John Ziegler (talk show host)
Encyclopedia
John Ziegler is a conservative radio talk show
host turned documentary film writer/director.
Ziegler's most prominent work in radio has been as the evening (7-10 PM) host of a radio talk show called The John Ziegler Show on KFI AM 640 in Los Angeles, California
from January 12, 2004 until November 13, 2007. Talkers Magazine
listed John Ziegler as number 54 on their "Heavy Hundred" list of the most important U.S. radio talk show hosts in 2007.
Working with film producer David Bossie
of Citizens United
, Ziegler was the co-producer, writer and director of a documentary entitled Blocking The Path to 9/11, which premiered in August 2008. Following the November 4, 2008 U.S. presidential election
, Ziegler announced that he was working on a second documentary called Media Malpractice... How Obama Got Elected and Palin Was Targeted. Ziegler appeared on the "Today Show" on February 23, 2009 to debut the film.
, Germany
, and grew up as the eldest son of a financial manager in the small village of Washington Crossing, Bucks County, Pennsylvania
. He was a standout golfer in high school, being named High School Golfer of the Year by the Bucks County Courier Times. In 1985, Ziegler graduated from the Catholic Holy Ghost Preparatory School
located in Bensalem, Pennsylvania. He then attended Georgetown University
, graduating in 1989 with a degree in Government and a minor in Theology and Philosophy. While attending Georgetown, he lettered in golf for three years.
Concerning his family's religious background, Ziegler has stated that he "grew up in an incredibly, very strict Roman Catholic
family on both sides, my mother and my father's side. I've got numerous aunts who've been in the convent. I went to Catholic high school, Catholic college, as did almost all of my relatives, so, I mean, I'm very steeped in Catholicism". Ziegler is, however, an agnostic, referring to himself as a "recovering Catholic".
. He left the position to write a book about high school football in Steubenville, Ohio
called Dynasty of the Crossroads. After the book, he took a position as a sportscaster at WRAZ in Raleigh, North Carolina
but was fired in 1995 after making what he describes as an "incredibly tame" joke about his belief that O.J. Simpson was guilty. Ziegler revealed on his November 21, 2006 KFI broadcast that he once had a romantic relationship with Kim Goldman, sister of murder victim Ron Goldman
, who has also been a frequent guest on the show commenting on topics related to O.J. Simpson.
He then began a career in talk radio, working at various stations before ending up at WWTN
in Nashville, Tennessee
, where he was later fired after having said the word nigger
on the air, in, according to Ziegler, "a rather academic discussion about the way whites and blacks view each other". Ziegler has explained this event as him referencing what the boxer Mike Tyson
said at a press conference, where Tyson referred to himself using that word. He then began writing columns for The Philadelphia Inquirer
and Philadelphia Daily News
and co-hosted a talk show on Comcast's CN8 Television Network, which later resulted in his winning a regional Emmy.
In 2002, wanting to return to radio, Ziegler was hired by Louisville, Kentucky
radio station WHAS
. Once again, his tenure did not last long, as during a Ask John Anything segment, he discussed Darcie Divita, a former Chicago Bulls
cheerleader and WDRB
morning television host with whom Ziegler had a relationship until Divita broke up with him. WHAS fired him on August 27, 2003, and Divita sued for $2,700,000, claiming libel and defamation of character. However, on May 24, 2005, Ziegler was unanimously found not liable for damages as Divita was deemed a public figure by virtue of being a television personality.
Subsequent to his experiences of being fired and sued for saying what he believes was the truth, he has authored another book, The Death of Free Speech, which claims that American discourse has suffered because of political correctness
, and that these taboos are not consistently enforced.
In 2003, while still employed by WHAS, he joined forces with Louisville Democrat
and current 3rd district Congressional
Representative John Yarmuth
to debate political issues on the weekly WAVE
program Yarmuth & Ziegler, with Yarmuth taking the progressive
side and Ziegler, the conservative
side. This gig lasted through November of that year. In 2006, Ziegler supported the Yarmuth election campaign for Kentucky's 3rd congressional district, both financially and as a political adviser. Yarmuth won the election to Congress, defeating his incumbent Republican opponent Anne Northup
.
On January 12, 2004, Ziegler began work at KFI as a late evening host. As both WHAS and KFI are owned by Clear Channel
, he was placed him in the unusual situation of having been fired and re-hired by the same company within a short time frame. He moved to the 7-10 p.m. slot on February 21, 2005. In November 2007, he left KFI.
