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Jay Severin

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Jay Severin (born James Thompson Severino[1][2][3] on January 8, 1951) is an American political talk radio personality on Boston's WTKK-FM (96.9)Severin was suspended indefinitely by WTKK on April 30, 2009 following a series of derogatory comments he made regarding Mexican immigrants. Greater Media, WTKK-FM's owner, has announced that his suspension will end Tuesday, June 2nd, on which date he will resume broadcasting in his customary 3:00 pm to 7:00 pm Monday-through-Friday time slot.[4][5]

Severin, a former Republican Party political consultant, who describes himself as a libertarian conservative , constitutionalist, or radical independent, worked for the presidential campaigns of George H. W. Bush (1980) and Pat Buchanan (1996) before becoming a radio talk show host and political analyst.[6] Throughout his childhood and early adult years, he was called "Jimmy Severino", and later changed his name to "Jay Severin" upon entering the world of Republican politics.

For several weeks during 2005, Severin was a contributor to the MSNBC program The Situation with Tucker Carlson, though he was originally billed as a permanent cast member.[6][7] The New York Post quoted a source which said the reason was partly his displeasure over having to commute from Sag Harbor to the New Jersey-based MSNBC studio.[8]

In September 2005, it was announced that Severin would be joining CBS Radio with a new show called "Jay Severin Has Issues". His show at WTKK, "Extreme Games", was canceled, and both parties agreed he would return to the station with his new syndicated show. However, on November 14, 2005, Michael Graham took over Severin's slot at WTKK; days later, any mention of Severin vanished from the WTKK web page.

In December 2005, WTKK [9] announced on their website that Severin would be broadcast following Michael Graham, silencing rumors that he would be moving to a competing station. During the summer 2006, Severin's syndicated radio program was heard in 48 cities across the country.

On October 9, 2006, Severin returned to his former timeslot, ending his syndication deal with Westwood One. WTKK owner, Greater Media, bought out Severin's remaining syndication contract. Despite not having a nationally syndicated program, Severin was named 53rd most important talk show host in the country. [10] Severin's current contract with WTKK runs through 2013.

Severin's has been married to the former Renee Klock since 1997.[1][11] Severin currently resides in Manchester-by-the-Sea, Massachusetts, with his wife and several Newfoundland dogs.

Controversies

No Pulitzer Prize

On 9 September 2005 during an on-air discussion of journalistic standards, Severin described himself as the recipient of the Pulitzer Prize for online journalism: "But since journalism began, and up until the time at least that I took my master's degree at Boston University -- and may I add without being obnoxious, up till and including the time that I received a Pulitzer Prize for my columns for excellence in online journalism from the Columbia School of Journalism, the highest possible award for writing on the Web -- right up to and including that in 1998, you still had to practice journalism to be a journalist."[2]

Severin has not been a recipient of a Pulitzer Prize, nor does the Pulitzer Prize have a category for online journalism. It was msnbc.com that won an Online News Association award in 2000, which was administered by Columbia University but unrelated to the Pulitzer Prize. Severin had a column that ran on msnbc.com, but the award was given for the entire site.[2]

Master's Degree Controversy

Although for a period of 25 years Severin claimed to hold a Master's degree in Journalism from Boston University,[2][12] on 27 September 2005 the Inside Track section of the Boston Herald reported that this is not the case.[13] WTKK's web site advertises that Severin "pursued a masters degree in Journalism at Boston University," yet does not state that he received such a degree.[14] In a brief autobiographical page on his syndicated show's web site, Severin says that he was surprised to learn in 2005 that Boston University had no record of his graduation, stating "... it would appear I have no degree."[12]

Comments on Muslims

During the 22 April 2004 broadcast of his show, as part of his response to a caller suggesting the United States should befriend its Muslim residents, Severin said, "I believe that Muslims in this country are a fifth column.... The vast majority of Muslims in this country are very obviously loyal, not to the United States, but to their religion. And I'm worried that when the time comes for them to stand up and be counted, the reason they are here is to take over our culture and eventually take over our country." Later during the same conversation, Severin asked the caller, "Do you think we should befriend them?" When the caller said yes, Severin responded in part, "I have an alternative viewpoint. It's slightly different than yours. You think we should befriend them; I think we should kill them."[15]

After these comments were heavily criticized by CAIR,[16] Severin responded to the criticism during his show on 26 April 2004, "[Someone listening for] any length of time longer than 10 minutes has heard me say that Muslims are not our enemies, that all Muslims are not terrorists," and also offered an apology, "To anyone who may have been offended by misunderstanding or misconstruing my remarks, I want you to know that I regret that. This is never my intention."[15]

2004 Incident with the Boston Globe

On April 23, 2004, the day after Severin's controversial comments regarding Muslims, the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) issued a press release which called for the termination of Severin's employment at WTKK. In this press release, Severin was misquoted as saying, "Let's kill all Muslims."[17] The Boston Globe subsequently ran an article on the controversy which included comments by a CAIR spokesperson. From the Globe article:

She [CAIR spokesperson] said he [Severin] then remarked, "I've got an idea, let's kill all Muslims."[18]

Two days later, the Globe printed a correction with the actual quote from the radio broadcast: "You think we should befriend them; I think we should kill them."[19]

