The Ouachita Citizen
Today is Wednesday, June 19th, 2013Subscribe Today!
Home · News · Columns · Editorials · Letters to Editor · Sports · Tempo · Obituaries · Public Notices
Main Menu
• Home
• Links of Interest
• Pictorial History
• Polls & Surveys
• Public Notices
• Read Our E-Edition
• Recommend Us
• RSS Feeds
• Search Our Site
• Site Statistics
• Story Archives
• Top 5 Most Popular
• Contact Us

Ads by Google

Current Poll
Should members of the LSU Board of Supervisors disclose who receives their scholarships?
Yes
No
Don't Care
No Opinion

View Results
Story Archives: Moon has arrived


Moon has arrived
by Sam Hanna, Jr. - posted Tuesday, March 10th, 2009 @ 11:18 pmE-mail Story E-mail Story | Print Story Print Story 
Plastered across a page in the Sunday, March 8, issue of The Times-Picayune of New Orleans was a feature article on conservative talk show host Moon Griffon.

Griffon's Monroe-based radio program is aired each weekday from 9 a.m.-11 a.m. on a host of radio stations across the state. Griffon, or Moon as he is commonly known, was dubbed the Rush Limbaugh of Louisiana long ago.

Moon's show precedes Rush's weekday program in most radio markets in Louisiana in which the two are broadcast. It's a good fit; they're both very conservative entertainers. Moon focuses on Louisiana issues; Rush hammers on the national scene.

When The Times-Picayune devotes sizable space in its Sunday edition to a feature article on one man, either the man who is the focal point of the feature has done something terribly wrong or he's doing something right. At the very least, he's been doing something worthy enough to garner the attention of the editors at The Times-Picayune. Apparently that was the case with The Times-Picayune article on Moon, which painted Moon in a positive light. I suppose it helped matters that Moon's show recently was picked up by a radio station in Slidell, across Lake Pontchartrain from the Big Easy.

The Times-Picayune article on Moon followed a similar piece written by an Associated Press reporter. The AP story was published a few weeks ago. Some newspapers in Louisiana carried it; others didn't. Needless to say, the AP piece on Moon wasn't as favorable as The Times-Picayune article, but as one of Moon's friends told him, it doesn't really matter whether the coverage was "nice" or "fair." What's important is that the reporter spells your name correctly, meaning any free publicity is good publicity. To some degree anyway.

There's more.

In a few months, Louisiana Life magazine will publish a feature article on Moon, too. In fact, Moon was in New Orleans over the weekend for a "photo shoot" for Louisiana Life. The "photo shoot" was arranged around one of Moon's speaking engagements. That's right. Moon gets paid these days to speak to civic groups and conventions and the like.

Yet, those of us who live in northeast Louisiana have been well aware of Moon for years. Remember when Moon's show aired for one hour each morning on KMLB AM in Monroe? It was strictly a local talk show in those days, back in the mid-1990s, focusing on issues relative to Monroe/West Monroe.

Times changed, though, and Moon's program grew. He moved to the 9 a.m.-11 a.m. slot and began syndicating his show to radio stations throughout Louisiana. The focus of his show shifted to state issues.

Today, Moon's show enjoys impressive Arbitron ratings in the Shreveport, Lafayette, Lake Charles, Alexandria and Monroe markets. He outperforms Rush in some corners, too.

Ironically, Moon hasn't been able to convince one of the larger, more successful radio stations in Baton Rouge or New Orleans to pick up his program. That makes no sense.

It makes no sense because Moon's program—whether you agree with his views or not—serves Louisiana well. He sheds light on issues and concerns that many members of the working media overlook or purposely avoid.

I suspect Moon's show hasn't been picked up in Baton Rouge and/or New Orleans because Moon hits a little too close to home, so to speak, for some folks. In other words, Moon often says what career bureaucrats and career politicians don't want the people to know.

That's Moon, though.

He calls it like he sees it.

And he's doing all of us a favor.

Sam Hanna, Jr. is publisher of The Ouachita Citizen, and he serves in an editorial/management capacity with The Concordia Sentinel and The Franklin Sun, three newspapers owned and operated by the Hanna family. Hanna can be reached by calling (318) 805-8158 or by emailing him at samhannajr@samhannajr.com.
Search Our Site

Advertising

Local Weather
© 2002-2013 The Ouachita Citizen - All Rights Reserved
Web Site Design by Panther Networks, Inc.