Mark Shannon passes away

[dedndcrusr]

Besides if he was just a milktoast nice guy, how many people would listen? very few.

Actually I remember to listening to Mike McCarville several times and thinking what a kind and considerate person he was. If you disagreed with him he was always respectful. Shannon, on the other hand, would lay into anyone, dead or alive, to prove his point.

[Uncle Slayton]

The guy achieved very little in life. It's pathetic that he's held up by some on this board as some kind of martyr. What a joke.

He made ratings on radio by saying outrageous and hateful things. Courage? Not even a scintilla. He did it for the money.

He stood for nothing, and had people convinced he was a man of principle. Then again, he did stand for something, money.

In the Oklahoman article, he was praised for being great at radio.

His wife was quoted as saying he was right with Jesus, but the guy clearly didn't pick up much from the Gospels.

Whatever, the guy leaves the earth without contributing much to anyone besides himself and his ability to earn ratings.

And he's probably smiling from above (though I'm not sure he possessed the grace or understanding to gain entrance), knowing yet again he's the subject of our conversation.

I don't want to slag the guy, but I see no point in glossing over the fact that he was a major-league a-hole in general. Can we, or should we, forget that?

I will say that I was surprised that someone who was facing what he was facing could remain such an embittered, selfish jerk throughout the ordeal, but he certainly found a way to pull it off.

And you're piling up what sort of accolades yourself, again, douche? I'm an atheist, but I do wish this biblically for you, that all the bitterness, rancor, jealousy, and the other mean spirited crap you posted comes back to you 'pressed down, shaken together, and running over.'

F'in moron. "I don't want to slag the guy, but...", then proceed to do just that. You're like this creep we used to have at work, ultra pious "Christian" type who loved to make filthy sexual innuendoes, but always prefaced them with "I don't mean to be vulgar/crude/dirty, but..."

To close with a quote from The Hangover: "You're a dick."

[Midtowner]

not in my book. rick and brad are leagues better than him.

If you value fart jokes over discussion of politics and current events, fantastic. I really wouldn't include the two in the same genre. Shannon was infotainment (at least in his latest incarnation) and Rick and Brad are entertainment.

[TaoMaas]

Sometimes you have to follow that old grandma advice.... If you cannot say something nice, just keep your mouth closed and go about your business.

Somebody should have given Mr. Shannon that very advice while he had a forum that he could have used to better the world instead of divide it.

[possumfritter]

The next time some of you folks complain about what's wrong with America, just come back here and read every word you wrote about another human being passing.

Shame on you!!!!!

[soonerguru]

This is hilarious. We're talking about the guy who suggested burning Mayor Cornett's house down. Classy personal attacks and namecalling, Uncle Slayton.

[drum4no1]

not in my book. rick and brad are leagues better than him.

Wow seriously, all they do is talk about reality tv.

[krisb]

He was an unethical public figure who used his show to spread bigotry, which I guess he felt there was a demand for in OKC. No doubt about it.

But I hope that he had a good life, a positive family life, and things in his life besides his show that gave him joy. Everyone deserves joy and everyone deserves to RIP. Nobody deserves to have "God works in mysterious ways" written about them after passing.

Best of luck to Shannon, and you can't help but feel for the family..(if there was one)

All human life is deserving of respect and there are many who knew and loved him beyond his radio persona. Let's hope that we can learn from his courage to challenge the status quo, while avoiding the mistakes of expressing divisive viewpoints with little factual basis.

[Uncle Slayton]

This is hilarious. We're talking about the guy who suggested burning Mayor Cornett's house down. Classy personal attacks and namecalling, Uncle Slayton.

In your case, it's not so much namecalling as "truth in advertising."

[mecarr]

If you watch the recent interview he did with News 4 then you can see where he commented about the mean comments he received by people saying "you deserve this." He said that those comments were hurtful, but that he'd probably say the same thing about other people he didn't like. Look, this guy would probably open a bottle of wine and celebrate if Obama died, so I don't feel bad for any mean comment he receives on this board.

[oneforone]

If you watch the recent interview he did with News 4 then you can see where he commented about the mean comments he received by people saying "you deserve this." He said that those comments were hurtful, but that he'd probably say the same thing about other people he didn't like. Look, this guy would probably open a bottle of wine and celebrate if Obama died, so I don't feel bad for any mean comment he receives on this board.

