Steve McCoy with his former radio co-host Vikki Locke. CREDIT: Jennifer Brett
By RODNEY HO/ rho@ajc.com, originally filed Friday, October 16, 2015
Steve McCoy was let go from NewsRadio 106.7 Friday following his admittance that he “recycled” an old Donald Trump interview and advertised it as new on Tuesday.
Program director Greg Tantum released this statement this morning:
“For obvious reasons Steve McCoy no longer works at the station. Cheryl White, Drew Nelson and Randy Wyles will continue to provide Atlanta with a high energy news product that accentuates breaking news as well as in depth coverage on the top stories.”
McCoy, who couldn’t comment after his departure, told Buzzfeed Thursday that he had an interview set up with the presidential candidate on this past Monday but it fell through.
He decided to use the old one. But instead of just saying it was an interview from many years ago when he was working at Star 94, he made a few changes to make it sound current. He then told a Buzzfeed reporter who tracks Trump and heard the interview that Trump’s handlers had prevented him from asking policy questions, which is why there were no questions or answers related to his presidential bid.
But Trump’s people caught wind and said McCoy did not talk to Trump on Tuesday. The truth eventually came out and it ultimately cost McCoy his job.
Yesterday, after the station suspended him as they investigated the situation, McCoy’s former co-host Vikki Locke revealed to my colleague Jennifer Brett that he has Parkinson’s Disease.
McCoy, as noted in previous stories, is not a journalist. He’s an entertainer.
Atlanta-based Cumulus Media hired McCoy in March. He had been a long-time morning host on pop stations in Atlanta, a Georgia Radio Hall of Fame inductee, but he hadn’t been on air in the city for five years.
By coincidence, I was having lunch with McCoy earlier this year when he got a call from the radio station. A few weeks later, he was on NewsRadio 106.7 doing something different from what he’s ever done before: hosting a news program.
The station has been struggling to build ratings since it debuted in May, 2012 first as a full-time news station. It has since become a hybrid, with a mix of news and talk with a few infomercials thrown in on weekends. It remains far behind News 95.5 and AM 750 WSB and 90.1/WABE-FM in listenership.
I don't see how he lasted as long as he did.McCoy is so yesterday, his jokes were pitiful. Cheryl, Drew and Randy are just fine without him and the station can save some much wasted money also.
Maybe Steve McCoy should have took a page out of Kim Peterson's book and did that interview as a "newsmaker line" interview.
Steve McCoy should have known better as a broadcast professional. Very stupid move on his part.
Talk about being stuck on stupid. How he ever thought he would get away with this stunt proves
'stupid is as stupid does'
Cumulus is going down anyway. Best to get out.
@TaxiSmith ...so true!
Say hello to Larry Wachs on your way down the ladder Steve.. I mean Phil or whatever your name is....
McCoy was about as exciting as a can of cheap soup.....very bland.
Duh!!
If all radio and news commentators were fired for fabricated lies the airwaves would go quiet.
maybe steve can hookup with a job on 790 the zone---he knows sports!---and they need to bring back the stews!
@SurfConcept If they bring back the Stews, they need to hire an Ebonics translator as well.
What exactly is a "high energy news product?" What the fugg does that even mean? What happened to REPORTING the NEWS???!!!
Can Greg Tantum fire himself? Have you heard him on the afternoon news, simply awful, stumbling over his words, mispronouncing names, it's really difficult to listen to. And then they have the traffic guy Greg Talmage doing double duty doing the news at noon. I really had hoped 106.7 would give WSB a run for their money and give listeners a real choice when it comes to getting their radio news, but sadly they just haven't been able to pull it off.
Totally as expected. Both the print and broadcast media are absolutely terrified of Donald Trump, because he cannot be bought or bossed. That's why it almost makes them sick to have to report that he indeed just may be elected 45th president of the USA..
@RomanLegions
Wrong blog, dimbulb.
I think this was the only possible outcome. For those radio people out there, is this news worthy enough for 106.7 to report on their own news. I would be curious to see how they cover it. If this happened to a local tv station or a national radio host it would be reported.
Kim Peterson's show (12:00-3:00 p.m.) ROCKS !!! (Sorry if I misspelled his name)
Good, that idiot needs to go. And take that other fool with him.
Here's the problem. He's on "News Radio" 106.7 which puts it on a different level. Things you can pass off on an entertainment morning show won't fly on a news show. When he flat out lied about it, he signed his ticket out the door.
@Verylucrative LMBO!!!!
The problem with radio is that it's all corporate now. There's nothing fresh, original, or interesting about any of it. Boardrooms decide what gets aired based on profit models and what recording industry execs want pushed. Gone is the day when music became popular because some DJ decided to play something different and listeners liked and requested it again.
As for the "talk" and the "schtick" they sell as "news" or "comedy," it's even less organic and more fabricated than the overproduced garbage they're passing off as music. And they wonder where the magic went?
Wow, I'm really going to miss...what was it he did again???
@lewis71 I wouldn't believe everything you hear
@lewis71 NEVER HAPPENED! WOW, LEWIS71 YOURT STATEMENT MADE ME LAUGH OUT LOUD...I NEVER HAVE EVER TAPED OR TOLD ANYONE TO TAPE ANYBODY AT THE PUNCHLINE,GIGGLES, SLAPPYS,OR ANYWHERE. FIRST WE ONLY COULD HAVE NONE INTERN AND THEY ALWAYS ANSWER THE PHONE FOR US..THATS IT MY FIREND, SO WHOEVER THIS "PRODUCER" IS THAT YOU KNOW--BE BOOD ENOUGH TO EMAIL WHO IT IS(stevemccoy2010@gmail.com) ,OR GET HIM TO CALL (my number's been the same since before star days ) ME OR EMAIL ME, SO I CAN HEAR IT FROM HIM. UNFORTUNATELY I DID WHA I DID, AND APOLOGIZED FOR T, IF YOU WANT A FINGER OR A HAND FROM ME COME AND TAKE IT,BUT I'M MOVING ON TO GETTING MY HEALTH BACK.