Ziegler was the focus of David Foster Wallace
's cover story in the April 2005 Atlantic Monthly
, which explores how American talk radio works.
In addition to radio work, Ziegler has occasionally appeared on Scarborough Country
and has written op-eds in the Los Angeles Times
.
On November 26, 2006, Ziegler filled in for Matt Drudge
on his nationally syndicated Sunday night talk show. Ziegler also filled in for Matt Drudge on April 8, 2007.
On February 2, 2009, Ziegler appeared on The View for his film "Media Malpractice." He also appeared numerous times on the Today Show, MSNBC, CNN and Fox News.
from January 12, 2004 until November 13, 2007.
The program was mostly news based political commentary, but it also brought up other issues such as events happening in Ziegler's personal life. The John Ziegler Show was advertised as Getting it Right at Night and a common catchphrase that Ziegler used to describe the show was "three hours of rationality in a world of ever increasing insanity".
than conservative
, more conservative than liberal
, and more cynical and skeptical than anything else." On the issue of U.S. party politics, Ziegler has said that "the only dog I have in that hunt is that the more power Republicans have, the less power Democrats have; it's the lesser of two evils as far as I'm concerned, on most issues".
On Friday April 13, 2007, the John Ziegler Show changed its format to include the last hour of every show being caller-dominated (9:00pm to 10:00pm). Prior to this change, the show accepted callers only when Ziegler asked for an opinion on a given subject.
for the statement that "You know, education, if you make the most of it, if you study hard and you do your homework, and you make an effort to be smart, you, you can do well. If you don't, you get stuck in Iraq." Ziegler had heard Kerry
's speech played on a local TV station. He criticized Kerry
's statement on the air on October 30 and played the audio several times during that show. In conjunction with the show of October 30, Ziegler had the Kerry
audio posted at the KFI website, and it was picked up by bloggers and the Drudge Report
on its way to becoming worldwide news. Ziegler took credit for placing the story in a context that made it a major news story.
(whose bodyguard broke the KFI microphone), O.J. Simpson, Senator Barbara Boxer
and Mark McGwire
.
Even though The John Ziegler Show was not heavily guest oriented, some major political figures have appeared on the show over the years, including California governor Arnold Schwarzenegger
and 2008 Republican Presidential primary candidate Ron Paul
.
On August 14, 2009 Ziegler announced unexpectedly at the start of the show that it would be his last day on KGIL due to matters out of his control. His last show ended with a recorded speech of the late President Reagan denouncing socialized health care. About two weeks later after Ziegler's announcement, KGIL changed its format to become a music radio station instead of broadcasting mainly talk radio.
On October 17, 2009 Ziegler interviewed David Keene at WCPAC. Ziegler asked questions regarding Sarah Palin, the FedEx pay-to-play scandal and Arlen Specter.
of Citizens United
premiered a documentary co-produced, written and directed by Ziegler entitled Blocking The Path to 9/11, which revisits the political controversy behind the ABC docudrama miniseries The Path to 9/11
. Through interviews with the Path to 9/11 filmmakers and others, news clips regarding the controversy, and footage from the miniseries itself, the documentary makes the claim that Disney/ABC ultimately shelved plans to release a DVD of the miniseries as a result of pressure from the political left, specifically the Clintons themselves. As noted in the documentary, Disney/ABC denies this and claims the move was merely a business decision. However commission member Richard Ben-Veniste said that the miniseries misrepresented facts presented in the 9/11 Commission report. In addition two FBI agents criticized the film's accuracy. Thomas E. Nicoletti had been hired by the filmmakers as a consultant, but quit saying "There were so many inaccuracies...I’m well aware of what’s dramatic license and what’s historical inaccuracy," Nicoletti said. "And this had a lot of historical inaccuracy.'"
, Ziegler announced that a documentary titled Media Malpractice: How Obama Got Elected was in production (the full title was later changed to Media Malpractice: How Obama Got Elected And Palin Was Targeted). The film claims that a liberal bias in the media
was responsible for Barack Obama being elected president. The film was originally released live on the Today Show on February 23, 2009.
which announced his disenchantment with Palin and her activities since the 2008 election; in particular, he eviscerated Palin for her "bunker mentality", and claimed that "there is absolutely no way that she can be elected." However, Ziegler maintained that the mainstream media was involved in "knee-capping" Palin in a way that was irreparable.
says the audience "laughed and applauded", while FoxNews.com described the remark as "unfettered nastiness".
Ziegler enjoys playing golf
and is the self-proclaimed pastor of the First Church of Tiger Woods
. He cites the Woods' popularity as proof that not all white people are racist. Ziegler has stated that Woods is probably the best argument for intelligent design
.
