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DI2 The Arizona Republic Saturday, July 31, tVN Diane Sawyer's absence spurs debate KFYI squeezes schedule to make room for Woods MEDIA NOTES At that time, the programming and call letters of KPXQ will move to 1360 AM. The station at 960 AM will adopt the call letters of KCTK (for "compelling and air values- based, conservative talk shows by Michael Gallagher, Dennis Prager, Michael Reagan and Michael Medved. "We do see a role for local programming, but not for now," Hamilton said. He said he hopes that the station ultimately will be competitive with the likes of KTAR and KFYI. "We do have that goal.

We also know the amount of work that will go into it." The station has one advantage: the signal at 960 (once home to KOOL-AM) is one of the best AM signals in the market. Dave Cooper will become program director and morning-show host at KSLX-FM (100.7) Aug. 9. Cooper, who has been program director at KMXP-FM (96.9) for a month, resigned that job Thursday. Before that, he had worked for KZZP-FM (104.7) and its predecessor, KVRY, for eight years.

Maria Knight, who had side-kicked on KSLX's Creegerin the Morning program before Rich Creeger was let go, will continue in that role with Cooper. Michael Clancy can be reached at (602) 444-8550 or at mike.clancypni.comvia MICHAEL CLAm The Arizona Republic Andy Friedman, news director at KTAR-AM (620), will leave the station in mid-August to become news director for WBBM-AM in Chicago. Friedman recently led the station's news department to three Edward R. Murrow Awards, radio's equivalent of the Emmys. But he perhaps will always be known as the guy who drove away the legendary Rod Petersen, the eclectic, old-fashioned police reporter.

No replacement has been chosen. Salem Communications has taken over operation of 1360 AM, which it purchased in April. Salem also owns and operates KPXQ at 960 AM, and its general manager, Michael Hamilton, will oversee Doth stations. Both stations will run the same ministry-oriented programming until Sept. 6.

By Elizabeth Jensen Lot Angela TlmM When should a news reporter be allowed to opt out of covering a major story for personal reasons? And does such a decision only reinforce perceptions that journalists are increasingly too close to the major figures whom they are supposed to be covering dispassionately? That issue is under debate in the wake of Diane Sawyer's decision to stay away from her Good Morning. America co-anchor chair for two days last week after the crash of John F. Kennedy plane. Sawyer was close to Kennedy; her husband, director Mike Nichols, once dated Kennedy's mother, Jacqueline Onassis, a fact pointed out by ABC anchor Barbara Walters during coverage of the memorial service for Kennedy and his' wife, Carolyn Bessette Kennedy. Nichols read at the service.

On the Saturday that the Kennedy plane turned up missing and when all the networks pre-empted their regular sports programming for special news coverage of the search, Sawyer was noticeably missing on ABC, particularly in light of the fact that she and Nichols have a house on Martha's Vineyard, where the Kennedy couple also had a home. In fact, however, Sawyer was in the Hamptons, a New York beach area, that weekend, so it wasn't a case of her not pitching in to help with a story in her back yard. But people familiar with the situation said at the time that she was not on the air and was unlikely to be for a few days because she was too upset by the tragedy. Sawyer didn't show up for the Monday and Tuesday editions of Good Morning America, finally returning Wednesday, when she reported on subsequent developments in the story. Her absence for four days of a major story one in which she knew the figures in question and could presumably have provided unique insight prompted heated debate in the news business about the message that such a decision sends to viewers.

One senior news executive at a rival network called the decision that thought was echoed by another executive, who said her action made it look "too much like it was all about Diane." Others noted that anchors such as Sawyer are paid their salaries of millions of dollars to be there when a big story breaks and that Sawyer Flil RADIO rant Woods will go on the air Aug. 23 on KFY1-AM (910). His show will be wedged be tween Barry Young, who will be cut down to two hours, and Bob Mohan, who will be pushed back an hour at night. Ken Hamblin syndicated program will lose an hour. The rest of the schedule remains unchanged at least until daylight-saving time ends in the rest of the nation, pushing Rush Limbaugh and Laura Schlessinger back an hour.

Starting in late August, Young will air from 3 to 5 p.m., Woods from 5 to 7 p.m. and Mohan from 7 to 9 p.m. "We have an embarrassment of riches," said Clancy Woods, market manager for AMFM owner of KFYI. "This is an evolutionary process moving toward becoming as accessible to listeners as possible." In addition, Clancy Woods has hired Todd Wallace as director of AM operations. Wallace has worked as a radio consultant since his departure from his 1994-97 job as program director at KTAR-AM (620) and KKLT-FM (98.7).

Around town Bill Gardner was hailed by his boss as a "can't miss" personality when he joined the staff of KOOL-FM (94.5) in mid-January. His first ratings period, covering January through March, made that comment look more precarious than prescient. But his second ratings "book," covering spring '99, showed him with the biggest gain in Valley radio. His show moved from 13th- to fourth-most-popular morning show in town. Morning shows are important to radio stations for several reasons: They have the biggest audience, they get people to set stations for the day, and they have the biggest advertising income.

