BY DAN
KENNEDY
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Monday, April 25, 2005
KELLER AT LARGE. Longtime
WLVI-TV (Channel 56) political analyst Jon Keller, whose contract is
up this month, has decided to leave the station. Here's an e-mail
that went out today from Channel 56 news director Pamela
Johnston.
Please join me in wishing
Jon Keller the best of luck as he leaves us to pursue new
opportunities. Jon has been with The Ten O'clock news for 14 years
and through his tenure has emerged as the number one local
political reporter in Boston. It is to our credit that Jon is
about to embark upon bigger challenges. As you know, Jon is the
consummate team player... bringing terrific story ideas to the
table every day, always willing to work unique angles, dedicated
to uncovering exclusive stories and the first to pitch in when
breaking news happens. For many of us, myself included, Jon has
been an uncompromising friend and confidant for years. He will be
missed. Jon Keller's last day will be Monday, May 9th.
No official word yet on what those
"bigger challenges" might be. Keller declined to comment, and his
agent, Stephen Freyer, would say only, "We're working on details and
ironing things out, and hopefully things will be worked out in a
couple of days." But it's no secret that political reporter John
Henning has retired from WBZ-TV (Channel 4), and that Keller is
already a commentator on its sister operation, WBZ Radio (AM
1030).
Channel 4 spokeswoman Ro Dooley
Webster put out a statement a little while ago that doesn't exactly
discourage such speculation. "CBS4 News has no announcement to make
at this time," she said.
posted at 6:31 PM |
11 comments
|
link
11 Comments:
I was thinking of Keller filling a pending vacancy at the Phoenix, but ah well...
We are known by those we associate with. Keller was a protege of David Brudnoy. No wonder he's a class act. If he can keep reporting at the same level and yet remain self-effacing, he's going to OWN this town.
Rick
Nobody "owns" a town anymore. This isn't 1972. Too much media out there.
I'm definitely not a Keller fan. I find him predictable and often lazy in his morning WBZ commentaries. Was there a traffic jam in the Big Dig tunnel yesterday? Then there's no need to listen to Keller - you know what he'll talk about and you'll know what he'll say.
The worst example of his laziness was his commentary on a Clinton speech in November '01 - excoriating Clinton for implying that we brought the events of 9/11 upon ourselves. But it was apparent that Keller didn't read the speech - he was just relying on some right wing press about it, possibly the account Somerby talked about here.
Or maybe he just read the Andrew Sullivan blog entry having to do with the speech, that ran the day before Keller's commentary. Sullivan later retracted his comments - I don't believe Keller ever did.
Count me as another non-fan. He's the most annoying voice on WBZ. He causes me to reach for the radio tuner.
also a non-fan... he's a more cerebral Gary LaPierre... and one who blurs the line between journalist and commentator...
He's a non entity in this city. No offense.
What are you guys talking about? I think he's the best political commentator SINCE Brudnoy...
http://drtucker.blogs.friendster.com/my_blog/
12:12, you're hilarious!Blogging on a media site and saying that there is an excess of media. Are there any mirrors in your house? If he's not sufficiently "progressive" for you that's one thing but what are the alternatives? NPR? Let's see YOU get people from all parts of the political spectrum to return your calls. Only in the self-absorbed circular firing squad that is Boston could people get so riled up over such an innocuous guy. Sad, really.
Rick
He's one of the inner circle of B List media types who all go on each other's shows (see Emily Rooney.) He's not a bad guy but he's certainly not a player in the Boston media.
It's not about "A" vs. "B" list, it's about agendas.His is (slightly) right of center, which infuriates folks like Callie Crossley of "Greater Boston" who still obsess over election results (from the LAST election).In Boston, not being far left automatically makes you far right for some reason. Lived here all my life and still don't understand why. Even if he doesn't end up "owning" Boston, Keller's voice is desperately needed if we want to have any semblance of balance around here.
MEDIA LOG ARCHIVES
Dan Kennedy is senior writer and media critic for the Boston Phoenix.