Talk radio
Talk radio is a radio format containing discussion about topical issues. Most shows are regularly hosted by a single individual, and often feature interviews with a number of different guests. Talk radio typically includes an element of listener participation, usually by broadcasting live...
host turned documentary film writer/director.
Ziegler's most prominent work in radio has been as the evening (7-10 PM) host of a radio talk show called The John Ziegler Show on KFI AM 640 in Los Angeles, California
Los Angeles, California
Los Angeles , with a population at the 2010 United States Census of 3,792,621, is the most populous city in California, USA and the second most populous in the United States, after New York City. It has an area of , and is located in Southern California...
from January 12, 2004 until November 13, 2007. Talkers Magazine
Talkers magazine
Talkers Magazine is a trade industry publication related to talk radio in the United States. Its slogan is "The Bible of Talk Radio and the New Talk Media"...
listed John Ziegler as number 54 on their "Heavy Hundred" list of the most important U.S. radio talk show hosts in 2007.
Working with film producer David Bossie
David Bossie
David N. Bossie is an American political activist. Since 2000 he has been President and Chairman of conservative advocacy organization Citizens United.-Early life:...
of Citizens United
Citizens United
Citizens United is a conservative non-profit organization in the United States. Its president and chairman is David Bossie.-Overview:Citizens United describes its mission as being dedicated to restoring the United States government to "citizens' control" and to "assert American values of limited...
, Ziegler was the co-producer, writer and director of a documentary entitled Blocking The Path to 9/11, which premiered in August 2008. Following the November 4, 2008 U.S. presidential election
United States presidential election, 2008
The United States presidential election of 2008 was the 56th quadrennial presidential election. It was held on November 4, 2008. Democrat Barack Obama, then the junior United States Senator from Illinois, defeated Republican John McCain, the senior U.S. Senator from Arizona. Obama received 365...
, Ziegler announced that he was working on a second documentary called Media Malpractice... How Obama Got Elected and Palin Was Targeted. Ziegler appeared on the "Today Show" on February 23, 2009 to debut the film.
Early life and education
Ziegler was born in a U.S. Army post in HeidelbergHeidelberg
-Early history:Between 600,000 and 200,000 years ago, "Heidelberg Man" died at nearby Mauer. His jaw bone was discovered in 1907; with scientific dating, his remains were determined to be the earliest evidence of human life in Europe. In the 5th century BC, a Celtic fortress of refuge and place of...
, Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
, and grew up as the eldest son of a financial manager in the small village of Washington Crossing, Bucks County, Pennsylvania
Bucks County, Pennsylvania
- Industry and commerce :The boroughs of Bristol and Morrisville were prominent industrial centers along the Northeast Corridor during World War II. Suburban development accelerated in Lower Bucks in the 1950s with the opening of Levittown, Pennsylvania, the second such "Levittown" designed by...
. He was a standout golfer in high school, being named High School Golfer of the Year by the Bucks County Courier Times. In 1985, Ziegler graduated from the Catholic Holy Ghost Preparatory School
Holy Ghost Preparatory School
Holy Ghost Preparatory School is a private, college preparatory school for young men in Cornwells Heights, Bensalem, Pennsylvania. Founded in 1897 by the Spiritan missionaries, it is also a Catholic school....
located in Bensalem, Pennsylvania. He then attended Georgetown University
Georgetown University
Georgetown University is a private, Jesuit, research university whose main campus is in the Georgetown neighborhood of Washington, D.C. Founded in 1789, it is the oldest Catholic university in the United States...
, graduating in 1989 with a degree in Government and a minor in Theology and Philosophy. While attending Georgetown, he lettered in golf for three years.
Concerning his family's religious background, Ziegler has stated that he "grew up in an incredibly, very strict Roman Catholic
Roman Catholic Church
The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the world's largest Christian church, with over a billion members. Led by the Pope, it defines its mission as spreading the gospel of Jesus Christ, administering the sacraments and exercising charity...
family on both sides, my mother and my father's side. I've got numerous aunts who've been in the convent. I went to Catholic high school, Catholic college, as did almost all of my relatives, so, I mean, I'm very steeped in Catholicism". Ziegler is, however, an agnostic, referring to himself as a "recovering Catholic".
Career
After graduating from college, Ziegler became a sportscaster, moving his way up to a full time position at WTOV in OhioOhio
Ohio is a Midwestern state in the United States. The 34th largest state by area in the U.S.,it is the 7th‑most populous with over 11.5 million residents, containing several major American cities and seven metropolitan areas with populations of 500,000 or more.The state's capital is Columbus...
