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'''John Ziegler''' (born [[March 28]], [[1967]]) is an American [[Talk radio|radio talk show]] host and documentary film writer/director.
'''John Ziegler''' (born [[March 28]], [[1967]]) is an American [[Talk radio|radio talk show]] host, professional douche bag, and documentary film writer/director.


Ziegler's most prominent work in radio has been as the evening (7-10 PM) host of a radio talk show called ''The John Ziegler Show'' on [[KFI (AM)|KFI]] AM 640 in [[Los Angeles, California]] from January 12, 2004 until November 13, 2007.<ref name=kfiwebsite>[http://www.kfi640.com/main.html KFI AM 640 website] (retrieved May 19, 2007)</ref> [[Talkers Magazine]] listed John Ziegler as number 54 on their "Heavy Hundred" list of the most important U.S. radio talk show hosts in 2007.<ref>[http://www.talkers.com/main/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=19&Itemid=44 TALKERS magazine article featuring the list of "Heavy Hundred 2007"] (TALKERS magazine site retrieved April 15 2007)</ref>
Ziegler's most prominent work in radio has been as the evening (7-10 PM) host of a radio talk show called ''The John Ziegler Show'' on [[KFI (AM)|KFI]] AM 640 in [[Los Angeles, California]] from January 12, 2004 until November 13, 2007.<ref name=kfiwebsite>[http://www.kfi640.com/main.html KFI AM 640 website] (retrieved May 19, 2007)</ref> [[Talkers Magazine]] listed John Ziegler as number 54 on their "Heavy Hundred" list of the most important U.S. radio talk show hosts in 2007.<ref>[http://www.talkers.com/main/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=19&Itemid=44 TALKERS magazine article featuring the list of "Heavy Hundred 2007"] (TALKERS magazine site retrieved April 15 2007)</ref>

Revision as of 16:07, 12 June 2009

John Ziegler (born March 28, 1967) is an American radio talk show host, professional douche bag, and documentary film writer/director.

Ziegler's most prominent work in radio has been as the evening (7-10 PM) host of a radio talk show called The John Ziegler Show on KFI AM 640 in Los Angeles, California from January 12, 2004 until November 13, 2007.[1] Talkers Magazine listed John Ziegler as number 54 on their "Heavy Hundred" list of the most important U.S. radio talk show hosts in 2007.[2]

Working with film producer David Bossie of Citizens United, Ziegler was the co-producer, writer and director of a documentary entitled Blocking The Path to 9/11,[3] which premiered in August 2008.[4][5] Following the November 4, 2008 U.S. presidential election, Ziegler announced that he was working on a second documentary called Media Malpractice... How Obama Got Elected.[6]

Biography

John Ziegler was born in a U.S. air base in Heidelberg, Germany,[7] and grew up in the small village of Washington Crossing, Bucks County, Pennsylvania. In 1985, Ziegler graduated from the Catholic Holy Ghost Preparatory School located in Bensalem, Pennsylvania.[8]

Concerning his family's religious background, Ziegler has stated that he "grew up in an incredibly, very strict Roman Catholic family on both sides, my mother and my father's side. I've got numerous aunts who've been in the convent. I went to Catholic highschool, Catholic college, as did almost all of my relatives, so, I mean, I'm very steeped in Catholicism".[9] Ziegler is, however, an agnostic,[10] referring to himself as a "recovering Catholic",[11] and "not at all a supporter of organized religion".[11]

After graduating from Georgetown University in 1989 with a degree in Government and a minor in Theology and Philosophy, Ziegler became a sportscaster, moving his way up to a full time position at WTOV in Ohio.[8] He left the position to write a book about high school football in Steubenville, Ohio called Dynasty of the Crossroads.[12] After the book, he took a position as a sportscaster at WRAZ in Raleigh, North Carolina but was fired in 1995 after making a joke about his belief that O.J. Simpson was guilty.[citation needed] After the firing, he spent days watching the O.J. Simpson murder trial, going into depression after the verdict was returned. Ziegler has said that during this period of depression, he "had a very, very, very serious plan to kill O.J. Simpson"[13], carrying out the justice that he felt the courts failed to uphold.[14] Ziegler revealed on his November 21, 2006 KFI broadcast that he once had a romantic relationship with Kim Goldman, sister of murder victim Ron Goldman, who has also been a frequent guest on the show commenting on topics related to O.J. Simpson.[15]

