Radio Activity

Local conservative radio guru Lee Rodgers has apparently reached the end of the line. Last Thursday was his final broadcast after which he was summarily dismissed. Too bad: Lee Rodgers: Leaving KSFO was Forced On Me With No Notice

This was the first Monday in a while that Bay Area fans of conservative talk radio woke up to KSFO (560 AM) without listening to Lee Rodgers at the helm of the station's morning show. (You'd be surprised how many conservative talk show fans there are here in the Deep Blue Hot Tub.)

Rodgers is ticked that he was he was let go Thursday moments after his show. As he wrote in an email to listeners that The Chronicle has obtained, Rodgers said:

"It was forced upon me, with no notice."

Few do grumpy like Rodgers and he is HOT -- mostly at Citadel Broadcasting, the parent to KSFO. Said he only had 4 1/2 months left on his contract and that he "was seriously considering retirement at the end of my contract in early July, and I certainly wouldn't have left without saying goodbye."

Now, Rodgers says he's "hot" about this, but he was planning to retire anyway, so...I'm not feeling the outrage. It is a bummer, though. Rodgers (along with his partner Melanie Morgan, who preceded him in pink slip land) was a good guy who filled an obvious gap for people looking for a local media voice whose default position wasn't left-liberal. Rodgers also did a lot of useful work over the years. His show publicized the many problems with MTBE, for example. He also led the charge against Smog II, which would have allowed the state to confiscate and destroy polluting vehicles. He was that rare bird: an activist conservative journalist who shined a light on the darker regions of progressive thought and was consistently able to get good results.

His replacement is Brian Sussman, a meteorologist-turned-rightwing-blowhard (is there any other kind?). Sussman burns a lot hotter than Rodgers, but generally gets things right. He also subscribes to the World Net Daily brand of conservatism (WND is even publishing his next book). Lefties who love to trump up accusations of racism and Birtherism should find Sussman to be more fertile ground than the genial Rodgers.