Thereafter, Severin has disparagingly referred to the Globe as "the Boston Globe Retractor." However, the Globe never made a retraction since the article in question properly attributed the quote to CAIR. The same article mentions that the general manager of WTKK declined to comment on the alleged remarks by Severin. The Globe's metro editor stated, "There were numerous efforts to get in touch with him [Severin]" about the comments, although Severin claimed, "They made no effort to communicate with me."[16]

The subsequent correction issued by the Globe did not pertain to the article itself; the CAIR spokesperson was wrong, and the Globe corrected the spokesperson. For this reason, the Globe's metro editor said the correction should not have been worded as a reporting error.[16]

2009 Comments on Mexicans, Suspension, and Reaction

On April 30, 2009, Severin was indefinitely suspended from WTKK-FM after making derogatory comments about Mexicans in relation to the 2009 swine flu outbreak.[20][21] [22]

According to news reports and recorded audio, Severin said,

We are talking about illegal immigration. So now, in addition to venereal disease and the other leading exports of Mexico -- women with mustaches and VD -- now we have swine flu... When we are the magnet for primitives around the world -- and it's not the primitives' fault, by the way, I'm not blaming them for being primitives, I'm merely observing they are primitives -- and when you scoop up some of the world's lowest of primitives in poor Mexico and drop it down in the middle of the United States -- poor, without skills, without language, not share our culture, not share our hygiene, haven't been vaccinated... Millions of leeches from a primitive country come here to leech off you....

Now, at this particular moment in history, they are exporting to us a rather more active form of disease, which is the swine flu.[23]

Severin also accused illegal Mexican immigrants of "ruining the schools, the hospitals, and a lot of life in America," and said emergency rooms were "essentially condos for Mexicans." He later added, "We should be, if anything, surprised that Mexico has not visited upon us poxes of more various and serious types already, considering the number of criminaliens already here."[24]

Several advertisers have suspended their advertising from WTKK in the wake of the suspension, although other advertisers have stated that they would continue to advertise on Severin's show if he were reinstated.[25]

It was announced that Severin would return to broadcasting on June 02, 2009.[26]

G.U.'s, Geographic Undesirables

On January 13, 1984, Severin was quoted in a New York Times article about the opening of the ultra-fashionable Surf Club on the Upper East side of Manhattan:

"It's about time we had a place on the Upper East Side," James Severin was saying Tuesday night over the recorded sound of early 60's pop tunes. We've got to stay ahead of the G.U.'s," Mr. Severin added. G.U.'s? "Geographic undesirables, the bridge and tunnel types," he explained"[27]

Recognition

  • Placed 66th on trade journal Talkers Magazine's list of the 2007 "Heavy Hundred". The list ranks what the magazine considers the most popular, influential, or entertaining talk-show hosts from around the country.[28]. In 2008, he placed 53rd on the same list.[10]

References

  1. ^ a b ""Renee Klock, James Severin 3d"".
  2. ^ a b c d "Severin's phony Pulitzer". Retrieved 2006-12-28.
  3. ^ Save WRKO: Jimmy Severino: Nigerian Phishing Scammer
  4. ^ David Abel, "Severin suspended for comments about Mexican immigrants", Boston Globe, May 1, 2009
  5. ^ Radio Host Suspended For 'Criminaliens' Remark
  6. ^ a b ""The "Situation" with Jay Severin"".
  7. ^ ""'Situation' Severs Ties With Severin"".
  8. ^ ""What Happened?"".
  9. ^ http://969fmtalk.com/listingsentryfeature.asp?ID=396783&PT=feature
  10. ^ a b http://www.talkers.com/main/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=19&Itemid=44
  11. ^ ""On Location: The Bruins' dens"".
  12. ^ a b ""About Jay"".
  13. ^ ""Inside Track"".
  14. ^ ""Jay Severin"".
  15. ^ a b ""Radio host says remarks misconstrued"".
  16. ^ a b c Kennedy, Dan (2004-04-30). "Killing Muslims? Jay Severin's Muslim moment". Boston Phoenix. Retrieved 2009-05-09. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  17. ^ ""Boston Radio Host says Kill All Muslims"".
  18. ^ Bennett, Jessica (April 24, 2004), "Islamic group seeks firing of radio host", Boston Globe | accessdate = 05-09-2009
  19. ^ ""April 27, 2004"".
  20. ^ Abel, David (2009-04-30). "WTKK-FM suspends Severin for derogatory comments about Mexicans". Boston Globe. Retrieved 2009-05-07.
  21. ^ Abel, David (2009-05-05). "Severin's agent says he will return to the airwaves soon". Boston Globe. Retrieved 2009-05-07.
  22. ^ Koppleman, Alex (2009-05-01). "Radio host suspended; blamed Mexican "primitives" for flu". Salon.com. Retrieved 2009-05-07.
  23. ^ Koppelman, Alex (2009-05-01). "Radio host suspended; blamed Mexican "primitives" for flu". Salon.com. Retrieved 2009-05-07.
  24. ^ Abel, David (2009-04-09). "WTKK-FM suspends Severin for derogatory comments about Mexicans". Boston Globe. Retrieved 2009-05-07.
  25. ^ Abel, David (2009-05-07). "Severin's barbs on Mexicans cause dismay among some advertisers". Boston Globe. Retrieved 2009-05-07.
  26. ^ http://bostonherald.com/business/media/view.bg?articleid=1175762&pos=breaking
  27. ^ " ""Evening Hours", New York Times, January 13, 1984"".
  28. ^ Simon, Clea (2007-03-02). "Area talk hosts among biz's". Boston Globe. Retrieved 2007-03-26.

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