That makes about as much sense is "Everyone else is stealing so it is perfectly fine if I do it to."

I am beginning to think that the upstanding respectful adult is soon to become extinct.

Sometimes it's best to do the right thing even when everybody else is doing the wrong thing.

I am firm believer in fate and karma. Every ounce of garbage you throw at the world comes back at you by the truckload. The longer it takes to come back, the bigger the truck.

[rcjunkie]

That makes about as much sense is "Everyone else is stealing so it is perfectly fine if I do it to."

I am beginning to think that the upstanding respectful adult is soon to become extinct.

Sometimes it's best to do the right thing even when everybody else is doing the wrong thing.

I am firm believer in fate and karma. Every ounce of garbage you throw at the world comes back at you by the truckload. The longer it takes to come back, the bigger the truck.

This says it all and I couldn't agree more. It would be nice to end this thread at this point.

[Urbanized]

As someone who worked literally about 10 feet away from him for a while a little over a decade ago, I have a different perspective of him, I guess. I always enjoyed chatting with the guy, played golf with him a few times, including just he and I getting out there for a round or two. My personal theory is that if someone is a sorry human being, you'll see it at least once or twice in 18 holes with them. I never saw a sorry human being, any time I spent with him.

Did I agree with his on-air persona all the time? Heck no. He said some pretty nutty things, and even made me mad a lot. But personally I think most of what he said on the air was schtick, designed to create controversy and ratings. He's certainly not the only radio personality, local or otherwise, to use that as a ratings tool. Whether doing that - even for entertainment value or professional reasons - is right or wrong is an entirely different debate.

All I can say is that, in person, I liked the guy just fine. I also think most of the people here, if they knew him from the office or on the golf course instead of as a voice coming out of a box, would have felt the same way.

RIP, Mark.

[oknacreous]

Did I agree with his on-air persona all the time? Heck no. He said some pretty nutty things, and even made me mad a lot. But personally I think most of what he said on the air was schtick, designed to create controversy and ratings. He's certainly not the only radio personality, local or otherwise, to use that as a ratings tool.

Nailed it. The dude made good money riling up the local rednecks. Good for him. Hope he's resting in peace after his battle and thoughts for his family and friends.

[Steve]

As someone who worked literally about 10 feet away from him for a while a little over a decade ago, I have a different perspective of him, I guess. I always enjoyed chatting with the guy, played golf with him a few times, including just he and I getting out there for a round or two. My personal theory is that if someone is a sorry human being, you'll see it at least once or twice in 18 holes with them. I never saw a sorry human being, any time I spent with him.

Did I agree with his on-air persona all the time? Heck no. He said some pretty nutty things, and even made me mad a lot. But personally I think most of what he said on the air was schtick, designed to create controversy and ratings. He's certainly not the only radio personality, local or otherwise, to use that as a ratings tool. Whether doing that - even for entertainment value or professional reasons - is right or wrong is an entirely different debate.

All I can say is that, in person, I liked the guy just fine. I also think most of the people here, if they knew him from the office or on the golf course instead of as a voice coming out of a box, would have felt the same way.

RIP, Mark.

That's about as good an effort to define the man as any I've heard. I too knew Mark - didn't agree with everything he said (and in private I even corrected him on some things he said that simply weren't true). For obvious reasons I kept my distance during the MAPS election.
But Mark was one of the only effective "opposition" voices out there - and I'm not sure it's a good thing for anyone in power to go without being challenged every now and then.
Regardless of what you think of what Mark said, I'd suggest rethinking celebrating the death of someone so humbled in the very end (he was in tears during the KOKH interview last week).

[Doug Loudenback]

When you die, do you think there'll be a multi-page thread about it or that it'll be basically common knowledge in OKC? You don't have to agree with the guy, but he was OKC's #1 radio personality. Ratings don't lie.

In the context of the emphasized part above, I will say what I have to say about Mark Shannon and/or his death.

Ratings ... they don't lie ... what they mean and why they might be pursued in the first place and how representative they are of reality when they are presented is what I'll discuss here.

