At the Kansas City Star he was often referred to as the “fiction writer” by journalists at the venerable newspaper. Others simply dismissed him as a gossip columnist who used about six sources for all his stories, and rarely let the facts get in the way of a good story.
Many of the leading PR practitioners in KC refused to even pitch stories to him because he so often misquoted their clients.
Now a blogger on an advertiser-written site, he recently criticized this site for a story about radio icon Mike Shanin deciding not to assume major duties as the face of a new all-business station on Entercom’s 1660 AM.
It follows the identical modus operandi he used at the Star where he let others break stories and then he tried to do follow-up stories attempting to find errors in their reports to make co-workers look bad. It did not endear him to staffers.
The report was that Shanin “refused to go on the air hours before the launch” because he wanted a producer to handle much of the legwork for his show.
The blogger also noted that “Shanin also was reportedly pissed because the first two VIP guests he’d book were unaware that Entercom hadn’t really promoted the show.
Fiction on both accounts.
The truth that Shanin shared with Bottom Line (which actually spoke with him!) is that he realized that after several decades on the air he simply decided he didn’t want to devote the time and effort necessary to start a station from scratch. His employer fully understood his situation and agreed to let him cut back his time commitments.
Regarding the two “pissed off” VIP guests?
While we cannot speak for both of the two “VIPs,” one of the individuals scheduled to be the first guest on Shanin’s show was none other than Bottom Line founder John Landsberg. Shanin’s producer contacted him about a week before the show was to air saying the show was going to be delayed due to technical issues.
Landsberg certainly wasn’t pissed. These things happen. Starting a new station is a huge undertaking.
A decision-maker at the station replied to Bottom Line about the situation—while noting the gossip blogger “as usual was FOS.” (That means “full of sh-.”)
“We did provide Mike Shanin with a producer, but Mike realized doing the show was going to be a lot of work flying solo,” he says. “So, he bowed out saying ‘he just didn’t have it in him’ at this stage of his career.
“We were already in conversations with Krista (Klaus, new host) about doing afternoons, and when Mike bowed out we just kept those conversations going about the midday show. Pretty simple…no scandal.”
And that’s the real story from people knowledgeable about the situation. Not a fictional account.