Jim DeFede To Fort Lauderdale? -- UPDATED

By Bob Norman Tue., Sep. 11 2007 at 12:19 PM

I'm hearing rumors from good sources that journalist Jim DeFede, the veteran Miami reporter who is no longer doing his radio show on WINZ, is headed to ... WFTL-850, which is based in Broward County. The 50,000-watt signal stretches from Fort Pierce to Key West, so all you folks who have been lamenting the loss of DeFede in the comments belowshould have some good news.

The big man should give the station some welcome balance from the usual right-wing crap spewed by the likes of Bill O'Reilly, Michael Savage, Laura Ingraham (yeww!), Dr. Laura, and locals like Kelley Mitchell and Joyce Kaufman.

More to come. Working on getting confirmation and reporting the details.

(The Miami Herald's Joan Fleischman reports on DeFede today, saying that he's "reportedly" going to FTL. Hmm, wonder who reported it? How about some props, Joan? Oh well, at least she advances the story -- congratulations to Jim, who has lost 63 pounds.)

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You liberals are absolutely dispicable.Jim Defede is the most obnoxious,weasle-ish little taliban loving tree hugger.His radio show is an absolute joke.I cannot wait for him to be yanked off the air.Almost every call to his show ,is against him ,and most 850 listeners want him off the air.He is talentless,boring,crude,offensive,and on the wrong side of every issue,as most pansey-assed,gaylordish,anti-American,pro-homo,big giant baby liberals are.LIBERALISM IS A MENTAL DISORDER.GROW UP YOU TWERPY LITTLE POINTY HEAD ELITIST LIBERAL NAZIS.
I never paid much attention to local issues until I started listening to Jim Defede. He made local issues interesting and important. I enjoyed his show and will miss him.
I like Jim Defede but he is not a fit for the audience that listens to FTL. And what show would they replace? Kelley Mitchell? Dr. Laura? Paul Harvey? Joyce Kaufman? Laura Ingraham? They are all so conservative. If any of them were replaced by liberal Jim Defede, the station would lose so many listeners it would be a joke.
I'll miss Defede as he was great with local politics as Nicole is great with the national scene. I thought they were great together. Give Nicole a chance, she seems to be on top of things and maybe not as funny as Defede, she makes up for it.
It's nothing against Nicole but she was soooo good as Jim's sidekick. For the most part, people want to know about goings-on around them (the property tax brouhaha, the PIP mess, and a bunch of other local issues). Nicole doesn't seem to have a firm grasp of those, nor the inclination to explore such issues. Instead, she discusses Alison (her daughter) for a huge chunk of the time.
I'm glad Jim's making a move. WINZ was not the station for him. The way Ken Charles handled his departure, is the same totalitarian way the Soviets or Chicoms dealt with people who had fallen out of favor - immediately and completely erase him from the history books, photoshop him out of the pictures, etc, and forbid Nicole to discuss Jim or his departure on the air - they must have had to detour a lot of callers who wanted to know why Jim had disappeared without a trace or comment. It was scary and weird the way there was absolutely no mention of him, as if his show had never existed. Like 1984. It cast a pall over Nicole's show, and an air of unreality that made her show seem stiff and disjointed, and it must have been a great strain on her. She was so stressed out that she called me an "asshole" in an email for suggesting that she ignore the prohibition on discussing whatever subject she wanted to, including that of Jim Defede. I think if she had the guts to do her own show her own way, it would be pretty good. Ken Charles and Clear Channel are exactly the wrong people to have in charge of a "Progressive" radio station. We liberals in Miami are in big trouble - this station is going to change formats soon, is my bet.
In response to Scott Kelly: DeFede was not awful on 940. He was very funny and entertaining. So he has a youthful spirit, that�s not bad. He made me laugh every morning. And he likes women - so what? There�s nothing wrong with that. He always was respectful, even when bimbette cheerleaders came into the studio. Ok so he lives a quiet life, a bit hermit like even, but he is a good man with a good heart. He is smart and talented. He will be king on 850. Did you see the line up there? He�ll run circle around them. You are right about his writing/reporting � that is his strength by far. He landed a two year contract, good for him. Wishing him all the luck in the world.
Wordsmithery? C'mon Kelley, I don't have the time. I'm happy if I convey a rudimentary thought -- an intellectual grunt -- on this thing. But even that's superior to a lot of what's on FTL. Yesterday, I listened to Joyce Kaufman while driving. I never listen to her because she is an ignorant hatemonger, but yesterday I think she must have been in rare form. She was drowning in her own sea of putrid bile and, in about an hour, didn't produce one piece of information. Just ranting about terrorists and wanting to build a fence around America. "They want to kill you! They want to rape your daughters!" blah blah blah -- it's an abomination.
The fact is, Jim is a fine writer and terrific reporter, but a far better guest than host. The best thing for him would be to get his old job back, or failing that, go the the Sentinel. But that's highly unlikely, since they lack the imagination and guts that such a bold move would require.
Nicole is boring - not interested in her life history. Why not Air America in the am? The local flavor left when Defede left so what's the point?
Defede was awful on 940. His sense of humor is moronic, harkening back to elementary school. His view of women is also stuck at some elementary school level, probably due to his never having been married or in a relationship. His local knowledge was interesting at times but he preferred to ramble on about his dreadfully boring life. No, he's not going to make it on 850 and I'm actually surprised he's even trying. Money must be tight and/or there aren't any writing jobs available. He's at his best when he's reporting and uncovering problems.
He got zero ratings on a heritage station people have actually heard of (940), what makes you think he'll do any better on a station that no one really knows exists. 940 was paying big money for no ratings, and worse, he had no sponsors. So you going to tell me the owners of 850 are better operators? Get serious.
Dont worry god gonna clog up them areries and kill the fattie once and for all.
>> But it was Jim who paid the ultimate price. Teele is dead. Jim is alive. Who paid the ultimate price? Count me as crazy, but I'd rather be counted as one the living.
Yikes, Stripes, Snore-man... It's my blogette debut.... but, let me move off of my Underwood and back into Cyberwood and try, try again. Snore-man, I expected more wordsmithery from you than the tired "right-wing "cr*p." Nothing is as black and white as a simple right and left anymore, but if you are comfortable to resorting to Fox graphic-speak, so be it. Still, I must commend you for correctly noting that Jim DeFede was the one journalist who gave Miami City Commissioner Art Teele the last benefit of a doubt. Even in the face of allegations that Teele had encounters with an HIV-positive "he-she trickette"... and that, Teele, being the alleged "trickee," ultimately blew his brains out in The Miami Herald lobby. But it was Jim who paid the ultimate price. Hugs and Kisses and a big ZZZZZZZZZZZ for the Snore-man, for both the right cheek and the left. Kelley Mitchell
Wow. Kelley Mitchell and Jim DeFede: Two Tons of Fun!
Hope this is true!!! I'm still in shock that Jim is no longer on WINZ. Nicole is nice, but I find her to be quite boring...and she talks about her daughter too much. I'll be listening to my opera CD's on the way to work until Jim is back. Also, I could be wrong on this, but wasn't it Kelley Mitchell who was, um, how should I say this, a bit wobbly on air?????? Luv ya Jim!!!!
Kelley Mitchell: Your comment was lost in the system (usually these comments post automatically, but sometimes they get hung up in another file). I'm sorry -- will you please repost it? All I saw was that you called be "Bob Snore-man," which is a new one.