. He left the position to write a book about high school football in Steubenville, Ohio
Steubenville, Ohio
Steubenville is a city located along the Ohio River in Jefferson County, Ohio on the Ohio-West Virginia border in the United States. It is the political county seat of Jefferson County. It is also a principal city of the Weirton–Steubenville, WV-OH Metropolitan Statistical Area...
called Dynasty of the Crossroads. After the book, he took a position as a sportscaster at WRAZ in Raleigh, North Carolina
Raleigh, North Carolina
Raleigh is the capital and the second largest city in the state of North Carolina as well as the seat of Wake County. Raleigh is known as the "City of Oaks" for its many oak trees. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the city's 2010 population was 403,892, over an area of , making Raleigh...
but was fired in 1995 after making what he describes as an "incredibly tame" joke about his belief that O.J. Simpson was guilty. Ziegler revealed on his November 21, 2006 KFI broadcast that he once had a romantic relationship with Kim Goldman, sister of murder victim Ron Goldman
Ronald Goldman
Ronald Lyle "Ron" Goldman was an American waiter and an aspiring model. He was murdered along with Nicole Brown Simpson, former wife of O. J. Simpson, an actor and retired American football player. The subsequent criminal investigation and trial against O. J...
, who has also been a frequent guest on the show commenting on topics related to O.J. Simpson.
He then began a career in talk radio, working at various stations before ending up at WWTN
WWTN
WWTN is a 100 kW, Class C0 FM radio station serving the Nashville, Tennessee media market. Its dial position is 99.7 MHz. Home to many local and national talk radio shows, the station is marketed as SuperTalk 99.7 WTN...
in Nashville, Tennessee
Nashville, Tennessee
Nashville is the capital of the U.S. state of Tennessee and the county seat of Davidson County. It is located on the Cumberland River in Davidson County, in the north-central part of the state. The city is a center for the health care, publishing, banking and transportation industries, and is home...
, where he was later fired after having said the word nigger
Nigger
Nigger is a noun in the English language, most notable for its usage in a pejorative context to refer to black people , and also as an informal slang term, among other contexts. It is a common ethnic slur...
on the air, in, according to Ziegler, "a rather academic discussion about the way whites and blacks view each other". Ziegler has explained this event as him referencing what the boxer Mike Tyson
Mike Tyson
Michael Gerard "Mike" Tyson is a retired American boxer. Tyson is a former undisputed heavyweight champion of the world and holds the record as the youngest boxer to win the WBC, WBA and IBF world heavyweight titles, he was 20 years, 4 months and 22 days old...
said at a press conference, where Tyson referred to himself using that word. He then began writing columns for The Philadelphia Inquirer
The Philadelphia Inquirer
The Philadelphia Inquirer is a morning daily newspaper that serves the Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, metropolitan area of the United States. The newspaper was founded by John R. Walker and John Norvell in June 1829 as The Pennsylvania Inquirer and is the third-oldest surviving daily newspaper in the...
and Philadelphia Daily News
Philadelphia Daily News
The Philadelphia Daily News is a tabloid newspaper that serves Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. The newspaper is owned by Philadelphia Media Holdings which also owns Philadelphia's other major newspaper The Philadelphia Inquirer. The Daily News began publishing on March 31, 1925, under...
and co-hosted a talk show on Comcast's CN8 Television Network, which later resulted in his winning a regional Emmy.
In 2002, wanting to return to radio, Ziegler was hired by Louisville, Kentucky
Louisville, Kentucky
Louisville is the largest city in the U.S. state of Kentucky, and the county seat of Jefferson County. Since 2003, the city's borders have been coterminous with those of the county because of a city-county merger. The city's population at the 2010 census was 741,096...
radio station WHAS
WHAS (AM)
WHAS, known by the on air branding as "84 WHAS", is an AM radio station broadcasting in Louisville, Kentucky. It is a 50,000 Watt clear channel radio station assigned to frequency 840 kHz. With clear channel status, its nighttime signal can be heard in most of the continental U.S...
