Radio host Michael Smerconish to be simulcast on MSNBC in place of
 
Date: Fri, 20 Apr 2007 14:23:04 -0400


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<p><b>Radio host Michael Smerconish to be simulcast on MSNBC in place of
<em>Imus</em> </b></p>
<p><a href="http://mediamatters.org/items/200704200003?src=item200704200003">http://mediamatters.org/items/200704200003</a></p>

<p>According to an April
20 <a href="http://mediamatters.org/rd?src=item200704200003&http://www.philly.com/philly/hp/news_update/20070420_215-854-5915.html">article</a>
on Philly.com, the website of <i>The Philadelphia Inquirer</i>, "The Big Talker 1210 AM morning show of Daily News
columnist Michael Smerconish is to be simulcast Monday through Wednesday on
MSNBC." The article noted that Smerconish will fill the slot previously
held by <i>Imus in the Morning</i>.
MSNBC announced on April 11 that it would no longer
broadcast <i>Imus</i> in
the wake of comments made by host Don Imus on the April 4 <a href="http://mediamatters.org/items/200704040011?src=item200704200003" title="http://mediamatters.org/items/200704040011">edition</a> of that show, during which he
referred to the Rutgers
 University women&#39;s
basketball team as "nappy-headed hos." </p>

<p>In addition to hosting his own radio talk
show, Smerconish has been a guest host for MSNBC&#39;s <i>Scarborough Country</i> and Westwood One&#39;s <i>The Radio Factor with Bill O&#39;Reilly,</i> and
has opined on a number of issues, including alleged detainee abuse, immigrants,
and Muslims.  </p>



<ul><li>On
     the June 20, 2006, edition of <i>Scarborough
     Country</i>, Smerconish <a href="http://mediamatters.org/items/200606220011?src=item200704200003">trivialized</a> reports of detainee
     abuse at Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq, referring to the alleged
     abuse as "naked pyramid pictures." He
     also referred to alleged mistreatment at the Pentagon
     detention facility at Guant&aacute;namo
      Bay as
     "play[ing] Christina Aguilera music a bit too loud."</li></ul>



<ul><li>On
     the April 10, 2006, edition of <i>Scarborough
     Country</i>, Smerconish <a href="http://mediamatters.org/items/200604110003?src=item200704200003">suggested</a> that "maybe law enforcement
     ought to step in" at pro-immigration demonstrations and consider
     "gathering ... up" illegal immigrants. Smerconish wondered why
     there was "zero discussion" of "gathering them up" at
     the demonstrations, when "[a]ll I keep hearing is how would we ever
     find them?" He then suggested that law enforcement officials are
     being hypocritical by refusing to "gather[] ... up" illegal
     immigrants because they would "step in and do something about" a
     rally of "pot smokers," who "wanted decriminalization"
     of marijuana, or "scofflaws" with unpaid parking tickets.</li></ul>



<ul><li>Substituting
     for host Bill O&#39;Reilly on the April 4, 2006, broadcast of <i>The Radio Factor</i>, Smerconish
     repeatedly <a href="http://mediamatters.org/items/200604070002?src=item200704200003" title="http://mediamatters.org/items/200604070002">discussed</a> "the sissification of
     America," claiming
     that political correctness has made the United States "a nation
     of sissies." Smerconish also claimed, several times, that this
     "sissification" and "limp-wristedness" is "compromising
     our ability to win the war on terror."</li></ul>