He then began a career in talk radio, working at various stations before ending up at WWTN in Nashville, Tennessee, where he was later fired after having said the word nigger on the air, in, according to Ziegler, "a rather academic discussion about the way whites and blacks view each other".[16] Ziegler has explained this event as him referencing what the boxer Mike Tyson said at a press conference, where Tyson referred to himself using that word.[17] He then began writing columns for The Philadelphia Inquirer and Philadelphia Daily News and hosted a sports talk show on Comcast'sCN8Television Network, which later resulted in his winning a regional Emmy.[citation needed]

In 2002, wanting to return to radio, Ziegler was hired by Louisville, Kentucky radio station WHAS. Once again, his tenure did not last long, as during a Ask John Anything segment, he discussed the physical attributes, intimate attire, and genital grooming of Darcie Divita, a former Los Angeles Lakers cheerleader and WDRB morning television host with whom Ziegler had a relationship until Divita broke up with him. WHAS fired him on August 27, 2003, and Divita sued for $2,700,000, claiming libel and defamation of character. However, on May 24, 2005, Ziegler was found not liable for damages as Divita was deemed a public figure by virtue of being a television personality. The case is currently on appeal.

Subsequent to his experiences of being fired and sued for saying what he believes was the truth, he has authored another book, The Death of Free Speech,[18] which claims that American discourse has suffered because of political correctness, and that these taboos are not consistently enforced.

In 2003, while still employed by WHAS, he joined forces with Louisville Democrat and current 3rd district Congressional Representative John Yarmuth to debate political issues on the weekly WAVE program Yarmuth & Ziegler, with Yarmuth taking the progressive side and Ziegler, the conservative side.[19] This gig lasted through November of that year.[citation needed] In 2006, Ziegler supported the Yarmuth election campaign for Kentucky's 3rd congressional district,[20] both financially and as a political adviser.[citation needed] Yarmuth won the election to Congress, defeating his incumbent Republican opponent Anne Northup.[21]

On January 12, 2004, Ziegler began work at KFI as a late evening host.[22] He moved to the 7-10 p.m. slot on February 21, 2005. On January 12, 2006, Ziegler celebrated his two year anniversary at KFI, the longest period of time he's worked at a radio station without getting fired. In November 2007, he left KFI.

Ziegler was the focus of David Foster Wallace's cover story in the April 2005 Atlantic Monthly, which explores how American talk radio works.[23]

In addition to radio work, Ziegler has occasionally appeared on Scarborough Country[24] and has written op-eds in the Los Angeles Times.[25][26][27][28]

On November 26, 2006, Ziegler filled in for Matt Drudge on his nationally syndicated Sunday night talk show. In the first segment, he played Michael Richards's tirade without editing out the "N-word".[citation needed] Ziegler also filled in for Matt Drudge on April 8, 2007.[29][30]

Off the air, Ziegler enjoys playing golf[31] and is the self-proclaimed pastor of the First Church of Tiger Woods.[29][32] Ziegler has stated that Woods is probably the best argument for intelligent design.[citation needed]

On February 2, 2009, Ziegler appeared on The View.

On June 10, 2009, Ziegler appeared on MSNBC.

The John Ziegler Show

KFI AM 640

John Ziegler was the evening (7-10 PM) host of a radio talk show called The John Ziegler Show on KFI AM 640 in Los Angeles, California from January 12, 2004 until November 13, 2007.[1]

The program was mostly news based political commentary, but it also brought up other issues such as events happening in Ziegler's personal life.[33] The John Ziegler Show was advertised as Getting it Right at Night[citation needed] and a common catchphrase that Ziegler used to describe the show was "three hours of rationality in a world of ever increasing insanity"[34].

