/talk station next year. : Sources said Brandmeier has been offered a five-year, multimillion-dollar deal to move back to Chicago and take over WCKG's afternoon shift when Dahl's contract expires in July 2001. : Since 1998, Brandmeier has been hosting middays for WCKG from Los Angeles. Until last month, his show also was airing on CBS/Infinity Broadcasting sister station KLSX-FM in L.A. : Inside word of the offer comes as Dahl has been dropping hints on his show that he may be parting company with WCKG. The Chicago radio icon has been with the station since 1996. : Relations with his bosses were strained last April when Dahl announced his resignation in the wake of a weeklong suspension for discussing a pending lawsuit on the air. He later rescinded his threat to quit and bowed to tighter controls over his show. : Brandmeier, who dominated morning radio among young-adult listeners for more than a decade at WLUP-FM (97.9), said in an interview last month that he would "consider all options" when his current contract expires in January. : Under the scenario favored by management, Brandmeier's midday shift would be filled by Kevin Matthews, who has been hosting mornings at ABC-owned WXCD-FM (94.7) since 1998. WCKG would continue to air Howard Stern's New York-based syndicated show in mornings. : : -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- : : From the show log : October 14, 2000 : BY ROGER : 2:32 p.m. Someone called Steve at the Nextel appearance pretending to be Mike Disney to give him the Northwestern score. : SRD: there weren't a lot of people there, the TV doesn't work cause the guy doesn't allow his employees watching TV --- And then somebody called me with the Notre Dame score as Mike, : Dave: Oh, no! : SRD: I'm sorry; the Northwestern score as Mike Disney.and then, I got the message - I appreciate that - It's really nice to know that there are people that interested in screwing up my day. : Dave: uh : -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- : Message board closes after Janet Dahl complains : : May 10, 2001 : BY ROBERT FEDER SUN-TIMES COLUMNIST : : Memo to hooligans and mischief-makers everywhere: Don't mess with Janet Dahl. : She isn't the most powerful woman in Chicago radio, but the wife of WCKG-FM (105.9) afternoon personality Steve Dahl might be one of the most feared--for good reason. : When shock jock Mancow Muller made disparaging remarks about her on his WKQX-FM (101.1) morning show, Janet Dahl slapped him with a $100 million defamation suit. After two years, the case is still pending in court. : This week, she struck again when a well-read, but notoriously trashy, online message board carried an anonymous posting that referred to her by her maiden name and made a lewd and outrageous allegation. : The moment she heard about it, Janet Dahl dashed off this warning to the message board's administrator: "My attorneys have received a slanderous post from your site. I would get busy deleting that thread or your hobby will be an expensive one." : When the offensive text wasn't deleted by the following day, Janet Dahl went over the administrator's head and took her complaint to the board's operator. Almost immediately, the entire message board was shut down for good. : "I honestly wasn't trying to put anyone out of business," said Janet Dahl, a non-practicing lawyer, suburban school board member and mother of three. Although her on-air presence has diminished lately, she once was a prominent part of her husband's show. : "I don't take any joy in taking people's hobby out of play, and I don't consider this a point of pride. But when people think they can make completely false and aggressively hurtful statements about me and use my good name in a context that I can't even imagine, I have to defend myself." : She declined to discuss her lawsuit against Muller specifically, but she elaborated on her motivation. "I have an active interest in protecting my good name because I have spent my life trying to be a role model and a navigator for my boat of boys [her husband and sons]," she said. : Considering the extent to which her husband once stretched the limits of free speech--and offended others in the process--does Janet Dahl see any hypocrisy in her actions? : "Well, I suppose there's irony there, and reasonable minds can differ," she said. "But under the mantle of free speech, there are pretty clear corners that are off limits. I