Steve McCoy
Brian Williams, is that you?
Now how will people get their daily dose of extreme boredom ?
While Steve made a bad judgement call, I don't think he should have been fired. That said, I think the bigger picture here is that Cumulus Media corporate saw an opportunity to make a change and used this as the vehicle to make that change. I believe that Cumulus probably had wanted to make the change long about August or September when they saw the ratings not doing what they expected. A news operation is one of THE most expense to run. Cumulus Media is in the midst of major corporate changes and is looking in every corner to save money to avoid a possible Chapter 11 filing. There stock is under a $1 a share. The new CEO will have to make major changes or risk a total collapse of the company. Too bad they had to use Steve to try and mask the bigger picture of a failing radio station.
@RadioCoach Too bad such a seasoned professional did such a stupid thing.
@RadioCoach Totally disagree. If Cumulus wanted to fire him they would have. They have a history of firing people locally even if they didn't complete their contract. A person who's job is to tell news can not fake it. Cumulus has it's own issues.
Being in the radio industry (in some way) for most of the past 22 years (presently hosting a show on biz1190 4-6pm in ATL and 9-11pm on AM920 here in ATL), I regret seeing anyone fired. That included Dan Rather, Brian Williams and now, Steve McCoy. They are all human and each of us have our flaws. I'm rather confident that my strength is truth-telling. I have opinions, and many on the Left may not agree with them, but I will never "make stuff up." The oddity here is that it's hard for us local talk people to get the Prez campaigns to talk to us (except Ben Carson was just on my show), because they are constantly on national TV shows. I'm happy that the ratings are holding for the big Nationals while they have the Pols on the shows. That means people are paying attention and that is good for all of us. As to this matter, a fake, funny interview, of the likes of the one I"m doing today would have been fine. The timing of the release of his health news is sad if not jaw-dropping. That aside, I'm deeply sorry to hear of that and I pray he becomes a positive advocate contributing to awareness and even a cure of the disease. Steve McCoy was the reason my wife originally got into radio and from that I met my wife in Radio, years later in Charleston, SC before she (and I) came back to Atlanta. Realizing that McCoy likely peddled this fake interview, knowing he was breaking every ethical barrier, I choose to immediately forgive him as he has done many great things in and for Atlanta. I'm also not going to judge nor beat up his parent station, Cumulus as they have to make decisions based on what they think moves them forward. BUT HERE'S WHAT I KNOW: We've got to stop judging people's hearts on things like this. He made a terrible judgment error just as Brian Williams and Dan Rather did. Brian and Steve admitted it; and that should be enough. So long as there is not a pattern of continued lies, we can live with it. Dan Rather continues to try to mute his unethical actions and of the three, I'm now (as a result) glad he was fired. Lie once, admit it. I can get over it. Lie twice, I don't care. Most of the media lies for one of two reasons. 1. They are intellectual slobs and don't want to do the work it takes to find the truth. AND/OR 2. They simply have no journalistic skills nor the discipline to sit down for what could be hours to answer one simple questions. As a result? They make stuff up to finish the story. This one observation is contributing to the great divide our Country is progressively experiencing.
@Bryan Crabtree Show Go back 2 russia!
@Bryan Crabtree Show the great divide in our country is caused by the alleged progressives. Progressively WORSE! PC ism running rampant, immoral behavior, Muslims running amuck, people demanding reparations, rioting, illegals entering the country and given a prize, others causing racial unrest, etc. It is utter CHAOS. All we need is Maxwell Smart.
@Kickass
I'll pray for you.
Never heard of it.
interesting timing on the Parkinson's announcement
I don't know how I'm going to go on!!
By his own admission, McCoy is an entertainer, which in itself is subject to debate, not a journalist or news personality. I blame both him & the station management. McCoy failed to appreciate the major difference between Top 40 & news format. Moreover, by hiring him, the station management failed to maintain whatever news integrity that it was trying to maintain!
McCoy's release *may* not be the end of this story.
@SavorTheFlavor entertainer? hmmm in History of the world, they called it BS er.(BS artist)
@SavorTheFlavor There'll never be another Wolfman Jack.
@Kickass @SavorTheFlavor DId you BS today? Did you TRY to BS today?
The far right wing media exposed again for fake news stories. This on the heels of FoxNews forcing to admit that its main CIA spokesman never served in the CIA.
Just proves the point- the higher educated one is- the less likely they are a republican. Average education level of a republican (according to Pew Research) is the 6th grade. Democrats is the 11th grade. Amazing how stupid guys like McCoy thinks republicans are that they would fall for it.
@T Bone9760
Who does he think he is, Dan Rather!
@WTF @T Bone9760 No, Brian Williams
@T Bone9760 Huh? Kinda like Dan Rather and his stories? Or Brian Williams and his war stories?
@T Bone9760 Yeah all the inner city ghetto Democratic voters are rocket scientists
@T Bone9760 Steve McCoy is far right wing? And how did any wing benefit from his stupid decision? You're a special kind of paranoid, aren't you?
@newshound65 @WTF @T Bone9760 Brian Williams used to be Dan Rather. True story, according to Brian Williams.
He got what he deserved. Trying to do what he did was completely stupid. Must be a lot of pressure at that station to bring about something this outrageous.
I see Heave was let go at 106.7.