Three Suspended from WPEN-FM, Philly for ‘Dwayne from Swedesboro’ Bit.  According to a report in Philly.com from writer Rob Tornoe, Greater Media management has suspended three WPEN-FM employees after the “Dwayne from Swedesboro” bit was revealed earlier this week to be phony.  Serving three-day suspensions are program director Matt Nahigian, APD and PM drive personality Jason Myrtetus, and producer Pat Egan.  In case you missed it, “Dwayne from Swedesboro” – who exhibited numerous black stereotypes – was a regular “caller” to WPEN-FM’s PM drive Mike Missanelli program.  Turns out, though, that “Dwayne” was really white producer Pat Egan and that fact was kept from Missanelli (which is why he’s not been suspended).  When the story broke earlier this week, it created intense chatter among Philly sports talk fans and discussion about broadcasting ethics and racial sensitivities among radio people.  Crosstown rival Josh Innes was so incensed, he posted a photo of an old actor in blackface with one of his tweets critical of the bit.  Innes was let go by CBS RADIO’s WIP-FM on Wednesday and only WIP management knows if that was the sole reason for his dismissal or if it was one of several factors.  Regardless, the three will return to work on Wednesday (8/31) and, in the meantime, Greater Media has some damage control to do in Philadelphia.

The Presidential Race Remains Atop the Talkers Ten^TM.  The activities of presidential candidates Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton again this week were the most-talked-about stories on news/talk radio, finishing at #1 on the Talkers Ten^TM.  At #2 during the week of August 22-26 were questions about Clinton Family Foundation donors getting access to Hillary Clinton while she was Secretary of State.  Coming in at #3 was the recent skirmishes between Iranian and U.S. naval vessels in the Strait of Hormuz, followed by the terror attack at American University in Kabul.  The Talkers Ten^TM is a weekly chart of the top stories and people discussed on news/talk radio during the week and is the result of ongoing research from TALKERS magazine.  It is published every Friday at Talkers.com.  View this week’s entire chart here.

Tags: CBS Radio, Greater Media, Jason Myrtetus, Josh Innes, Matt Nahigian, Mike Missanelli, news/talk radio, Pat Egan, Philadelphia, Talkers Magazine, WIP-FM, WPEN-FM

Category: Front Page News, Industry News