. Once again, his tenure did not last long, as during a Ask John Anything segment, he discussed Darcie Divita, a former Chicago Bulls
Chicago Bulls
The Chicago Bulls are an American professional basketball team based in Chicago, Illinois, playing in the Central Division of the Eastern Conference in the National Basketball Association . The team was founded in 1966. They play their home games at the United Center...
cheerleader and WDRB
WDRB
WDRB is a television station in Louisville, Kentucky, broadcasting locally on channel 41 as a Fox affiliate. Owned by Block Communications, the station's transmitter is located in Floyds Knobs, Indiana alongside sister-station WMYO...
morning television host with whom Ziegler had a relationship until Divita broke up with him. WHAS fired him on August 27, 2003, and Divita sued for $2,700,000, claiming libel and defamation of character. However, on May 24, 2005, Ziegler was unanimously found not liable for damages as Divita was deemed a public figure by virtue of being a television personality.
Subsequent to his experiences of being fired and sued for saying what he believes was the truth, he has authored another book, The Death of Free Speech, which claims that American discourse has suffered because of political correctness
Political correctness
Political correctness is a term which denotes language, ideas, policies, and behavior seen as seeking to minimize social and institutional offense in occupational, gender, racial, cultural, sexual orientation, certain other religions, beliefs or ideologies, disability, and age-related contexts,...
, and that these taboos are not consistently enforced.
In 2003, while still employed by WHAS, he joined forces with Louisville Democrat
Democratic Party (United States)
The Democratic Party is one of two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Republican Party. The party's socially liberal and progressive platform is largely considered center-left in the U.S. political spectrum. The party has the lengthiest record of continuous...
and current 3rd district Congressional
Kentucky's 3rd congressional district
Kentucky's 3rd congressional district is a congressional district in the U.S. state of Kentucky encompassing nearly the whole city of Louisville, which, since the merger of 2003, is contiguous with Jefferson County...
Representative John Yarmuth
John Yarmuth
John Yarmuth is the U.S. Representative for , serving since 2007. He is a member of the Democratic Party.- Early life, education and career :...
to debate political issues on the weekly WAVE
WAVE (TV)
WAVE aka "WAVE 3" is the NBC television station in Louisville, Kentucky. Owned by Raycom Media, the station broadcasts from its main studio in downtown Louisville...
program Yarmuth & Ziegler, with Yarmuth taking the progressive
Progressivism
Progressivism is an umbrella term for a political ideology advocating or favoring social, political, and economic reform or changes. Progressivism is often viewed by some conservatives, constitutionalists, and libertarians to be in opposition to conservative or reactionary ideologies.The...
side and Ziegler, the conservative
Conservatism
Conservatism is a political and social philosophy that promotes the maintenance of traditional institutions and supports, at the most, minimal and gradual change in society. Some conservatives seek to preserve things as they are, emphasizing stability and continuity, while others oppose modernism...
side. This gig lasted through November of that year. In 2006, Ziegler supported the Yarmuth election campaign for Kentucky's 3rd congressional district, both financially and as a political adviser. Yarmuth won the election to Congress, defeating his incumbent Republican opponent Anne Northup
Anne Northup
Anne Meagher Northup is an American Republican politician from the state of Kentucky. From 1997 to 2007, she represented the Louisville-centered 3rd congressional district of Kentucky in the United States House of Representatives, where she served on the powerful House Appropriations Committee...
.
On January 12, 2004, Ziegler began work at KFI as a late evening host. As both WHAS and KFI are owned by Clear Channel
Clear Channel Communications
Clear Channel Communications, Inc. is an American media conglomerate company headquartered in San Antonio, Texas. It was founded in 1972 by Lowry Mays and Red McCombs, and was taken private by Bain Capital LLC and Thomas H. Lee Partners LP in a leveraged buyout in 2008...
, he was placed him in the unusual situation of having been fired and re-hired by the same company within a short time frame. He moved to the 7-10 p.m. slot on February 21, 2005. In November 2007, he left KFI.
Ziegler was the focus of David Foster Wallace
David Foster Wallace
David Foster Wallace was an American author of novels, essays, and short stories, and a professor at Pomona College in Claremont, California...
's cover story in the April 2005 Atlantic Monthly
The Atlantic Monthly
The Atlantic is an American magazine founded in Boston, Massachusetts, in 1857. It was created as a literary and cultural commentary magazine. It quickly achieved a national reputation, which it held for more than a century. It was important for recognizing and publishing new writers and poets,...
, which explores how American talk radio works.
In addition to radio work, Ziegler has occasionally appeared on Scarborough Country
Scarborough Country
Scarborough Country was an opinion/analysis show broadcast on MSNBC Monday - Thursday at 9 P.M. ET. It was hosted by former congressman Joe Scarborough....
and has written op-eds in the Los Angeles Times
Los Angeles Times
The Los Angeles Times is a daily newspaper published in Los Angeles, California, since 1881. It was the second-largest metropolitan newspaper in circulation in the United States in 2008 and the fourth most widely distributed newspaper in the country....