Political commentary

As the host of a mostly news based political commentary talk show, Ziegler described himself as "more libertarian than conservative, more conservative than liberal, and more cynical and skeptical than anything else."[35] On the issue of U.S. party politics, Ziegler has said that "the only dog I have in that hunt is that the more power Republicans have, the less power Democrats have; it's the lesser of two evils as far as I'm concerned, on most issues".[36]

Recurring show segments

A regular feature of the show was Ask John Anything, a monthly call-in Q&A about his opinions on anything.[33] Ziegler has said the most frequent question he received for the Ask John Anything segment were from people who want to know why he and newscaster Leah Brandon were not dating each other.[citation needed] Other features include What Have We Learned This Week, a review of the guests and topics covered on the show in the previous week[citation needed], Sounds of the Week, a Friday countdown of five sound bytes that aired during the week and were either newsworthy or comical[37], and the banter between Brandon and Ziegler, which was often based on news stories and usually had a lighter tone than the rest of the show.[37]

On Friday April 13 2007, the John Ziegler Show changed its format to include the last hour of every show being caller-dominated (9:00pm to 10:00pm). Prior to this change, the show accepted callers only when Ziegler asked for an opinion on a given subject.[38]

"Stuck in Iraq" controversy

In late 2006, John Ziegler drew nationwide attention for being the first to criticize John Kerry for the statement that "You know, education, if you make the most of it, if you study hard and you do your homework, and you make an effort to be smart, uh, you, you can do well. If you don't, you get stuck in Iraq."[39] Ziegler had heard Kerry's speech played on a local TV station.[40] He criticized Kerry's statement on the air on October 30 and played the audio several times during that show. In conjunction with the show of October 30, Ziegler had the Kerry audio posted at the KFI website, and it was picked up by bloggers[41] and the Drudge Report[40] on its way to becoming worldwide news. Ziegler took credit for placing the story in a context that made it a major news story.[39][40][41][42]

Celebrity confrontations and interviews

2005 was a year of confrontation for Ziegler, who devoted large portions of his show playing audio of his personal confrontations with Robert Blake[citation needed], Jesse Jackson (whose bodyguard broke the KFI microphone)[43], O.J. Simpson[44], Senator Barbara Boxer[45][46][47] and Mark McGwire[48].

Even though The John Ziegler Show was not heavily guest oriented, some major political figures have appeared on the show over the years, including California governor Arnold Schwarzenegger[49] and 2008 Republican Presidential primary candidate Ron Paul.[50]

Leaving KFI

On November 13, 2007, the day after he announced his departure from KFI, Ziegler broadcast his last show. It was a review of the previous four years, focusing on illegal immigration and the upcoming 2008 presidential election and people like Governor Schwarzenegger to Barbara Boxer.

Ziegler did not specifically mention the reason for his sudden and surprising departure from the show. However, he had alluded to producing a documentary for several months prior to his departure, and he stated that the prior fourteen months had been difficult for him. In January 2008, Ziegler launched a web site, www.therealkfi.com, which detailed his story of his time at KFI, including his conflicts with KFI management and fellow on-air talent. The website has since been taken down though it is still available through the Internet Archive[1].

KGIL 1260 AM

In June 2009 Zielger announced on his website that he would begin work as a talk show host on Los Angeles news/talk radio station KGIL 1260 AM.[51] The show will begin airing Monday June 8 2009 and run from 11 AM until 1 PM. weekdays.[52] After leaving KFI in 2007, Ziegler has previously delivered on air commentary and was a fill in host on KGIL for a relatively short time.

Documentaries

Following Ziegler's departure from his work as a radio talk show host on KFI AM 640, Ziegler was involved in two documentary film projects.

Blocking The Path to 9/11 documentary

In August, 2008, John Ziegler and producer David Bossie of Citizens United premiered a documentary co-produced, written and directed by Ziegler entitled Blocking The Path to 9/11,[3][4][5] which revisits the political controversy behind the ABC docudrama miniseries The Path to 9/11.[53] Through interviews with the Path to 9/11 filmmakers and others, news clips regarding the controversy, and footage from the miniseries itself, the documentary makes the claim that Disney/ABC ultimately shelved plans to release a DVD of the miniseries as a result of pressure from the political left, specifically the Clintons themselves. As noted in the documentary, Disney/ABC denies this and claims the move was merely a business decision.

