Bernie Ward
Bernie Ward (born Bernard Vincent Ward on April 5, 1951) is an American talk radio host on KGO 810 AM in San Francisco. Ward is the host of "The Bernie Ward Show," a nightly 'news talk' show that runs weekdays 10 p.m. to 1 a.m., and the three-hour GodTalk on Sunday mornings. Ward was been placed on indefinite leave from the radio station after a federal grand jury indicted the host with three counts of distribution and/or possession of child pornography.
Biography
Ward was born in San Francisco, California, USA, North America. He attended the city's Holy Name Grammar School and St. Ignatius High School, and later attended the University of San Francisco. He then studied for three years at the Franciscan School of Theology in Berkeley, obtaining a Master's degree.
Ward taught theology at Cardinal Newman High School in Santa Rosa, California. In 1981, he relocated to Washington, DC where he taught at a private school while his wife attended medical school.
Ward is a Roman Catholic and former priest of the Catholic Society which means he loves sucking the cocks of little boys of the Precious Blood order. [1]
Radio talk show host
Ward is employed at KGO (AM), where he has served as a reporter and later as a talk show host since 1992. He began as a city hall reporter, where Jerry Carroll of the San Francisco Chronicle noted on October 25, 1995, that it had become a ritual for the then-San Francisco Mayor Art Agnos to denounce him for lies at the beginning of every news conference.
In July 1994, KGO-AM-810 conservative daytime talk host Lee Rodgers (currently KSFO-560-AM) left for Seattle. The late Duane Garrett, then KGO's main fill-in host, was an attorney and nationally known Democratic strategist who'd managed [now Senator] Dianne Feinstein's successful senatorial campaign. Garrett and Ward competed openly for the slot. Garrett won. Ward inherited the full-time weekday slot when Garrett subsequently committed suicide by jumping off the Golden Gate Bridge.
San Francisco Bay Area media critic Bill Mann gave Ward the "Human Bullhorn Award" in 1995 in one of the "lows" for the year. Mann wrote: "To KGO Radio's obnoxious Bernie Ward, self-proclaimed Lion of The Left, who screams 'That's not what I asked!' repeatedly at callers among his many hectoring techniques." [1] San Francisco Examiner writer Rob Morse referred to Ward as "a talk-show pundit and pain-in-the-butt." [2]
For a brief time, Ward's talk show was nationally syndicated, but the syndication came to an end in 1997. Shortly thereafter, his contract with KGO came to an end as well, on Halloween that year. When word leaked out that KGO would not renew Ward's contract, the talk show host's supporters began protesting. In the words of San Francisco Examiner columnist Rob Morse, "The problem seems to be that KGO did a focus group on Bernie, and he was either hated too much or not hated enough, whichever it is that's bad for talk-show hosts."[3]
In 1997, when it was leaked that KGO might let Ward go from its schedule, listeners protested against this by bringing canned food to the station, highlighting his charity work for local food banks. As it happened, Ward's ratings had steadily been rising, especially with a critical demographic, women, ages 25 to 54, as he softened his rhetoric after being dumped from national syndication.[4]
In the fall of 2000, Ward upped the ante with a provocative and controversial interview of publisher Larry Flynt of Hustler. Ward had heard that Flynt accused George W. Bush of having been "involved" in an abortion in the 1970s, but the mainstream media had avoided the unsubstantiated story. Flynt later discussed this on the popular CNN program Crossfire on the October 20, 2000 program. [citation needed] Ward found that transcript, and then interviewed Flynt on his KGO radio program.
On Anderson Cooper's CNN news show Anderson Cooper 360° (July 20, 2004), regarding a concert manager pulling Linda Ronstadt from the stage after her anti-Bush comment, Ward accused some country music fans of being members of the Ku Klux Klan: "Come on, I have to go — I like country music. I have to go to country concerts where you have to bring your own sheet — I have to sit there and listen to every kind of form and redneck right fascist patriotism, and I have to sit there nobody says anything about that."[typo-ridden transcript: 'THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.' http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0407/20/acd.00.html]
On CNN on December 10, 2004, nationally syndicated conservative columnist Armstrong Williams debated Ward about the war in Iraq. Williams accused Ward of not being objective. Williams said: "We can at least give him [President Bush] the benefit of the doubt and show some support instead of being bitter, as you are, sir, because you don't like the President."[5]
Ward's distinctive style of broadcasting is defined by his use of "dead air" (pure silence broadcast on the radio). It is not uncommon for Ward to pause his speaking for as long as five or six seconds in between, or sometimes even during sentences to add emphasis to his points. While most talk show hosts and broadcasters fear "dear air", and talk constantly as a result, Ward's staccato style of speech and frequent, long pauses helped make him an instantly recognizable broadcasting figure.
God Talk
Ward is the creator and still the official host of "God Talk", a show on the topic of religion, and other related topics. [1] Ward has been placed on leave as host of the show in December 2007, pending the outcome of criminal proceedings as described below.
