Prominent WLS radio personality Nancy Skinner was fired Monday following her announcement that she is running as a Democrat for the US Senate seat being vacated by Peter Fitzgerald (R) next year.
Skinner made the announcement on her Sunday program "Ski and Skinner" which began in 1997. Management at WLS informed her Monday that it was a WLS company decision. There are no longer Federal Election Commission equal time restrictions that required her termination.
Skinner was disappointed with the decision. "I've built up such a connection with listeners across Illinois who feel their views are shut out of talk radio. We had these three hours a week where Democrats could unspin the week of right wing blather on cable shows and talk radio. It saddens me," Skinner says.
Skinner also co-hosts a nationally syndicated program called Good Day USA which airs on 380 radio stations across the country including six Illinois stations. (www.dougstephan.com). She is a frequent contributor to political debates on CNN, MSNBC and the Fox News Channel. Ms. Skinner believes that it is her media experience that will make the difference in her candidacy, "In national politics you live and die in 30 second sound bites -like it or not. I know how to effectively communicate our message, to cut through spin and get the truth out in an increasing conservative mass media."
Talk radio is a medium dominated by conservative hosts and Nancy 's success as a progressive Democrat was a rarity. "More people have been to the moon", she jokes. Still the issue of media concentration and its effects on the airing of all views is a real concern to Skinner and will be a part of her campaign. "The airwaves belong to the American people and when radio and now cable TV are all tripping over themselves to see who can be more conservative, we have a problem for our democracy," she says.
Ms. Skinner has a business degree from the University of Michigan and a background in environmental consulting. Following the floods of 1993, she persuaded the flood-stricken community of Valmeyer , IL to rebuild off the floodplain using the best environmental and design principles available. She assembled a team of national experts, several federal agencies and the White House to participate. The town and its mayor, Dennis Knobloch, received a Presidential award for the effort.
Skinner's website is SkinnerForSenate.com