Media Malpractice documentary

Shortly after the November 4, 2008 U.S. presidential election, Ziegler announced that a documentary titled Media Malpractice: How Obama Got Elected was in production (the full title was later changed to Media Malpractice: How Obama Got Elected And Palin Was Targeted). The film is about how the liberal bias in the media led to fawning coverage of Barack Obama and his campaign, leading to voters being uninformed about his positions and past actions.[6] A preview clip on YouTube of the documentary had garnered over 1.8 million views by the end of 2008.[54]

Nate Silver of FiveThirtyEight.com has criticized the polling methods employed on Ziegler's behalf in making the argument presented in the documentary.[55] Ziegler was interviewed by Silver on November 18, 2008, about this matter. (see partial transcript)[56] The polling firm Zogby International initially issued a statement defending its work.[57] After receiving more criticism, however, John Zogby, the polling firm's founder, stated that "I believe there was value in the poll we did. I also believe it was not our finest hour. This slipped through the cracks. It came out critical only of Obama voters".[58] Ziegler responded to this by saying "I’m outraged. I find this amazing. There was nothing wrong with the original poll. I’m the exact same person I was last week. The left-wing blogosphere basically demanded this."[58] Carl Bialik of The Wall Street Journal "The Numbers Guy" blog and Mark Blumenthal of Pollster.com called the poll "misleading".[59][60] The WSJ blog quoted Zogby as stating that he was on a book tour when the contract was reached and the survey was conducted, and he would not have approved the poll in the form that it took.[59]

Ziegler commissioned Wilson Research Strategies to repeat the poll. This poll, conducted November 23-25, 2008, featured the same 12 questions asked in the Zogby poll. McCain voters scored better than Obama voters on most questions.[61]

Remarks at a 2007 California campaign event

On December 1, 2007, one day after a peacefully resolved hostage situation at a Hillary Clinton campaign office in New Hampshire, Ziegler made the following remarks while introducing Fred Thompson at an event in California: "In case you missed it, some nut job broke in (Clinton's campaign office) and took hostages and apparently threatened to blow himself up unless he got a chance to speak to Hillary. Now, I found this rather odd because I always feel like blowing myself up after I hear Hillary Clinton speak". FoxNews.com described the remark as "unfettered nastiness" and a sign that things were back to normal on the campaign trail after the hostage situation was resolved peacefully.[62]

The New Dating Story

Serveral of John Ziegler's comments during his appearance on the reality television show "The New Dating Story"[63] have been called "misogynist"[64].

Someone who's informed and is rational...which I realize is kind of an oxymoron for women. It's true. Ideally, you find (a woman) with a manageable degree of irrationality.[65]

Ziegler has defended his commentary by saying the television show may have been edited to misrepresent him.