think Steve is a moving target. But as someone who's chosen to stay home, watch her kids, handle school boards and try to live a very responsible life, I think there has to be a limit to vicious lies that malign my character." : -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- : Will $1 million restore 'good name' for Dahls? : : August 21, 2001 : BY ROBERT FEDER SUN-TIMES COLUMNIST : : The last time Mancow Muller went after the wife of a radio rival, it wound up costing a mere $15,000. That was the reported settlement on a defamation suit filed by Randy Miller, Muller's onetime mentor in Kansas City, along with Miller's wife and mother, in 1997. : This time around, similar shenanigans by the WKQX-FM (101.1) morning shock jock are believed to have cost him and his bosses (or, more correctly, their insurance company) more than $1 million. Although terms of the deal were not disclosed, sources said the Cook County Circuit Court settlement announced Friday was a seven-figure one. : The other difference between the two cases was Janet Dahl.Dahl, the wife of longtime Chicago radio personality Steve Dahl, sued Muller for $100 million over lewd comments Muller made about her on his show. Her 1999 suit also went after Q-101, owner Emmis Communications and Muller's syndication affiliates. : For Janet Dahl, a non-practicing lawyer, suburban school board member and erstwhile contributor to her husband's show, the issue all along was not the money but aggressively protecting her "good name" and serving as a role model for the Dahls' three sons. : That's pretty much the same rationale she used in shutting down an online message board earlier this year after it posted what she considered to be slanderous messages about her. : In both instances, we'll never know whether anyone believed what was said about her. The comments were so outlandish that it's hard to imagine any sane person taking them at face value. : The Dahls previously said in separate interviews that they saw absolutely no hypocrisy in suing another broadcaster for pushing the limits of free speech on the air. While that might have been Steve Dahl's own stock in trade for years, he noted: "I never said anything even remotely as depraved as the things [Mancow] said." : Never mind if some of Dahl's onetime targets feel otherwise. : Without a retraction, apology or even a precise disclosure of the settlement terms, it's tough to see how the outcome helps restore Janet Dahl's good name, her avowed motivation for the suit. But let's not be too judgmental here. Perhaps she plans to donate the money to a worthier cause than her lawyers and her personal bank account. : : -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- : Money to Burn - Domain names purchased by ... : 1080lines.net : 1080lines.org : 888gobhomo.com : 888gobhomo.net : 888gobhomo.org : bobbyslayton.net : bobbyslayton.org : buenosknockers.com : buenosknockers.net : buenosknockers.org : buenosnachos.com : buenosnachos.net : buenosnachos.org : chicagoradiogod.com : chicagoradiogod.net : chicagoradiogod.org : dahlandthedahlfins.com : dahlandthedahlfins.net : dahlandthedahlfins.org : dahlfins.com : dahlfins.net : dahlfins.org : dahlhouse.com : discodemolition.com : discodemolition.net : discodemolition.org : extremeradionetwork.com : extremeradionetwork.net : fmtalkstation.com : freecollegepussy.com : freecollegepussy.net : freecollegepussy.org : haolemusic.com : haolemusic.net : haolemusic.org : haolerecords.com : haolerecords.net : haolerecords.org : hawlie.com : hawlie.net : hawlie.org : hdplanet.com : hdplanet.net : hdplanet.org : howlie.net : howlie.org : insanecoholips.com : insanecoholips.net : insanecoholips.org : janetdahl.com : janetdahl.net : janetdahl.org : jerryandsam.com : kurtishdpartners.com : kurtishdpartners.net : kurtishdpartners.org : mattdahl.com : mattdahl.net : mattdahl.org : mikedahl.com : mikedahl.net : mikedahl.org : newageluau.com : newageluau.net : newageluau.org : patdahl.com : patdahl.net : patdahl.org : roundmound.com : roundmound.net : roundmound.org : spaceageluau.com : spaceageluau.net : spaceageluau.org : srdahl.com : srdahl.net : srdahl.org : stevedahl.com : steve-dahl.com : stevedahl.net : steve-dahl.net : stevedahl.org : steve-dahl.org : stevenrdahl.com : stevenrdahl.net : stevenrdahl.org : thefmtalkstation.com : wckg.com : wckg1059.com

Optional Link URL:
Link Title:
Optional Image URL:

Enter verification code: