Erratic behavior form a Kansas City NPR talk show host created a bit of buzz in this cowtown for a couple of days . . .
BUT IT TURNS OUT THAT SAD STATE OF JOURNALISM IS TO BLAME FOR JABULANI LEFFALL'S ON-AIR RESIGNATION!!!
This is actually an interesting insight from Jeneé Osterheldt's EXCLUSIVE interview . . .
Former KCUR host Jabulani Leffall explains himself
Money quote . . .
“Who wants to be a journalist in this environment? ... This is not what I signed up for, and it’s certainly not what I should still be paying student loans for.”
The tale of self-discovery for somebody in their late-thirties is exceptionally poignant among Kansas City trendsetters. Kudos to Osterheldt for a BIG TIME, FIRST PERSON, ON THE RECORD interview regarding cowtown media tumult that inspired a great deal of speculation.
Maybe the guy just wasn't cutting it and wasn't qualified for the job? Yes it's that simple.
ReplyDeleteThis is his opportunity to make big buck as a self employed blogger. Snark)
ReplyDeleteDid Jeneé get a tingly feeling when his manliness enter the room?
ReplyDelete"what you do is not as important as who you are."
ReplyDeleteAh there we go with that "celebrity worship", cult of the self thingy again.
I'm a total fuck up but hey I'm somebody! I'm special!
Certainly he was intelligent enough to realize he was basically replacing Walt Bodine? This station isn't Pacifica Radio.
ReplyDeleteROFLMAO! Good one.
ReplyDeleteHe should try New York City. The only problem is there are thousands of guys with the same level of ability competing for or waiting in line for very few gigs.
ReplyDeleteExcuse me? But what did he learn about journalism in his two years of hosting a one-hour, local public radio gabfest that turned him off the entire industry?
ReplyDeleteHere's an idea: It's YOUR show. You are the host. Pick the topics you want to talk about, and invite the guests you want to talk with. In other words, do some journalism.
Or are you going to tell me that KCUR wouldn't let you do that? And it took you two years to find that out?
He could do Internet podcasts, good pay, benefits, haha, security, ha, retirement plan, hahahaha . . low overhead high profit . . bwahahahahaha!
ReplyDeleteWhat bullshit.
ReplyDeleteHere is what he told The Pitch.
“My motivations for my actions were neither premeditated nor of malicious intent in leaving KCUR. And officially, I won’t comment on my reasons for leaving or the manner in which I resigned. Further, The General Manager and Program Director and myself made a ‘gentlemen’s’ agreement not to discuss internal matters and I plan to hold up my end of the bargain.”
Not “premeditated”? So, you show up at work, on the radio with the Walt Bodine locally famous KCUR gig handed to you on the proverbial silver platter by way of your unimpeachable bona fides (*snicker*) and extemporaneously, on air, with no discernable reason, quit at the end of the show.
There was no “Malice”.
Gentlemen’s agreement my fuc*in azz.
Translation-
“After a night of smokin sherm and getting buck naked, I chased a Picanese into an alley and shaved it until it looked like Basquiat. Suffering several bites on my hang down, I doubled down on my usual dose of Oxy to kill the pain. Durring my interview with Susan Crawford (Susan Crawford, author of Captive Audience: The Telecom Industry and Monopoly Power in the New Gilded Age.) I realized that she was telepathically transmitting the numbers 666 into my head with her new HTC. It was an Omen. My boss, who looks just like Atticus Finch took a shot at me, so I quit.
I plan to spend all my time now, with Yael Abouhalkah repealing the 2nd Amendment.
Asalaam alaikum.”
He shoulda been into finding himself another job before he quit. Father of THREE! Who's paying the freight for those baby's? Doing stupid shit like this at 27 is one thing. At 37, in this economy, it's INSANE. Fifty percent of life is doing what you want to do. The other fifty percent is doing what you have to do. Cat fucked up a old thing.
ReplyDeleteOMG, another guy in the "recording industry" who writes "poetry."
ReplyDeleteCould this be more cliche?
12:29 that was funny!
ReplyDeleteLet's Review:
1) "Local media and listeners have painted him as a coward, mentally unstable, an angry black man." People understandably will speculate on the cause, when someone acts unbalanced and unfocused. This is normal.
2) "When I met him this week, he seemed none of those things. He was calm, introspective and open. All of those random criticisms and character jabs are ridiculous, he said." Well, thank you Jenee' for making my point above (see point #1). So, it would appear that his last day on the air represented an uncharacteristic change in behavior, thus the speculation.
3) "He didn't plan to quit that day. It wasn't premeditated. Instead it was the right moment. And though he wished to have departed differently, it wasn't necessarily about the public radio station." Excuse me, Jenee', but your words don't make sense and you're contradicting yourself. If he didn't plan to quit that day....then his decision was rash, impulsive, unplanned, unprovoked. It was the right moment? So, giving the traditional 2-weeks notice before leaving is simply an old-fashioned oppressive standard?
4) "Turn on CNN. You see war coverage on the big screen and, crawling across the bottom, the latest celebrity baby bump. Sensationalism is taking over."
Jenee', aside from your grammatical errors, isn't it ironic that you of all people are complaining about media sensationalism? You, who writes almost exclusively about your girlfriends, Oprah, celebrities, and other minutiae in a psychic free-association stream-of-consciousness style.
5) "Jabulani poured his emotions, his energy, his everything into his job. He became something of a local celebrity." Jenee', are you reading your own words?
"Your job is not your life, and what you do is not as important as who you are." Wait a second!! You just wrote, that Jabulani poured his emotions, his energy, his everything into his job. Jenee', please pick a direction and stick with it!
6) "When I met him at Latteland on the Plaza." And this was detail was important to include, why? Jenee', I thought you were about to start describing what both of you were wearing that day, what was the fashionable drink-of-the-day, and who you voted most popular Latteland customer!!!
7) "He knows people thinks he's nuts. The thing is, he's done caring what people think."
Jenee', that was a funny one! He wouldn't be talking to you for your article if he didn't care what others thought of him! Jabulani, who's favorite topic of conversation is oftentimes himself, who frequently tells others how great he is, who pays way TOO much time looking at himself in the mirror, CARES A LOT ABOUT WHAT OTHERS THINK OF HIM.
Good luck Jabulani, I think the music, artistic path is the right one for you.
Now all we have to listen to is Kraske. He's so fucking bland establishment that I want to stab my eyes out with an ice pick when he's on the air.
ReplyDeletelol Chuck...
ReplyDeleteGot-Dam phunny
Don't worry the next Bodine will come along. Then we can discuss pizza pockets, churches fried chicken, Jimmy Johns, and other five star dining experiences around town.
ReplyDelete12:29 - that's the funniest shit I've read all day long.
ReplyDeleteListened to him once and decided that life was not worth remaining conscious. So I took a nap.
ReplyDelete"Scoring" and interview with this NIGGER, is like scoring a case of herpes. What a joke, on himself AND the black community...
ReplyDelete*snore*
ReplyDeletewake up, bitch. Let's go have fun with hoopz
ReplyDeleteI used to look in the mirror and try to be cute. We’re taught to get an education, a job, get married and have kids and be happy. I was too scared to leave a job because I would have to answer to external pressures. I’m not trying to be cute anymore. I don’t need anyone’s approval to follow my own path.”
ReplyDeleteRead more here: http://www.kansascity.com/2013/02/01/4043384/kcurs-jabulani-leffall-explains.html#storylink=cpy
Jambo -- the kids you "fathered" deserve more than that. It is fine if you want to live the life you describe, but do not have kids. You know they can prevent that now?