.
On November 26, 2006, Ziegler filled in for Matt Drudge
Matt Drudge
Matthew Nathan Drudge is the American creator and editor of the Drudge Report, a news aggregation website. Drudge is self-described as being conservative and populist. Drudge has also authored a book and hosted a radio show and a television show.-Early years:Matthew Drudge was raised in Takoma...
on his nationally syndicated Sunday night talk show. Ziegler also filled in for Matt Drudge on April 8, 2007.
On February 2, 2009, Ziegler appeared on The View for his film "Media Malpractice." He also appeared numerous times on the Today Show, MSNBC, CNN and Fox News.
KFI AM 640
John Ziegler was the evening (7-10 PM) host of a radio talk show called The John Ziegler Show on KFI AM 640 in Los Angeles, CaliforniaLos Angeles, California
Los Angeles , with a population at the 2010 United States Census of 3,792,621, is the most populous city in California, USA and the second most populous in the United States, after New York City. It has an area of , and is located in Southern California...
from January 12, 2004 until November 13, 2007.
The program was mostly news based political commentary, but it also brought up other issues such as events happening in Ziegler's personal life. The John Ziegler Show was advertised as Getting it Right at Night and a common catchphrase that Ziegler used to describe the show was "three hours of rationality in a world of ever increasing insanity".
Political commentary
As the host of a mostly news based political commentary talk show, Ziegler described himself as "more libertarianLibertarianism
Libertarianism, in the strictest sense, is the political philosophy that holds individual liberty as the basic moral principle of society. In the broadest sense, it is any political philosophy which approximates this view...
than conservative
Conservatism
Conservatism is a political and social philosophy that promotes the maintenance of traditional institutions and supports, at the most, minimal and gradual change in society. Some conservatives seek to preserve things as they are, emphasizing stability and continuity, while others oppose modernism...
, more conservative than liberal
Liberalism
Liberalism is the belief in the importance of liberty and equal rights. Liberals espouse a wide array of views depending on their understanding of these principles, but generally, liberals support ideas such as constitutionalism, liberal democracy, free and fair elections, human rights,...
, and more cynical and skeptical than anything else." On the issue of U.S. party politics, Ziegler has said that "the only dog I have in that hunt is that the more power Republicans have, the less power Democrats have; it's the lesser of two evils as far as I'm concerned, on most issues".
Recurring show segments
A regular feature of the show was Ask John Anything, a monthly call-in Q&A about his opinions on anything. Ziegler has said the most frequent question he received for the Ask John Anything segment were from people who want to know why he and newscaster Leah Brandon were not dating each other. Other features include What Have We Learned This Week, a review of the guests and topics covered on the show in the previous week, Sounds of the Week, a Friday countdown of five sound bytes that aired during the week and were either newsworthy or comical, and the banter between Brandon and Ziegler, which was often based on news stories and usually had a lighter tone than the rest of the show.On Friday April 13, 2007, the John Ziegler Show changed its format to include the last hour of every show being caller-dominated (9:00pm to 10:00pm). Prior to this change, the show accepted callers only when Ziegler asked for an opinion on a given subject.
"Stuck in Iraq" controversy
In late 2006, John Ziegler drew nationwide attention for being the first to criticize John KerryJohn Kerry
John Forbes Kerry is the senior United States Senator from Massachusetts, the 10th most senior U.S. Senator and chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. He was the presidential nominee of the Democratic Party in the 2004 presidential election, but lost to former President George W...
for the statement that "You know, education, if you make the most of it, if you study hard and you do your homework, and you make an effort to be smart, you, you can do well. If you don't, you get stuck in Iraq." Ziegler had heard Kerry
John Kerry
John Forbes Kerry is the senior United States Senator from Massachusetts, the 10th most senior U.S. Senator and chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. He was the presidential nominee of the Democratic Party in the 2004 presidential election, but lost to former President George W...
's speech played on a local TV station. He criticized Kerry
John Kerry
John Forbes Kerry is the senior United States Senator from Massachusetts, the 10th most senior U.S. Senator and chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. He was the presidential nominee of the Democratic Party in the 2004 presidential election, but lost to former President George W...
