Sunday, April 17, 2011

Conservative College Students Enter the Talk Radio Arena

Seen on True North Reports......

April 14, 2011
by Robert Maynard
Our nation’s colleges and universities have long been seen as one of the country’s bastions of liberalism. In addition, nowhere is liberalism any stronger than it is here in Vermont. These two facts would make a Vermont college an unlikely breeding ground for conservative talk radio programs. Nether the less, a couple of students from Saint Michael’s College have taken on the role of a conservative David to Vermont liberalism’s Goliath:
The Vermont Avenger Show is the newest addition to the Green Mountain State’s world of conservative talk radio. “The Vermont Avenger” is Dan J. Bower alongside Mike O’Neill.
This is how they describe the purpose of their endeavor:
The duo seek to provide a conservative perspective on American politics, culture, faith and any other topic that they see fit.
As conservatives they value the ideas in the Pledge of Allegiance, “Liberty and Justice for ALL.” Anyone is fair game on the Vermont Avenger! As most would expect, the campus and nation wide left will be under attack, but they won’t hesitate to call out those who make a mockery of the conservative movement on the far right.
The Vermont Avenger Show is dedicated to exposing the left wing culture of corruption in Vermont and America and to taking down the far right fringe.
The Constitution is our guide, God is our Light. Liberty or Death.
So, who are these conservative Davids?
Dan J. Bower is a conservative activist and sophomore student at St. Michael’s College. He is a Tea Party conservative and a true believer in the Constitution. He is a Political Science major and occasional columnist. He is the former host of Fail & Live Long, which also aired on WWPV. He is the president of the SMC Conservatives.
Mike O’Neill is a conservative and religious freedom activist and sophomore at St. Michael’s College. He is a mainstream American conservative and fellow believer in the Constitution. He is a political science and religious studies major. He is the co-president of the SMC Conservatives.
Here are some specifics about their show:
The Vermont Avenger Show airs on WWPV 88.7 The Mike FM on Fridays at 10 PM through 2 AM. Streaming online is also available.

Thursday, April 7, 2011

GQ profiles WCAX

When I checked out the April 11 copy of GQ at Barnes & Noble, I thought, "Cosmo for men." Endless pages of ads showing impossibly handsome young men doing cool things wearing cooler clothes. Feature stories on uber-males Derek Jeter, Charlie Sheen, and Keagan Harsha.

For real. Well - the story wasn't all about WCAX reporter Keagan Harsha, but he has a prominent role in the toney man mag's profile of Vermont's biggest TV news station. Last spring GQ sent a woman named Raha Naddaf to learn what it's like to be a smalltown TV news reporter. Enroute to doing the voice-over for the Ice Out at Joe's Pond - which she cluelessly describes as the most trivial, out-of-the-way, who-cares kind of story - she stops in at the South Burlington office, which she describes as having "pumpkin-colored carpet," yellowing walls, and no-nonsense furniture unchanged since 1976. Harsha she describes as "square jawed, firm handshake, booming voice" but a Real Person who has nightmares about going live and not knowing what to say.

Naddaf meets Darren Perron ("whose name rhymes) and Anson Tebbetts, whose personal relationship with about half of Danville stuns her. She has never considered the possibility that a reporter might actually live amongst the viewers.

I won't give away the shocking ending, except to say that it makes WCAX look pretty good. The early reviews from former and current CAX'ers are pretty good. Speaking at a freezing outdoor press conference in Middlesex Wednesday, former reporter and Gov. Peter Shumlin's press secretary Bianca Slota said she liked it ("although they didn't write much about me") and Kristin Carlson said she and other staff got a good laugh out of Raddaf's descriptions of some of the station staff. Everyone seemed to appreciate Raddaf's conclusion: this TV news stuff is harder than it looks.