Personal beliefs
Views on Judaism and Catholicism
On March 16, 1996, Ward criticized the confrontational tactics of the ACT-UP at a mosque, the group being a "collection of non-partisan individuals committed to direct action to end AIDS." [2] He stated that "homosexuals had a good cause to make (against the Catholic Church)," and explained that the church encouraged homophobia and homophobic actions. The church denied this, stating that they did not encourage homophobia or resistance against homosexuals.
On December 9, 1996, Ward stated that Christianity was "morally superior" to Judaism because it was based on unconditional forgiveness. He offered apologies on his radio show on December 17 and December 18, the first being dismissed by the Jewish Community Relations Council and the second being accepted. Ward insisted that he did not have a problem with any individual religion, only with fundamentalists. [3] He later compared fundamentalist Orthodox Judaism with Nazism on September 12, 2001 but offered an apology the following day. [3]
Iraq war
On September 30, 2002, Ward appeared on CNN with Wolf Blitzer and discussed possible military action against Iraq. He commented regarding Saddam Hussein by stating that, "Hussein has not shown any threat to anyone," and that the "[[Kurds were prospering very well in the north even as al Qaeda has used some of their connections with the Kurds." [4]
Causes
Among the causes and groups Ward currently supports are the Center for American Progress; Common Dreams, a progressive organization; the Woodhull Institute for Ethical Leadership, a San Francisco based think tank and retreat for young women; and Democracy Now, an alternative media source.
He also leads a pledge drive for Thanksgiving Charities every year, which supports four charities in the bay area; [1] Sacred Heart Community Services in San Jose; St. Anthony's Foundation in San Francisco; St. Vincent De Paul dining room in Oakland; and Fresh Start in Walnut Creek. The charity drive has been going on since the late 1980s and raised over $4 million dollars. Ward also participates every year in the KGO leukemia cure-a-thon, which has raised over $13 million for research into leukemia and lymphoma causes. Ward also helped raise over $75,000 for the family of KGO host Dwayne Garrett.
Recognition
Ward has received the Scripps Howard Award for Excellence in Journalism for his investigative journalism in a ten-part series, Heaven Help Us, which explored allegations of financial and sexual misconduct of the Archdiocese of San Francisco. [1]
Child pornography allegations
According to the San Francisco Chronicle[6], "[O]n Thursday [December 6, 2007], Ward was indicted by a grand jury on two federal counts of Internet child pornography. When these charges became public the same day, he was placed on leave from the KGO lineup. [7] According to the Chronicle article, "Ward's attorney, Doron Weinberg, said that for the past three years, he and other attorneys have been trying to convince the federal government that Ward is not a sexual predator, that he was simply doing research for a book on hypocrisy in America and was not engaged in anything more." According to Ward's attorney, the talk-show host downloaded images depicting child pornography because he was "exploring the subculture. It was done for what seemed to be a good purpose." [8] Ward's attorney also stated that Bernie Ward not only downloaded child porn images but also “he exchanged them with adults who do the same thing." The book Ward is reported to have been working on has not been published. "[Attorney] Weinberg says Ward never finished the book, that the FBI raid killed the project." [9]
Federal authorities learned about Ward's activities in December 2004, Weinberg said, adding: "The fact that these events happened three years ago - and they are just being prosecuted - shows the fact that nobody believes that he is a child predator." ...
Federal authorities seized Ward's computer in early 2005, and there was no evidence of child pornography or any other impropriety, Weinberg said. [10]
According to authorities familiar with the criminal investigation, Ward is alleged to have been monitored while discussing and trading child pornography while in Internet chat rooms. [11] According to the investigative journalism team of Phil Matier & Andrew Ross of the San Francisco Chronicle, federal agents investigating the allegations against Ward offered the talk show host a plea bargain: Plead guilty and serve a five year sentence. After consulting with his attorneys, Ward rejected the plea bargain and was subsequently indicted. [12]
References
- ^ a b c d "Bernie Ward". KGO (AM). Retrieved 2007-12-10.
- ^ Goldsmith, Aleza (May 1996). "Bernie Ward show defames Catholicism". Catalyst.
{{cite news}}:|archive-url=requires|url=(help); Check date values in:|date=and|archivedate=(help) - ^ a b Goldsmith, Aleza (21 September 2001). "KGO Radio's Bernie Ward apologizes to Jews". Jewish News Weekly.
{{cite news}}: Check date values in:|date=(help) - ^ ""Radio Talk Show Hosts Debate Iraq"". CNN.
External links
- KGOam810.com — Bernie Ward's KGO Radio webpage
- About.com — 'Profiles of Popular and Extraordinary Radio Personalities: Bernie Ward', About.com
- home.att.net — 'KGO History — Some Events of the Past Decade'(Unauthorized and out of date)
- SFGate.com — 'A Limbaugh for the Left: KGO's Bernie Ward gets a national radio talk show', Jerry Carroll, San Francisco Chronicle (October 25, 1995)
- SFGate.com — 'The canning of Bernie Ward (a radio drama), Stephanie Salter, San Francisco Examiner (October 26, 1997)
- sfgate.com — Priest's misconduct story brings KGO national award.
- sfgate.com — Talk show host Ward charged with Internet kiddie porn
- abc.com A copy of the unsealed indictment.