That's why stations are so pleased to have a Bill Heywood (KTAR-AM, 620), a Tim and Willy (KNIX-FM, 102.5) or a Beth and Bill (KESZ-FM, 99.9), who finished 1-2-3. Heywood's numbers were up, due in part to a busy news run. KMX and KEZ's were down KEZ's drastically so, a return to Earth after the Christmas-music- fueled stratospheric ratings of last fall and winter. Other morning shows falling off in the ratings were Ben and Brian at KMLE-FM (107.9), Dave Pratt at KUPD-FM (97.9), Danny Davis and Charley Martin at KOY-AM (1230), and, to a lesser degree, Stan-' Barnes and Ed Walsh at KFYI-AM (910). Besides Heywood, the other big gainer was Melissa Sharpe at KYOT-FM (95.5), whose show moved from 14th to eight.

Arizona KNAIKPHF (88.3) Spanish regionalChristian KEAR (88.9) Christian KBAQ (89.5) Classical KFl.R (90.3) Christian KGCB (90.9) Christian KJZZ (91.5) NPR newstalkjazz KKFR (92.3) Urban Top 40 KDKB (93.3) Album rock KSWG (94.1) Country KOOL (94.5) Oldies KYOT (95.5) Contemporary jazz KLVA (96.3105.5) Christian KMXP (96.9) Rock adult contemporary KRXS (97.3) Adult alternative KUPD (97.9) Album rock KKLT (98.7) Adult contemporary George should have been on the air Monday even if she couldn't report over the weekend. Still others are concerned about the increasing perception that reporters aren't detached enough from those they are reporting on. Not too long ago, CBS News hired former Rep. Susan Molinari as an anchor (she is no longer at the netwofk), and ABC News has been grooming former Clinton spokesman and ABC News commentator George Stephanopoulos as a possible anchor he filled in recently, at Good Morning America. One high-ranking executive at another network defended Sawyer's decision.

"If you have a senior employee who says she needs to be away from her job and who clearly understands the seriousness of those actions, you have to trust her," he said. No critics have denied that it is an awkward situation to report on a tragedy involving someone to whom a reporter has a close connection. There was no criticism that NBC's Maria Shriver and Fox News' Douglas Kennedy both cousins of Kennedy weren't on the air. Many think that Christiane Amanpour, a reporter for CNN and CBS News and a longtime friend of Kennedy hit the right balance: She did a single interview for both organizations, although some Kennedy associates were appalled that she did even that ,1 KBZG (99.3104.3) oldies KESZ (99.9) Adult contemporary KDDJ (100.3) Modern rock KSLX (100.7) Classic rock KESP (101.1) Classic hits KZON (101.5) Rock alternative KN1X (102.5) Country KLNZ (103.5) Spanish regional KPTY (103.9) Top 40-alternative KZZP (104.7) Contemporary hits KMYL (105.3) Adult standards KHOT (105.9) Spanish regional KEDJ (106.3) Modern rock KMJK (106.992.7)) Urban adult contemporary KVVA (107.1) Spanish contemporary KMLE (107.9) Country KMYL (1 190) Adult standards KOY (1230) Adult standards KHEP(1280) Newstalk KXAM (1310) Talk KFDJ (1360) Modern rock KSUN (1400) Spanish KSLX (1440) Classic rock KPHX (1480) Spanish KFNN (1510) Business KASA (1540) ChristianSpanish KM1K (1580) Children AM RADIO ABC's Diane Sawyer has denied that she stayed away from her work because she was upset over the crash of John F. Kennedy plane and Insists that her absence was due to "personal obligations." HoltzAssociated Press much.

At a Tuesday session with the nation's TV critics, Sawyer denied that she had stayed away because she was upset, insisting that her absence was due to "feeling that I had, I think, some personal obligations that I should make sure that I served." She repeatedly declined to specify what those obligations were, but people familiar with the "situation said that during those days, she was with Anthony Radziwill, a cousin of Kennedy and a former ABC News producer with whom she worked closely for many years, and his wife, Carole, who still works at the network, as a 2020 producer. ABC News President David Westin defended Sawyer's right to be off the air and not tell reporters why, saying: "There is a right of people to privacy, and I respect that." But ABC News sources said that Westin tried hard to persuade Sawyer to return to the anchor chair earlier but that she declined. Sawyer said at the news conference that Westin "agreed with me" on her decision to stay away. Westin also said Sawyer's absence wasn't a problem because ABC was fully staffed with most of its other major anchors, including Peter Jennings and Walters. "If we didn't have that deep a bench and we needed Diane and we couldn't cover the story, it might well have come out a different way," Westin said.

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