Richardson accused of taking the Multi-media journalist thing too far
Last week in Chandler, Bob Richardson was arrested for allegedly soliciting male masseuses at his residences, and then using hidden cameras set up in the locations to view the footage again later.
Chandler police consider that a no-no, and as a result Richardson got the kind of attention it's safe to say he probably didn't want: subject of a news story as opposed to guy reporting on the story.
Which is how most Tucsonans remember him. Richardson spent the better part of three decades in local television news, on and behind the camera. He worked at KVOA TV 4 in the 1980s and had stints at KOLD TV 13 and KMSB TV 11 prior to that station's decision to shutter its news operation. He handled KMSB operations from a cubicle at KVOA, and it was during that time frame the station transitioned from having camera personnel accompany reporters on stories to deciding the reporters could handle that unimportant video and editing stuff themselves.
Perhaps the multi-media journalism era provided Richardson with a different kind of skill set once he relocated to the East Valley.
Not surprisingly given the length of his tenure in Tucson, he crossed paths with a lot of people who spent time in TV media in the Old Pueblo. Some of the veteran KVOA reporters respected him.
Former KVOA sports anchor and reporter Pete Delgado told the Weekly of his first news director, "Was he hard on people, yes. But I admired his old school news sense. He made people better, and he gave me a chance, and I had a pretty good career for 20 or so years."
More commonly, news of his arrest didn't seem to come as much of a surprise. Furthermore, words like "bully" were often uttered in regards to his intimidating management style, and as one co-worker explained, echoed by numerous others who encountered Richardson, "No one who ever worked for him will be shedding any tears."
Justice heads to Minnesota
KQTH FM 104.1 morning host Jon Justice has accepted a talk show role with Minneapolis owned news/talk station 1130 AM. The move is a reunion with former KQTH Program Director Andrew Lee, who now makes the PD decisions at the iheartmedia owned Twin Cities political talk format.
"After nine years its time for the next step in my career and a new beginning for not just me but my family," said Justice on Facebook. "I cant tell you how excited I am to be getting back together with Andrew Lee. But another chapter can't begin until one is finished. With that being said I wanted to say Thank You! I had a dream of doing my own talk show here in Tucson and that dream only came true because of you. Thank you to anyone who ever tuned in, called in, came to an event, emailed me, posted on one of my FB threads, laughed along with me, got mad at me or along with me, all the Friends and Fans of the show. You will never know just how much it means to me to have met so many of you, shaken your hands, talked about radio and invested any of your time in me and my life. It's has been an absolute honor and pleasure to talk to you everyday.
"I am so blessed to have been apart of your lives and to have so many amazing people support my show. I close this chapter with nothing but fond memories of both the great times and the bad. You enriched my life in ways you will never ever know."
Dino moves to KFMA
Long-time Tucson radio personality Dino has been promoted to afternoons at Lotus owned new rocker KFMA 102.1 FM.
"I need to thank my OM/PD Larry Mac for entrusting me with the responsibility of being a jerk off on the radio on a daily basis," said Dino on Facebook. "Also, thanks to Rey de Carlo, Ken Kwilosz & Jeff Murphy for believing in me as well. Plus, a big shout out to all the past & present staff at KFMA for being a pleasure to work with everyday!"
In other KFMA news, the station's Fall Ball lineup almost instantly drew strong, positive reaction. The bill, featuring Weezer and Panic! At The Disco, dramatically moved the new rocker's social media presence once announced.
"We wanted to bring a headliner to Tucson that hadn't been here before or at least for a long time," said Kwilosz, Lotus Tucson GM. KFMA's 13th annual Fall Ball is Sunday, October 16 at the Pima County Fairgrounds.
