 |
|
|
| |
Hahn Panders to KROQ - Will They Roll Over and Take It? (UPDATE) - Sadly, yes.
|
6111 Reads
|
|
|
|
| |
UPDATE below.
So on Friday, May 22, Mayor James K. Hahn proclaims it to be "Kevin and Bean" Day in Los Angeles. So said the boys on KROQ this morning, with almost giddy glee. Gosh. The Mayor!
Let's take stock. Three of Hahn's departments are under investigation. He lost four top deputies in a major bloodletting earlier this year. He's been essentially invisible for most of his tenure. What's an incumbent to do in an election year?
|
|
Spend his time and our tax dollars on a feel-good publicity stunt at a popular, high-profile radio station that's likely to give him the kid-glove interview treatment in addition to plenty of almost certainly fawning exposure.
Don't get me wrong, I love the show, despite flaws pointed out by other LAVoice users. I listen to it almost daily, and I enjoy most of their bits. They manage the tough balancing act of being cool without acting cool, and It's tough to remain fresh and entertaining year in and year out when your playlist is limited to the six or seven thuddingly similar bands the program manager wants to hype.
I'm predicting an easy ride on KROQ for Hizzoner. Kevin and Bean et al will let Hahn make his proclamation and then - in a way that they've been able to do with other "celebrity guests" - slip a few zinger questions in among the general bonhomie and gently rib him about his answers.
But if they had the stones, Kevin and Bean and Ralph and all would graciously accept the proclamation, and then ask Hahn what the hell he's been doing for the past three years to earn his keep. Better that than letting themselves be used as shills for a man with no discernible agenda beyond getting re-elected.
Sure, Hahn helped stop the ruinous secession movement.
But apart from his mystifying advocacy for the completely unnecessary LAX expansion, it's pretty obvious Hahn's done little else - He hasn't stopped the city's economy from hemmorhaging money due to runaway film production, he's generally ignored the communities and issues that made his father beloved by many of his constituents and face it, he's a klutz in the clinches.
The city deserves better than a glad-handing paper tiger.
Come on, Kevin and Bean: Don't wimp out. If nothing else, it would make for some damned exciting radio.
UPDATE:
It was a love fest. Really, nothing more should have been expected.
They fawned. They joked. It was audio entertainment, which is what KROQ does best.
Ray Romano comes on, joshes and jokes a bit, leaves.
His honeyed voice and media sensors fine-tuned for the experience, Hahn throws in a few "hip" references to the Psychedelic Furs and his bass-playing teen son's love of the White Stripes, and then puts up with a handful of "hardball" questions: Kevin: I was reading some story in the paper today, I couldn't even finish it, it was so dull, but I think it was something about the Airport Commission - How much of your job do you have to just sit there and go, Aw, I can't believe this sucks so bad!'?
Hahn: A lot of the time it is dry, but then I get to do fun things like ... ... and then he mentions a few publicity stunts such as helping to emcee a KROQ-sponsored concert in San Pedro on Saturday with Tami Heide.
Break for traffic.Bean: How about these backups, can you do anything about them?
Hahn: Well, we are trying to get people to drive more carefully.
Insert commercial break, then KROQ's typical heavily overproduced bumper segment with announcer's fruity voice extolling "Kevin and Bean Day."
And then comes the slip:
In the midst of describing and then reading the wordy, mirthful (and apparently exquisitely calligraphed) proclamation, Hahn intones something like , "... and whereas Kevin and Bean have received the Key to the City of Las Vegas and have claimed they received nothing from the city of Los Angeles ..."
So there it is. You can look at it one of two ways: a) The mayor is beholden to a couple of deejays; or b) he took advantage in election season of a prime public-relations opportunity to reach a mass audience with a simple feel-good imprint of the incumbent's name and identity - for free.
They wrap with a "call-in" by KROQ's Gov. Schwarzenegger sound-alike, a few more yuks, mugs, t-shirts and city-seal-branded watches all around and a "thank you very much," and it's done.
Your tax dollars at work, Los Angeles. Remember this come Election Day.
|
|
|
|
|
| |
| Posted by: mack_reed on Thursday, May 20, 2004 - 08:41 AM
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
