WICO and Barrie Comegys

WICO and Barrie Comegys
March 12, 2009 by Cato

Much has been made over WICO-AM’s decision to allow Salisbury Mayor Barrie Tilghman to use her half hour show as a literal campaign commercial for her chosen candidate, Salisbury Councilman Gary Comegys. Much should be made of it. Delmarva Broadcasting either showed poor judgment or …

Sorry to disappoint. Given my past, positive experience with WICO, doing a little research, and after an extensive conversation with Operations Manager Joe Edwards, I am forced to conclude that there is no grand conspiracy. Edwards, et al, (in my opinion) showed poor judgment.

A little background. Barrie Tilghman doesn’t handle opposition very well. Initially refusing to be interviewed by WICO News Director Bill Reddish (perhaps because he wasn’t kissing the right part of her anatomy), the Queen of Barrieland eventually resorted to banning ALL city personnel from appearing on Reddish’s show. We now come to WICO mistake No. 1.

WICO considers itself a community station. In fact, it is. The only two spots on the radio dial currently providing any material local news and information is WICO and WSDL (SU’s public radio news station). However, WICO has a history of providing broader local content with its frequent interviews of local officials, Congressmen and state legislators and representatives of local non-profits. While I thoroughly enjoy Don Rush’s morning newscasts and his semi-monthly Delmarva Today show, WICO has become the go to source for local news and events.

WICO wanted to feature news and interviews focusing on Salisbury city government. Good idea. Unfortunately, since Tilghman banned city personnel from appearing on Reddish’s show WICO made the mistake of rewarding her arrogance and obstinance by giving Tilghman a show of her own. Not only was Tilghman given her own show, she tapes it off-site and WICO management edits it only for time.

Like many of you, I was concerned about this when it occured last year. However, after a call to the station I was placated by the promise that Tilghman would be yanked off of the air if she announed for re-election AND that the show would NOT be used for partisan political purposes.

This brings us to mistake No. 2. WICO allowed Tilghman to do a show that was little more than a 30 minute campaign ad for the Barrie Comegys for Mayor Committee. I don’t know what a half hour in that timeslot costs, but Comegys should show it as an in-kind contribution from Delmarva Broadcasting.

In all honesty, airing this piece of tripe immediately before the primary election could have cost Bob Caldwell the second place finish in the mayoral primary. It may not have. We’ll never know. What I do know is that it should not have occured.

While I had been planning on writing a piece about this since the show aired, I didn’t have time. What motivated me was an email sent to SbyNEWS’s Joe Albero from WICO’s Joe Edwards. In part, it said:


WICO has taken a very fair and balanced approach to the mayoral candidates. Your piece ignored the fact that Bill Reddish interviewed the other candidates on his show. If anything, Caldwell and Ireton may have received more airtime than Comegys.

This may be true. I don’t know how much time Bob Caldwell, Jim Ireton, and Michael Della Penna got. However, it did force me to give Joe Edwards a call.

Edwards was very forthcoming. He readily admitted that he approved Tilghman using the show to interview Comegys. He admits that he gave Tilghman her show because he wanted to cover Salisbury government and he couldn’t get her to come on Reddish’s show or rescind her ban for all city personnel.

Where Edwards and I seriously disagree is over allowing Tilghman to “interview” Comegys. Tilghman has gone on the record - repeatedly - that she supports Comegys for mayor. I believe that Comegys should have been given two choices, either allow Reddish to do the interview or NO AIR TIME. Edwards honestly believes that he was being “fair”. I believe that allowing a campaign contributor to interview you is bending over backwards to the point of breaking (and that’s putting it kindly).

It has also been argued by some that Reddish would have been harder on Comegys than he was on the others; that Bill “has an agenda”. Unfortunately, we all do. Bill Reddish’s agenda seems to be that he’s passionate about the city he lives in. However, I know that Bill Reddish can be a pretty good interviewer. I want to hear Bill Reddish ask EVERY CANDIDATE the tough questions. Yes, this even includes my friends Debbie Campbell and Jim Ireton. I think the voters deserve it, and I love a good, tough interview.

While it’s not possible to remedy the past (there are no “do overs” in electoral politics), Edwards and WICO can make sure that there isn’t a repeat. Barrie Tilghman should not be allowed to use the airtime graciously given to her for ANY campaign purpose. If she mentions the names of any candidate, positively or negatively, the show simply should not air. Sorry Bill, but you’ll have to do an extra 30 minutes on air that day. Comegys should be interviewed by Bill Reddish (or another WICO staffer) for any on-air appearance. While Tilghman may be afraid to give Reddish a crack at her, it’s my experience that Comegys isn’t going to be frightened by Bill Reddish or any one else. Therefore it shouldn’t be a problem.

Hopefully, WICO will return to its real purpose of providing news and information to the people of Salisbury and Wicomico County. Hopefully, we won’t have a repeat of a free, 30 minute commercial for the Barrie Comegys campaign. However, while I hate to disappoint the conspiracy theorists out there, I don’t think that this is as sinister as some of you seem to.

I do encourage you to express your opinion on this matter to the management of WICO. You can call Joe Edwards at (410) 219-3500 or email him at jedwards@dbc1.com.

One word of advice. Express your opinion and not your in-depth knowledge of four letter words. While I can’t claim to know Edwards well, I have a feeling that they won’t work with him any better than they do here.

EDITORS NOTE: I have been awaiting GA Harrison to reproduce this article with links but he has been too busy. Therefore I am producing it here without links in the hopes he'll have them repaired soon.