I hope and trust that none but the skin heads who may lurk amongst us would be willing to say, "Hear Hear!" for a good bit of what Mark Shannon had to say, particularly as his illness got the better of him.

Are there any here who would be willing to agree with him, for example, that extreme violence (death, arson, etc.) are appropriate means for dealing with any thing or any person with which one may have reason, good or bad, to differ?

I'm willing to give Mark Shannon the benefit of the doubt in assuming that statements which he made along those lines, particularly as his illness consumed him, were more because of his illness than he was or might have been during his more lucid moments when his mind may have been less afflicted.

Doubtless, Shannon ought never to be considered a moderate or even a temperate person. As has been said by some in this thread, much of what he had to say was possibly/probably for shock value in looking to get better ratings. But in the earlier days he would not likely have been considered an anarchist or an inciter of violence, and not one who who have suggested, perhaps even encouraged, the violent death of elected public officials with whom he disagreed.

Frankly, contemporaneously with when his statements (torching the mayor's home, etc.), his statements did not bother me since I didn't hear them as they were made ... I never tuned him in on the radio nor read much about what he said elsewhere. I just chose not to pay any attention to him. He was a non-person to me since I never took any time to listen to what he had to say on the airways ... I've long abandoned listening to KTOK, in general.

But, as you said, Midtowner, many others did. As you said, "Ratings don't lie." Many were unlike me, quite obviously, and they tuned in, and they listened.

Very obviously, I was different than the many who did tune in to Shannons' show on KTOK radio, and to that radio station I do find the fault, and therein I do find and give the despicable discredit. That fault, and discredit, goes to the radio station that exploited him and his circumstance, the once-proud venerable local radio station KTOK, those qualities being evidenced in the distant past.

KTOK knew that it had, in the lightening-rod named Mark Shannon, a person whom, if unrestrained, would make the station's ratings peak ratings. It also must have known of Shannon's health conditions which most probably contributed to the vicious and vitriolic speech, notwithstanding that such speech could easily have been taken seriously by some nut job types and actually have resulted in one or more people's death by their taking of Shannon's pronouncements seriously.

I am reminded of the movie Network.
A decent guy, Howard Beale, flipped a mental switch, was caught
the nation's emotional eye, and he yelled what
he did to the voyeuristic national public ...



Ratings skyrocketed. The network's management
then exploited him and marketed him as the "mad
prophet of the airways." But in his end, unlike Shannon,
Network's prophet began to see the truth ...



KTOK RADIO is majorly responsible for Shannon's pronouncements
in greedily benefiting from them during the period of time that his illness
affected what he had to say but always with a disclaimer that his comments
were not necessarily representative of KTOK's position.

Right. KTOK's position was: RATINGS.

As far as I'm concerned, KTOK's management is to be condemned.

I hope that Mark Shannon has finally found peace.

I hope, also, that KTOK finds a better way to make a buck than finding talk-show people with some degree of charisma and pandering to the lowest common denominator in its quest for ratings. There was a time that KTOK was a pretty classy radio station ... it would be good if it it should come to aspire to regain its lost classy status.

[Midtowner]

Doug, that ain't what sells in talk radio anymore. The vitriolic 'mad as hell' stuff is what sells unfortunately. A voice I'd love to hear again (if CHK would let him go for a few hours a day) would be Ron Black.

[mugofbeer]

Doug, that ain't what sells in talk radio anymore. The vitriolic 'mad as hell' stuff is what sells unfortunately. A voice I'd love to hear again (if CHK would let him go for a few hours a day) would be Ron Black.

I disagree with this. What sells to a certain segment of talk radio listeners is someone like Mark Shannon and his mouth. If KTOK were to go through a lengthy process of vetting, interviewing and hiring and give the person the resources to put on a first-rate, well-studied and thought out show, the ratings would be just as good. I've heard local talk radio hosts in other cities who talk not only politics, but also local current events and they can be extremely interesting when they prepare themselves.

Use this forum as an example. Not everyone is interested in every subject but there is no reason a talk radio host couldn't go down a list of issues such as we discuss on here and talk about different things. I would absolutely love to hear a local talk radio host that knows anything about business, finance and the markets - but I don't necessarily want to hear it every single day.

Variety, intelligence and interesting guests makes good entertainment, not encouraging people into acts of violence.

