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A D V E R T I S E M E N T
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A D V E R T I S E M E N T
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Last Dance
Regular listeners of KSCS’s Saturday night 5 & Dime show, hosted by Nadine and Rebel, may have been confused during the May 4 broadcast, when Nadine kept dropping hints. “We’re on a final mission from Hank,” she said several times, tweaking her standard on-air phrase. What listeners (and even Rebel) didn’t know was that Nadine had decided to do something few disc jockeys have done — quit on the air. “In radio, they don’t let you say goodbye,” Nadine told Static on May 6.
Some country DJs might have made “Take This Job and Shove It” their swan song. Not Nadine. “Why would I do that?” she said. “I loved my job.” She cited tension with program director Dean James, who demoted her in September 2001, shortly after Fort Worth Weekly printed a story that detailed Nadine’s battles with an abusive husband. James replaced the charismatic Nadine in the noon slot with the boring Mel, formerly of The Wolf 99.5. Some fellow radio personalities wondered if the story, which James deemed overly revealing, put Nadine (real name Terry Ehler) at odds with radio management. James reduced her workload to only the four-hour Saturday night slot, giving her a cut in pay, and a contractual inability to work simultaneously at another station. “I still can’t figure out what I did wrong,” she said. Nadine played Gene Watson’s “Farewell Party” as her final song, and then cried on the air.
Rebel will continue her noonday remote spots for KSCS. Nadine’s radio future is uncertain. “I’m talking to every radio station,” she said. “I don’t know what will happen. I love country music. I love it and I live it.”
Slim Chance
Student journalists at the University of Texas (we’re talking Austin, the Mother Ship) may not know it, but they’ve just been saved from a fate worse than going into public relations. Seems that Rich Connor, editor and publisher of the Fort Worth Business Press, asked to be considered recently when UT was seeking a new director for its School of Journalism. Short version: He didn’t make the short list. College of Communication Dean Ellen Wartella chose Lorraine Branham, erstwhile executive editor of the Tallahassee Democrat, for the post. Maybe Static is wrong. Maybe Connor, former less-than-beloved publisher of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram, would have been the kind of battle-scarred veteran who could inspire a whole generation of young investigative reporters to go out and fight the good fight. . . . Naaah.
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