I sent the below email to Craig Robinson of The Iowa Republican.com in response to his piece on my departure, which several people asked me about:
Thank you for calling me. I do appreciate you attempting to contact me for comment before publishing something, unlike others in the media. I chose not to take the call, or others today, because I didn’t want to spend two days commenting on this on and off the air when I had already planned for weeks to say good bye on Friday. I apologize if that comes across as rude, but I hope you understand.
Regarding your piece on my departure, I did read it. However, with all due respect almost all of your speculation as well as those in your comments section is incorrect. The truth is that if I called Van and Joel in the morning and told them I had reconsidered at the last minute, no one would be happier than them. They’ve even asked me to remain “a part of the family” at WHO in some capacity after my last day. Those are facts, plain and simple, as demonstrated further by them allowing me to stay on the air two weeks after resigning — which almost never happens in radio.
There was absolutely no internal pressure on me regarding my content or message. The only pressure has been attempted by those you’re close to on my management. 🙂 I doubt that Van Harden could pick Kent Sorenson or Staci Appel out of a police lineup. If anybody thinks my recent comments about Steve Scheffler and his treachery had anything to do with this please note that no one in my management ever spoke to me about those comments. Management at WHO didn’t see the need to babysit me about my content.
Why?
Because these are professional people who looked at my performance first, not my message and I earned their trust. This isn’t their first rodeo, and they know radio is about attracting listeners — period. My performance, as Van indicated, was very high — which is why attempts to pressure them or perhaps plans to pressure them in the future went/would go nowhere unless my performance suffered accordingly. I know the haters won’t want to believe that, but that’s why they’re haters. It would be wise for those who are celebrating to do so now, while they still can. 🙂
I have a statement up on my website at www.stevedeace.com if you would like more information. You’re welcome to call me tomorrow if you still want to chat. Hope you’re enjoying CPAC.