TRICK OR TWEET
Radio voices fumble social media topic
BIG-mouthed public figures who mess with Twitter often deserve each other.
Take a wild guess at who said this on the air in 2012: “That athletes, broadcasters and media people are allowed to tweet should be against the law, OK? Should be against the law, because no one needs to hear from any of them.
“But the bottom line — including me; you’ll never catch me tweeting. Never. If you do you’ve got a scoop ... I have no interest. You will never ever see me utilize that medium. Never. It will never happen.”
That, of course, was Mike Francesa — courtesy of relentless Francesa chronicler and hot wind storm-chaser Funhouse — who has returned to WFAN from his dishonest, back-fired bluff “retirement” eager to tell everyone he’s now on Twitter.
Wednesday, on ESPN Radio-NY, Francesa’s slot-to-slot opponent Michael Kay reinforced the notion that he has thin skin, is quick to anger and actually looks for something — anything — to angry-up his blood.
Kay read a just-in tweet on the air that was critical of him, yet it was just some half-decipherable childish put-downs — new-media vandalism best ignored.
Yet, Kay, with so many better things to discuss, erupted as if he’d been defamed by someone of significance and magnificence.
If Kay thinks that makes good radio, it doesn’t. It makes revealing, awkward, uncomfortable radio. And he not only allowed the gratuitous put-down vandal to win, to get his goat — and goad the rest of his barnyard animals — he invited more such tweets from others.