Clear Channel yanks ‘Troy Neff Show’
Written by Gail Burkhardt | | news@toledofreepress.com“The Troy Neff Show,” whose host, Troy Neff, was stabbed in a road-rage incident Dec. 10, has been taken off the air.
Neff sent an e-mail to Brian Wilson, the program director for WSPD, telling him “to go f*** himself” after Neff had heard that Brian Wilson had instructed his employees not to mention Neff’s stabbing on the air, Neff said.
Neff’s show was guest hosted by Toledo Free Press Editor in Chief Michael Miller the morning of Dec. 11, while Neff recovered from his stab wounds. Neff called in to let listeners know how he was doing.
After describing the stabbing incident, Neff said, “Apparently people got a memo at WSPD from Brian Wilson not to mention the story, not to mention my name at all today. I’d just like to say that Brian Wilson can go screw himself.”
Cassie Wilson, director of news operations for Clear Channel, said that she sent a reminder to her employees about the station’s policy not to cover crime. Brian Wilson did not have anything to do with this reminder, she said.
Although Neff is involved in local media, she did not think that this made the incident important enough to break the station’s crime policy, Cassie Wilson said.
Cassie Wilson also issued a statement about the decision, “WSPD News did not cover the story of the Channel 36 meteorologist who was fired for what I believe was charges of public indecency and intoxication. To that same end, we did not cover the story of a Clear Channel advertising client who purchased a brokered program and was involved in a road-rage situation. Our listeners are concerned with news that affects their daily lives, such as pocketbook issues. Radio news does not take its cues from the stories covered on television, and we do not report a crime blotter.
“I use my experience to determine what is and is not news for our listeners based on experience and what I’ve learned,” she told Toledo Free Press in an interview.
Cassie Wilson has worked in markets such as Atlanta and Washington, graduated from S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications at Syracuse University and uses her experience and education to do her job, she said.
Brian Wilson said he does not know why Neff thought that he had sent a memo telling employees not to talk about Neff on the air, he said.
“I can’t explain the ravings of the lunatic,” Brian Wilson said.
Neff said his show producer, Jeremy Baumhower, had been informed of the memo from a Clear Channel employee.
Neff’s program aired on WCWA-AM, a WSPD sister station through Clear Channel Communications.
Neff paid $40,000 a year to broadcast his show, Neff said.
“By owning it, I could do what I wanted on the program,” Neff said. Neff often had Mayor Carty Finkbeiner on his program and he thinks that this upset employees of WSPD and Clear Channel Communications who are supporting the Take Back Toledo effort, which is trying to recall the mayor.
Neff has the right to believe what he wants to, Brian Wilson said of Neff’s comments.
In addition to employing Baumhower, Neff employed a Web site designer, Shane Craig.
“I believe that I will be back on the air in Toledo by the beginning of the year,” Neff said.
Andy Stuart, director of Clear Channel, was not available for comment.
Neff is a financial adviser and owner of Advanced Retirement Solutions, writes a weekly column for Toledo Free Press and appears in television segments for FOXToledo and 13abc.
Perplexing ,heh? Not so when you consider that all the facts are from one side only!! A guy in his ‘gym shorts’,( were they pink?) gets out of his car to confront someone,IN FULL BLOWN RAGE?! The confusion probably was on the ridge runners part,thinking he was being solicited!! Stranger things have happened!! Beware of madmen in gym shorts is the lesson !!
This comment was posted on December 11th, 2008 at 6:57 pmtsk, tsk, tsk.
This comment was posted on December 11th, 2008 at 7:05 pmTroy is kind of a jerk. He went on WCWA as a call in guest and said that he started it. I do not fault clear channel for firing him.
This comment was posted on December 11th, 2008 at 7:41 pmWhat a douchebag. Good for Clear Channel and good for the rest of Toledo. Take away this idiot’s mouthpiece.
If anyone still wants to hear what he has to say just go to swampbubbles.com
This comment was posted on December 11th, 2008 at 8:40 pmVery disapointed to hear this. This was the only local show where you could actually hear about the issues from those invovled, instead of constant rants on that “other” station. There goes local talk.
This comment was posted on December 11th, 2008 at 9:03 pmIt doesn’t surprise me that they pulled this guy’s show. If you go to troynef.com and listen to his account of the stabbing, it makes it sound like he started the fight.
The free press should remove him from their paper. He sounds like a hot headed jerk.
This comment was posted on December 12th, 2008 at 1:43 amJerk or not, started the fight or not, it was still a news story covered by every other media outlet in toledo, wspd calls itself the “news leader” but did not cover it…thats up to them to make that decision…as for troy saying and firing off and email, that was unprofessional. 40G a year, thats a big hit to wcwa’s sales budget and my guess is that some station will be more than willing to accept a check for 40 grand, if not wcwa, 1560 at cumulus…
This comment was posted on December 12th, 2008 at 8:59 ambut what do i know..
I applaud Cassie Wilson and the WSPD news department for aspiring to a higher level of journalistic integrity in Toledo. “If it bleeds…it leads” is the proud credo of too many of our local news outlets.
WSPD and the Free Press are quite literally the only news operations in our town that do any actual objective investigative reporting, and they may very well prove to be two of our most valuable resources in returning Toledo to the status of a “proud community”.
This comment was posted on December 12th, 2008 at 10:51 amConsidering there’s already some tension between Neff and WSPD, did anyone consider that Cassie Wilson might not want to exacerbate the situation by reporting a story that makes Neff look like even more of a loose canon? In any case, now that it’s clear that Brian Wilson had nothing to do with the decision, Neff might well consider apologizing. Or not – we all know how easily public figures tend to dig their heels in when the pressure’s on.
This comment was posted on December 13th, 2008 at 12:08 amI think Troy was telling the truth. Brian Wilson is an ego-maniac who hated that Troy had Carty on his show when the mayor was banned from WSPD. Troy was also right when he said “Wilson can go **** himself.”
This comment was posted on December 13th, 2008 at 2:11 amTroy’s show was not the most polished apple on the stand but he did put you in touch with the people making the news. He did his best to make sure you heard The story, not the opinion. Guru Joe segment was also very informative. WCWA probaly jumped the gun a little bit on letting him go, he might have gotten the station it’s highest ratings ever upon his return. I agree with other posting also, Brian Wilson is an ego-maniac, who is dragging WSPD down.
This comment was posted on December 13th, 2008 at 9:52 amDid he get his watch back?
This comment was posted on December 13th, 2008 at 6:23 pmSo this is what it came to. Your relegated to blogging on news stories on free periodical web pages following Mike Coon.
How appropriate.
Looks like you got wiped clean off swampbubbles.com AND banned from glasscityjungle. lol
I think this now IS the funniest thing I have seen in a long time.
This comment was posted on December 17th, 2008 at 5:16 am