Comments on: You win, Jay Severin

By: DavidFromBrighton

DavidFromBrighton — Tue, 17 Aug 2010 18:41:06 +0000

Joe, you are proving my point about his audience. I did not call him names. He called me names. What I did is accuse him of lying and exaggerating, and I was prepared to give evidence to that effect had I gotten the chance. I didn’t even say “you’re a liar,” which could be construed as name-calling; I said “you lie.” Listen to the recordings again and tell me exactly what I said that provoked him to do “the same” to me.

By: Joe

Joe — Tue, 17 Aug 2010 18:24:30 +0000

While I admittedly enjoy Jay’s show, I was excited when you started to talk. For a long time listener, like myself, I enjoy the show the most when callers disagree. I was truly amazed that Jay gave you as much time as he did but you wasted a great opportunity by selfishly calling him names. You should have gone there prepared to argue a point with facts, in you had them. No one will respond well to name calling, which is why he did the same to you. I bummed at your lost opportunity.

By: mark f

mark f — Tue, 03 Aug 2010 15:36:01 +0000

I called Jay once. I was on hold for 45 minutes before I gave up. Part of this has to do with formatting, I know; Jay’s the star and gets the airtime, they pack in a lot of commercials (A LOT of commericals; there’s a David Foster Wallace essay about a Severin-like figure and a portion of it is about how shocked the producer and host were with the amount of advertising the audience was willing to endure. It seemed every time they pushed up the ad minutes they expected push back and got none of it), etc.

But I also have to believe that another reason for the long hold times is to throw challengers off their game. Many simply won’t be so interested to wait and will simply hang up. If you actually do get on the air, the segment that prompted your call is long gone. Most of the audience won’t even remember it, if they even heard it at all (most radio audiences only listen at specific times in the car or whatever). If you say, “I’d like to challenge you on what you said earlier, ‘X,’” he can simply say, “I never said ‘X.’” Jay is very good at this; he’ll say something like, “What I said was,” and go on a 2 minute monologue that will either make his position seem much more reasonable (he can always return to more heated rhetoric when he’s not being challenged), or will get him to a scheduled break and end your call. Or both.

It’s a no-win battle, I’m afraid.

By: DavidFromBrighton

DavidFromBrighton — Mon, 02 Aug 2010 12:10:41 +0000

I’ve C’d my A, as you suggested. Thanks for the heads up!

By: Christopher Padgett

Christopher Padgett — Mon, 02 Aug 2010 03:21:21 +0000

While I find that aging queen Jay Severin as detestable as you do, recording people on the sly is illegal in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. You must get permission from all parties involved in order to record them. You may want to pull some of the audio just to C.Y.O.A. here...

By: Greg C

Greg C — Sat, 31 Jul 2010 16:31:25 +0000

David, I of course applaud your efforts, but I am not too surprised at the results, because there is no way Jay would let someone who disagrees (or actually has the correct information instead of blatant lies) with him speak. I stumbled upon Jay’s show and WTKK a couple of years ago, and continued to listen for entertainment value, but, like your situation, I am finding the “arguments” Jay poses too boring, repetitive, and just plain ridiculous to listen that much anymore- he simply repeats whatever Glenn Beck, Limbaugh, or any other high profile right-wing fringe lunatic says. I think a key point of your story is the fact that there were a whopping 12-15 in the Hard Rock audience. That tells me that his influence is not that far reaching- I mean, that’s why his show is only on one station and not nationwide. It reminds me of when Sarah Palin and the Tea Party Express came to Boston and Michael Graham was scheduled to speak. When he was introduced to the audience, most people there had this puzzled look and were mouthing “who’s Michael Graham?” (with about 20 people who actually recognized him). It’s tough and it sucks, but the reality is that you cannot have a true conversation with someone who is not going to listen. I certainly have appreciated reading your posts and comments.