's statement on the air on October 30 and played the audio several times during that show. In conjunction with the show of October 30, Ziegler had the Kerry
John Kerry
John Forbes Kerry is the senior United States Senator from Massachusetts, the 10th most senior U.S. Senator and chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. He was the presidential nominee of the Democratic Party in the 2004 presidential election, but lost to former President George W...
audio posted at the KFI website, and it was picked up by bloggers and the Drudge Report
Drudge Report
The Drudge Report is a news aggregation website. Run by Matt Drudge with the help of Joseph Curl and Charles Hurt, the site consists mainly of links to stories from the United States and international mainstream media about politics, entertainment, and current events as well as links to many...
on its way to becoming worldwide news. Ziegler took credit for placing the story in a context that made it a major news story.
Celebrity confrontations and interviews
2005 was a year of confrontation for Ziegler, who devoted large portions of his show playing audio of his personal confrontations with Jesse JacksonJesse Jackson
Jesse Louis Jackson, Sr. is an African-American civil rights activist and Baptist minister. He was a candidate for the Democratic presidential nomination in 1984 and 1988 and served as shadow senator for the District of Columbia from 1991 to 1997. He was the founder of both entities that merged to...
(whose bodyguard broke the KFI microphone), O.J. Simpson, Senator Barbara Boxer
Barbara Boxer
Barbara Levy Boxer is the junior United States Senator from California . A member of the Democratic Party, she previously served in the U.S. House of Representatives ....
and Mark McGwire
Mark McGwire
Mark David McGwire , nicknamed "Big Mac", is an American former professional baseball player who played his major league career with the Oakland Athletics and the St. Louis Cardinals. He is currently the hitting coach for the St...
.
Even though The John Ziegler Show was not heavily guest oriented, some major political figures have appeared on the show over the years, including California governor Arnold Schwarzenegger
Arnold Schwarzenegger
Arnold Alois Schwarzenegger is an Austrian-American former professional bodybuilder, actor, businessman, investor, and politician. Schwarzenegger served as the 38th Governor of California from 2003 until 2011....
and 2008 Republican Presidential primary candidate Ron Paul
Ron Paul
Ronald Ernest "Ron" Paul is an American physician, author and United States Congressman who is seeking to be the Republican Party candidate in the 2012 presidential election. Paul represents Texas's 14th congressional district, which covers an area south and southwest of Houston that includes...
.
Leaving KFI
Ziegler was suspended for two days in 2005 following an on-air confrontation with John Kobylt of KFI's John and Ken Show. On November 13, 2007, the day after he announced his departure from KFI, Ziegler broadcast his last show. He told a reporter that the decision was due to mental and physical exhaustion, and to his work on a documentary.KGIL 1260 AM
In June 2009 Ziegler announced on his website that he would begin work as a talk show host on Los Angeles news/talk radio station KGIL 1260 AM. The show began airing Monday June 8, 2009 and ran from 11 AM until 1 PM. weekdays. After leaving KFI in 2007, Ziegler has previously delivered on air commentary and was a fill in host on KGIL for a relatively short time.On August 14, 2009 Ziegler announced unexpectedly at the start of the show that it would be his last day on KGIL due to matters out of his control. His last show ended with a recorded speech of the late President Reagan denouncing socialized health care. About two weeks later after Ziegler's announcement, KGIL changed its format to become a music radio station instead of broadcasting mainly talk radio.
On October 17, 2009 Ziegler interviewed David Keene at WCPAC. Ziegler asked questions regarding Sarah Palin, the FedEx pay-to-play scandal and Arlen Specter.
Documentaries
Following Ziegler's departure from his work as a radio talk show host on KFI AM 640, Ziegler was involved in two documentary film projects.Blocking The Path to 9/11 documentary
In August, 2008, John Ziegler and producer David BossieDavid Bossie
David N. Bossie is an American political activist. Since 2000 he has been President and Chairman of conservative advocacy organization Citizens United.-Early life:...
of Citizens United
Citizens United
Citizens United is a conservative non-profit organization in the United States. Its president and chairman is David Bossie.-Overview:Citizens United describes its mission as being dedicated to restoring the United States government to "citizens' control" and to "assert American values of limited...
premiered a documentary co-produced, written and directed by Ziegler entitled Blocking The Path to 9/11, which revisits the political controversy behind the ABC docudrama miniseries The Path to 9/11
The Path to 9/11
The Path to 9/11 was a two-part miniseries that aired in the United States on ABC television from September 10 – 11, 2006, and also in other countries. The film dramatizes the 1993 World Trade Center bombing in New York City and the events leading up to the September 11, 2001 attacks.The film...