References

  1. ^ a b KFI AM 640 website (retrieved May 19, 2007)
  2. ^ TALKERS magazine article featuring the list of "Heavy Hundred 2007" (TALKERS magazine site retrieved April 15 2007)
  3. ^ a b Blocking The Path To 9/11 - Credits, Blocking The Path To 9/11 official website (accessed September 21, 2008)
  4. ^ a b Premiere of John Ziegler's Film Announced!!, John Ziegler official website (accessed September 21, 2008)
  5. ^ a b Premiere of JZ's Film Ends With Standing Ovations, John Ziegler official website (accessed September 21, 2008)
  6. ^ a b "How Obama Got Elected". Retrieved 2008-11-18.
  7. ^ The John Ziegler Show, KFI, September 5, 2007 (7PM hour)
  8. ^ a b John Ziegler's biography at KFI AM 640 (retrieved December 1, 2006)
  9. ^ The John Ziegler Show, KFI, July 16, 2007 (7PM hour)
  10. ^ The John Ziegler Show, KFI, April 17, 2007 (7PM hour)
  11. ^ a b The John Ziegler Show KFI, May 16, 2007
  12. ^ Closson Press, 1994
  13. ^ The John Ziegler Show, KFI, April 17, 2007 (8PM hour)
  14. ^ The John Ziegler Show, KFI, April 11, 2007
  15. ^ The John Ziegler Show, KFI, November 21, 2006
  16. ^ http://www.jewishworldreview.com/0801/ziegler.n.word.asp
  17. ^ The John Ziegler Show, KFI, November 9, 2007
  18. ^ Cumberland House Publishing, 2005
  19. ^ Biography of Congressman John Yarmuth (Congressman Yarmuth's official House of Representative site, retrieved June 18, 2007)
  20. ^ The John Ziegler Show, KFI, October 25, 2006 (8PM hour)
  21. ^ CNN.com's Elections 2006 (retrieved June 18, 2007)
  22. ^ The John Ziegler Show, KFI, January 12, 2007 (7PM hour)
  23. ^ http://www.theatlantic.com/doc/200504/wallace
  24. ^ The John Ziegler Show, KFI, June 12, 2007 (8PM hour)
  25. ^ Ziegler, John: "Bipartisan Benedict Arnold" Op-Ed in Los Angeles Times, June 23, 2007 (retrieved June 26, 2007)
  26. ^ Ziegler, John: "World Cup shows their true colors" Op-Ed in Los Angeles Times, June 24, 2006 (retrieved July 27, 2007)
  27. ^ Ziegler, John: "How the liars won" Op-Ed in Los Angeles Times, November 10, 2005 (retrieved July 27, 2007)
  28. ^ The John Ziegler Show, KFI, June 20, 2007 (7PM hour)
  29. ^ a b The John Ziegler Show, KFI, April 6, 2007
  30. ^ The John Ziegler Show, KFI, April 6, 2007
  31. ^ The John Ziegler Show, KFI, May 4, 2007
  32. ^ The John Ziegler Show, KFI, June 18, 2007 (9PM hour)
  33. ^ a b The John Ziegler Show, KFI, May 14, 2007
  34. ^ The John Ziegler Show, KFI, June 27, 2007 (7PM hour)
  35. ^ The John Ziegler Show, KFI, April 4, 2007
  36. ^ The John Ziegler Show, KFI, May 28, 2007 (7PM hour)
  37. ^ a b The John Ziegler Show, KFI, July 6, 2007 (9PM hour)
  38. ^ The John Ziegler Show, KFI, April 13, 2007
  39. ^ a b The Big Story, Fox News, Nov, 2006 (on YouTube, retrieved May 18, 2007)
  40. ^ a b c The John Ziegler Show, KFI, October 31, 2006
  41. ^ a b The John Ziegler Show, KFI, October 30, 2006
  42. ^ The John Ziegler Show, KFI, Jan 1, 2007 (9PM hour)
  43. ^ The John Ziegler Show, KFI, May 2, 2007
  44. ^ The John Ziegler Show, KFI, August 1, 2007
  45. ^ John Ziegler's editorial My trip to Barbara Boxer's Alito press conference (January 25, 2006)
  46. ^ The John Ziegler Show, KFI, June 21, 2007 (7PM hour)
  47. ^ The John Ziegler Show, KFI, Jan 1, 2007 (7PM hour)
  48. ^ The John Ziegler Show, KFI, Jan 9, 2007 (7PM hour)
  49. ^ The John Ziegler Show, KFI, June 19, 2007 (8PM hour)
  50. ^ The John Ziegler Show, KFI, September 11, 2007 (7PM and 8PM hours)
  51. ^ John Ziegler website (accessed June 7, 2009)
  52. ^ John Ziegler, KGIL 1260 AM (accessed June 7, 2009)
  53. ^ “Who Was Blocking ‘The Path to 9/11’?” by Jeffrey Ressner http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0808/12671.html
  54. ^ http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mm1KOBMg1Y8&feature=related
  55. ^ Nate Silver, "Zogby Engages in Apparent Push Polling for Right-Wing Website, FiveThirtyEight.com, November 18, 2008.
  56. ^ Nate Silver, "An Interview with John Ziegler on the Zogby 'Push Poll'," FiveThirtyEight.com, November 18, 2008.
  57. ^ John Zogby, "Zogby Statement on Ziegler Poll," Zogby.com, November 18, 2008.
  58. ^ a b http://www.politico.com/news/stories/1108/15829.html
  59. ^ a b http://blogs.wsj.com/numbersguy/zogbys-misleading-poll-of-obama-voters-459/
  60. ^ Mark Blumenthal, "Zogby's Misleading Knowledge Test," Pollster.com, November 18, 2008.
  61. ^ Wilson Research Strategies survey: Controversial Zogby Poll Duplicated and Confirmed Presidential Campaign Media Coverage “Creates Two Americas”, Wilson Research Strategies (accessed February 16, 2009)
  62. ^ http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,314502,00.html
  63. ^ http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1305635/
  64. ^ http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&safe=off&num=100&q=%22John+ziegler%22+dating+show&btnG=Search
  65. ^ http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RQqLPJvk3gM

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