[Uncle Slayton]

He was a non-person to me since I never took any time to listen to what he had to say on the airways

Yet, you're very willing to ascribe and divine his intent, and even assess his medical and mental conditions as well as KTOK's motives based on having never listened to this 'non-person.'

Brilliant.

[mugofbeer]

Yet, you're very willing to ascribe and divine his intent, and even assess his medical and mental conditions as well as KTOK's motives based on having never listened to this 'non-person.'

Brilliant.

I don't listen to Howard Stern or to Rosie O'Donnell or to Rush LImbaugh or to Bill Maher but what we READ of them is often viscious, disgusting, vile garbage. Some of the things quoted on here that Mr. Shannon said on his show fit that bill. If he had a double personality that was totally different from that he portrayed on the air then his show was strictly entertainment and no substance - like pro wrestling or roller derby. I suppose he could have been like Jerry Springer - has a show that attracts the lowest common denominator but in real life he seems like a decent guy. Maybe Mark Shannon was a good guy away from work but reading what I read about his show, it makes me glad I rarely heard him.

[Lord Helmet]

I wasn't nearly enough of a right wing nutjob to listen to him on KTOK, but I do remember him from the KRXO days. Sucks that he died so young. I think we can all agree that cancer in all of its variants just plain sucks.

[MikeOKC]

Normally I would be angry at the lack of administrative moderation in this thread. However, in this case I'm glad the vile remarks, critiques, etc. before the man has even been buried, have remained. It has helped me to understand a lot of people here. I don't mean that in a good way either. I now know the grown-ups and the childish posters (regardless of biological age).

I wasn't a Mark Shannon "fan," but I knew him fairly well and am stunned to see some of the remarks in this thread. He has a family, he isn't even buried and there's vicious debate in what is basically an update thread to announce his death! As cliché, old-fashioned, whatever you want to call it, I still believe what my mother taught me, "If you don't have anything good to say about someone, maybe it's best left unsaid." While I can't claim to abide by that all the time, I can sure promise you I have never pummeled a human being at the time of their death, in their our own hometown where they have family, on a public forum, before the person has even been buried. Really, I'm shocked.

[mugofbeer]

Normally I would be angry at the lack of administrative moderation in this thread. However, in this case I'm glad the vile remarks, critiques, etc. before the man has even been buried, have remained. It has helped me to understand a lot of people here. I don't mean that in a good way either. I now know the grown-ups and the childish posters (regardless of biological age).

I wasn't a Mark Shannon "fan," but I knew him fairly well and am stunned to see some of the remarks in this thread. He has a family, he isn't even buried and there's vicious debate in what is basically an update thread to announce his death! As cliché, old-fashioned, whatever you want to call it, I still believe what my mother taught me, "If you don't have anything good to say about someone, maybe it's best left unsaid." While I can't claim to abide by that all the time, I can sure promise you I have never pummeled a human being at the time of their death, in their our own hometown where they have family, on a public forum, before the person has even been buried. Really, I'm shocked.

You are correct and I apologize.

[phinzup]

Normally I would be angry at the lack of administrative moderation in this thread. However, in this case I'm glad the vile remarks, critiques, etc. before the man has even been buried, have remained. It has helped me to understand a lot of people here. I don't mean that in a good way either. I now know the grown-ups and the childish posters (regardless of biological age).

I wasn't a Mark Shannon "fan," but I knew him fairly well and am stunned to see some of the remarks in this thread. He has a family, he isn't even buried and there's vicious debate in what is basically an update thread to announce his death! As cliché, old-fashioned, whatever you want to call it, I still believe what my mother taught me, "If you don't have anything good to say about someone, maybe it's best left unsaid." While I can't claim to abide by that all the time, I can sure promise you I have never pummeled a human being at the time of their death, in their our own hometown where they have family, on a public forum, before the person has even been buried. Really, I'm shocked.

Amen to your comments Mike. I too cannot believe the vicious, hate filled comments I have seen here concerning Mark's passing.

I am quite sure no one on the forum cares, but I am not sure I care to be a part of a group that feels the way many of you do.

[Doug Loudenback]

Mike, I agree with what you said. Even though my thoughts were more about KTOK than Mark Shannon, I should have kept them to myself.