TOP TALKER

When Michael Jackson says that a talk radio host’s job is not to be conservative or liberal, I quite agree (“Still the Talk of the Town,” by Judith Michaelson, Dec. 1). But, over the years, he has become increasingly more partisan. He is crankier with those who disagree with his liberal views than he once was.

Given a list of 20 issues, I can predict Jackson’s position on all of them. It happens that I agree with many of his views, but he is deluding himself if he thinks he is a paragon of objectivity.

I have been a guest on his show on several occasions, and admire his professionalism. He is by far the best in-person interviewer around. But unbiased he is not!

SIMON SAYRE

Ojai

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What’s with KABC? First they took away an hour from Michael Jackson and gave it to Dennis Prager. Recently they took away another 15 minutes and gave it to Paul Harvey.

Jackson’s is the only talk show with class and intelligence and appeals to those of us who reject the garbage that is on other talk shows. If KABC is dumb enough to let him go, he will have no problem finding employment at another station, and where he leadeth we will follow.

LENORE ULRICH

Torrance

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Like so many other self-avowed liberals who have access to a microphone, Michael Jackson makes much ado about his conservative competition without acknowledging one important fact: Every major news outlet or syndicate, either in print or in broadcast form, champions the liberal (read Democratic) point of view almost exclusively in their interpretation of news events and issues.

Even though Jackson attempts to elicit sympathy for his faltering ratings by citing the appeal of so-called “self-righteous nasty” conservative talk-show hosts, in the same interview he takes an ideological shot at anyone who does not agree with his politics by smugly intimating that liberals somehow possess a deeper insight into life by being able to “treat people as equals.”

I would remind him that most of us out here in the hinterland are smart enough to separate hyperbole from reality. That’s why the conservative view is gaining momentum with middle America, and that’s why he and his ilk are fighting an uphill battle for ratings.

FRED ROMERO

Simi Valley

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Michael Jackson is a national treasure. He does a wonderful job of educating while entertaining. We need more people like him on the air. I hope KABC management continues to understand and value his unique contribution.

SUSAN GUILFORD

Orange

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I assume that Judith Michaelson has not spent much time listening to Michael Jackson’s show or she would have challenged some of his answers to her questions.

He states that “nobody ever says no to me when it comes to being a guest,” yet he whined for days that Michael Huffington wouldn’t do the show. He has had groups of gangsta rappers on his show, some admitted killers, and treated them with far more respect than he treated Gennifer Flowers.

Jackson used to be objective in his interviews, but he now is as radical as some he criticizes. And he has a very rude and annoying habit of making soft-spoken replies while his telephone caller is speaking.

JO WETTON

Temple City

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Although I do not agree with Michael Jackson’s politics, he has the best array of guests of any talk show anywhere.

RICHARD SHOWSTACK

Newport Beach

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Jackson is a radical-liberal and as phony as his hair!

FRANK THOMAS MURPHY

Glendale