Kga Talk-Radio Host Won’t Be Reprimanded Clear Repeated Rumors About Seattle Mayor Rice

KGA radio show host Richard Clear will not be reprimanded for spreading a scandalous rumor about Seattle Mayor Norm Rice, the program manager for the Spokane station said Tuesday.

Clear, in a simulcast with Seattle talk show host Mike Siegel last week, repeated unsubstantiated rumors that Rice was shot by his wife while he was having sex with a male aide.

Rice, a Democratic candidate for governor, held a news conference May 13 to deny the charge and blast so-called “hot-talk” radio shows as “hate-talk.” Siegel publicly apologized the same day, saying he shouldn’t have allowed the rumors to be broadcast on his show.

On Monday, Seattle’s KVI radio station suspended Siegel. He was not fired, but officials for Fisher Broadcasting said they were calling “a time-out … to fully and completely investigate all sides of the issue.”

No time-out is needed in Spokane, said KGA program director Dean Allen.

“I stand behind Richard,” he said, adding that Citadel Broadcasting, which owns the station, does not plan any disciplinary action.

Allen said Clear repeatedly told listeners the rumors were unsubstantiated and were started by a fired city water department employee who may not be credible.

“We were doing nothing factual….These were alleged allegations,” Allen said.

Added Clear, “We didn’t ask anybody to believe it. What we did ask is, ‘This (rumor) has been out there for two years. Does anybody think it ought to be answered?”’

Clear said he knows of only one person who complained to the station about his comments. Newspapers are playing up the controversy to make talk radio look bad, he said.

A Spokane disc jockey and talk show host since 1978, Clear joined KGA in 1994 when the station switched from country music to its all-talk format.

He is a persistent critic of Spokane Police Chief Terry Mangan, President Clinton and The Spokesman-Review.

In 1994, Clear confronted Tom Foley, then-speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives.

“People have stated even on this program that you are a homosexual. Would you like to address that?” Clear asked Foley.

Foley responded angrily, calling the allegations “terrible and slanderous suggestions.”

Tuesday, he said it also was fair to raise the allegations about Rice, even though the Seattle politician had not been invited on the show to respond.

“I didn’t know I was going to talk about it. It just came up,” Clear said. “That’s the nature of extemporaneous talk radio.”

Clear said he has invited Rice to appear on his show since airing the rumor. Rice has not responded, he said.

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