Doug McDowell the local morning show CoffeeTalk host has a serious conflict of interest. I'm pretty sure Bill W. recognises it and I know Doug does. As people who proclaim to have Journalistic Integrity, I'm not sure why they continue to support this conflict.

Doug McDowell needs to recuse himself from interviewing Aberdeen Mayor Bill Simpson. It's disgusting how he protects Simpson during campaign seasons and even now during shows with Simpson as the guest. The conflict comes because Doug's wife is an employee at JCP and in direct supervision of Simpson who is heer manager. It's becoming apparent that Doug is so protective of Simpson because of this and Simpsons possible repocussions. To me it seems apparent, atleast.

I absolutely believe, from listening, that there must be some sort of fear behind Doug's protectiveness. I know from personal experiences with Simpson that he can be a vindictive and dispicable man. I understand in this small of a community these types of issues can become difficult to avoid but that doesn't mean we hav to put up with them.

If Grays Harbor Radio could put together an impartial morning radio show with the same format I would stop listening to CoffeeTalk altogether. And if someone says "Liev@9" is a good option, I'd just put forth that I'd rather listen to turtles mate then suffer an hour of Pat Anderson's voice and interview style.

Hey, it's just Mr. Bill's version of the good old boy network.

Live@9 and Coffee Talk are definately different animals. Live@9 is more of a Chamber of Commerce News Hour. Coffee Talk is all over the map, but provides substantially more listener contact and direction.

Yeah, the conflict is pretty apparent. If the Mayor turns a sharp corner, Doug's nose would break off. But, I still enjoy listening. It's kind of like picking a scab: it hurts, but you just can seem to stop doing it.

I have to chime in on this only in that neither are "Journalists" or would claim "Journalistic Integrity."
Doug is a talk show host, some of KBKW's talk show hosts also sell their own books on their program. KXRO's Pat Anderson is the Operations Manager of several stations, jocks on a couple, and interviews during Live@9. I can't speak FOR Pat, but I doubt he's shooting for "Journalistic Integrity" either.

Only a pet-peeve of mine because I can no longer be a "Jock" or do commercials for clients because I apparently AM a "Journalist."

However, please also read the signature, and include it in YOUR opinion of mine.

Thanks for clarifying that. But your inattention to the rest speaks volumes to me

You are correct, DeadDave. Neither Doug or Pat are held to "conflict of interest" standards on the shows and shouldn't be. It's entertainment. And, for most mayoral appearances on the show, it doesn't matter. I would think the only time it matters to me are in the interviews during the campaigns. My recollection is when the Mayor came for the campaign interview Doug did his proverbial bobble heading to whatever Bill thought was fact and argued with callers who wanted to confront the the Mayor on issues. Hannity, Bill the serial harasser O'Reilly, Limbaugh, etc. would do the same thing to their favorites, but we don't have to like it.

Outside campaign season, it's his show he can do what he wants. But, one observation, when someone confronts Bill on his appearance, Doug interjects and eventually cuts them off. But, other guests, like Gary Murrell, for instance, are left to deal with the knuckledragggers who call in because, "it makes for good radio" (actual quote).

I believe allowing the Mayor to be on the city Medical insurance is not appropriate and I feel his way of going about this has been unethical. I notice he didn't bring it forward until AFTER the election. I hope that our City Council members will stand up for the Citizens of Aberdeen and not allow this to happen. He is eligible for Medicare and if he chooses to retire from his regular full time job and give up additional benefits, he needs to do the same thing that the average citizen has to do. That is either be on Medicare or purchase a supplemental policy on his own. Why should the taxpayers pay for this? It should not be the responsibility of the City to purchase insurance on his behalf and certainly not our responsibility to purchase it for his wife.

First of all, Welcome! I'm hardly qualified to show you around the site, but this is a good group of people who are happy to throw their opinion at you

As far as the story, I think some information hasn't come out about this, for whatever reason. More details will come out next year, I can't say more because this channel isn't secure and I try to protect my sources.

Thanks. I heard about this site this morning on Coffee Talk. I like the show and I will probably equally like this site. It gives us all a place to vent and not cause TOO much damage.