<ul><li>On
     the November 23, 2005, broadcast of <i>The
     Radio Factor</i>, while guest-hosting, Smerconish <a href="http://mediamatters.org/items/200511300005?src=item200704200003" title="http://mediamatters.org/items/200511300005">took issue</a> with a decision by the
     New Jersey Sports and Exposition Authority to provide a designated prayer
     area at Giants Stadium. The decision was in response to a September 19
     incident involving the FBI&#39;s detention and questioning of five Muslim men
     who were observed praying near the stadium&#39;s main air duct during a New
     York Giants football game. Smerconish stated: "I just think that&#39;s
     [the men&#39;s public praying] wrong. I just think they&#39;re playing a game of,
     you know, mind blank with the audience. And that they should know better
     four years removed from September 11." Smerconish <a href="http://mediamatters.org/items/200704160004?src=item200704200003">defended</a> the comments in an April 15
     <a href="http://mediamatters.org/rd?src=item200704200003&http://www.philly.com/inquirer/currents/20070415_Head_Strong___Guilty_as_charged__I_dont_support_Imus_firing.html">column</a>, stating:
     "When five Muslim men in attendance at the Meadowlands in September
     2005 for a Giants-Saints game that was also a Hurricane Katrina
     fund-raiser, with George H.W. Bush in attendance, saw fit to pray in an
     area near food preparation and air duct work, I think it was a case of
     mind blank. That&#39;s a form of terrorism in itself." </li></ul>



<ul><li>On
     the November 23, 2005, edition of <i>The
     Radio Factor</i>, Smerconish interviewed Soo Kim Abboud, author of <i>Top of the Class: How Asian Parents Raise High
     Achievers -- and How You Can Too</i> (Penguin, 2005). Smerconish <a href="http://mediamatters.org/items/200511290014?src=item200704200003" title="http://mediamatters.org/items/200511290014">asserted</a> that "if everyone
     follows Dr. Abboud&#39;s prescription ... you&#39;re going to have women who will
     leave the home and now get a great-paying job, because you will have
     gotten them well educated." He continued, "But then they&#39;re not
     going to be around to instill these lessons in their kids. In other words,
     it occurs to me that perhaps you&#39;ve provided a prescription to bring this
     great success to an end."</li></ul>

<p>

Smerconish has also been a frequent guest on
MSNBC&#39;s <i>Hardball</i>, where he
has appeared on at least four occasions in March and April of 2007, including
March 1, March 8, March 21, and April 5. <i>Hardball</i>
host Chris Matthews <a href="http://mediamatters.org/items/200603090013?src=item200704200003">declared</a> on the March
8, 2006, edition of the program that "You talk to a huge audience on the
East Coast, Michael. I&#39;ve listened to you, all my family listens to you." As
<i>Media Matters</i> also <a href="http://mediamatters.org/items/200603090013?src=item200704200003">noted</a>, Smerconish reportedly moderated a
January 17, 2006, <a href="http://mediamatters.org/rd?src=item200704200003&http://www.knowledgemessenger.com/a/ViewNewsletter.asp?id=1050&amp;App=yapac">political event</a> in
Pennsylvania, sponsored by the Philadelphia Young Republicans and attended by
Matthews&#39; brother, who was then the Republican candidate for lieutenant
governor in Pennsylvania. GOP gubernatorial candidate Lynn Swann and Jim
Matthews were <a href="http://mediamatters.org/rd?src=item200704200003&http://www.uselectionatlas.org/RESULTS/state.php?fips=42&amp;year=2006&amp;f=0&amp;off=5&amp;elect=0">defeated</a> by Democrats Ed
Rendell and Catherine Baker Knoll.</p><table width="100%" style="background: #e8e8e8; 
border: 1px solid  #ffffff; font-size: 80%" cellpadding="1">
<tr>
<td style="border-right: 1px solid  #ffffff;" 
width="40%">
</b> Contact: <br />
<b>Michael Smerconish</b></td>
<td valign="top"></td>
</tr>
</table>
<table width="100%" style="background: #e8e8e8; 
border: 1px solid  #ffffff; font-size: 80%" cellpadding="1">
<tr>
<td style="border-right: 1px solid  #ffffff;" 
width="40%">
</b> Contact: <br />
<b>MSNBC</b></td>
<td valign="top"><a href="mailto:viewerservices@msnbc.com">viewerservices@msnbc.com</a>
<br />MSNBC TV
<br />One MSNBC Plaza
<br />Secaucus, N.J. 07094
<br /><a href="http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/3303518/">MSNBC contacts</a></td>
</tr>
</table>



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