. Through interviews with the Path to 9/11 filmmakers and others, news clips regarding the controversy, and footage from the miniseries itself, the documentary makes the claim that Disney/ABC ultimately shelved plans to release a DVD of the miniseries as a result of pressure from the political left, specifically the Clintons themselves. As noted in the documentary, Disney/ABC denies this and claims the move was merely a business decision. However commission member Richard Ben-Veniste said that the miniseries misrepresented facts presented in the 9/11 Commission report. In addition two FBI agents criticized the film's accuracy. Thomas E. Nicoletti had been hired by the filmmakers as a consultant, but quit saying "There were so many inaccuracies...I’m well aware of what’s dramatic license and what’s historical inaccuracy," Nicoletti said. "And this had a lot of historical inaccuracy.'"
Media Malpractice documentary
Shortly after the November 4, 2008 U.S. presidential electionUnited States presidential election, 2008
The United States presidential election of 2008 was the 56th quadrennial presidential election. It was held on November 4, 2008. Democrat Barack Obama, then the junior United States Senator from Illinois, defeated Republican John McCain, the senior U.S. Senator from Arizona. Obama received 365...
, Ziegler announced that a documentary titled Media Malpractice: How Obama Got Elected was in production (the full title was later changed to Media Malpractice: How Obama Got Elected And Palin Was Targeted). The film claims that a liberal bias in the media
Media bias in the United States
Media bias in the United States occurs when the media in the United States systematically presents a particular point of view. Claims of media bias in the United States include claims of liberal bias, conservative bias, mainstream bias, and corporate bias...
was responsible for Barack Obama being elected president. The film was originally released live on the Today Show on February 23, 2009.
Reversal on Sarah Palin
On June 12, 2011, Ziegler wrote an Op-Ed for The Daily CallerThe Daily Caller
The Daily Caller is a news website based in Washington, D.C., United States, with a focus on politics, original reporting and breaking news, founded by journalist and political pundit Tucker Carlson and Neil Patel, former adviser to former Vice President Dick Cheney...
which announced his disenchantment with Palin and her activities since the 2008 election; in particular, he eviscerated Palin for her "bunker mentality", and claimed that "there is absolutely no way that she can be elected." However, Ziegler maintained that the mainstream media was involved in "knee-capping" Palin in a way that was irreparable.
Remarks at a 2007 campaign event
On December 1, 2007, one day after a peacefully resolved hostage situation at a Hillary Clinton campaign office in New Hampshire, Ziegler made the following remarks while introducing Fred Thompson at a campaign rally in California: "In case you missed it, some nut job broke in (Clinton's campaign office) and took hostages and apparently threatened to blow himself up unless he got a chance to speak to Hillary. Now, I found this rather odd because I always feel like blowing myself up after I hear Hillary Clinton speak". ABC NewsABC News
ABC News is the news gathering and broadcasting division of American broadcast television network ABC, a subsidiary of The Walt Disney Company...
says the audience "laughed and applauded", while FoxNews.com described the remark as "unfettered nastiness".
Personal life
He is married to Alison Kallik.Ziegler enjoys playing golf
Golf
Golf is a precision club and ball sport, in which competing players use many types of clubs to hit balls into a series of holes on a golf course using the fewest number of strokes....
and is the self-proclaimed pastor of the First Church of Tiger Woods
Tiger Woods
Eldrick Tont "Tiger" Woods is an American professional golfer whose achievements to date rank him among the most successful golfers of all time. Formerly the World No...
. He cites the Woods' popularity as proof that not all white people are racist. Ziegler has stated that Woods is probably the best argument for intelligent design
Intelligent design
Intelligent design is the proposition that "certain features of the universe and of living things are best explained by an intelligent cause, not an undirected process such as natural selection." It is a form of creationism and a contemporary adaptation of the traditional teleological argument for...
.
External links
- John Ziegler's official website
- Media Malpractice: How Obama Got Elected and Palin Was Targeted website
- The Atlantic Monthly profile, April 2005
- Former First Church of Tiger Woods website
- Article on John Ziegler's time at KFI from LA Observed
- The Real KFI (John Ziegler's former website detailing his experience at KFI; archived at Internet Archive)
- WCPAC Part 1 of 3 John Ziegler interview with David Keene
- WCPAC Part 2 of 3 John Ziegler interview with David Keene
- WCPAC Part 3 of 3 John Ziegler interview with David Keene
- On The Record with Greta Van Susteren
- John Ziegler Arrested / USC Katie Couric Award Part 1
- John Ziegler Arrested / USC Katie Couric Award Part 2