Jorge Rodriguez Gets Shmit-Canned from WQAM
by FZ2878
Link to ArticleIt was a sad day for South Florida radio Thursday, when the listening community learned that the rumors had come to fruition, and Jorge Rodriguez, producer and longtime sidekick for the Neil Rogers Show had been “shmit” canned from 560 WQAM.The subject of Jorge’s forced departure from the show had been surfacing so often that many listeners in the audience thought that it was some kind of shtick to fill airtime. What made it even harder to believe was Neil’s claim that “Norma Can’t”, his attorney and agent had written his contract to give Neil the right to choose his own producer. Apparently Norma lived up to his name, “You Fairy!” If anyone should be fired, it should be that “Ass-clown” Norma. Of course even that would be too late to help Jorge. Aside from producing the show, Jorge had one of the toughest jobs in radio, filling in for Neil when he went on vacation or was sick from too much gut plunging at Woodbine. I remember the first time I heard Jorge filling in for Neil. I guess I had the same negative reaction many people seem to have, because I had turned in to hear Neil Rogers, not some Neil-Rogers-wannabee. But I quickly found, what I liked most about Jorge, was that he never tried to be anything at all like Neil, he was always true to himself. In fact, at least on the air, two people who worked so close together could not be more different. Follow up:The more I was exposed to the real Jorge Rodriguez, the more I realized his intelligence, and his ability to construct an argument, whether he was pro or con on any subject with well thought-out opinions. With radio, it’s hard to know what’s rehearsed and what’s spontaneous, but that is one thing Jorge and Neil have in common, they both make every delivery seem spontaneous and real. I don’t know what the future has in store for Jorge, and in these times I wouldn’t wish that anyone lose their job, especially not someone with a wife and kids. I do know he is a talented guy, and hopefully someone else will soon appreciate that talent and put him back to work. I also know that his loss is South Florida’s loss. But that’s business, if you can call how the Beasley Broadcast Group operates business. They seem to have a death wish for WQAM, with a weak signal, and a heartless GM who goes by the name of "Jolly" Joe Bell. Bell has unleashed a recent wave of firing what little talent they have left in their line up in the name of saving money. Correct me if I'm wrong, but don't you have to spend money to find and keep talent, if you want to find and keep an audience? But then Jorge always predicted it, saying almost prophetically, “If it’s good they’ll kill it, if it sucks they’ll put it on the air.” (or something like that) How right he was. The “Real”, “Fake”, William S. James, Longtime Listener, No-Time Caller These icons link to social bookmarking sites where readers can share and discover new web pages. If you have accounts on these bookmarking sites, you can post this story to share it with others.
|
