Oregon Media Insiders

It would be interesting, of course, to find out the "why", and then equally as interesting to hear how the Mighty Lars himself will spin it. In any event, she'll be missed because she was competent and smart. This business is getting stranger and stranger.

Best of luck down the road.

We can only hope that Lars will be next.

"Larson describes KXL, Portland producer Shawn Taylor as my “wife at work” and perhaps that’s not a bad metaphor for the kind of relationship"--old Talkeers magazine item

Is it possible that Lars found out she is a registered Democrat? Or maybe she was overheard saying something about a public employee?

but she has dual citizenship both in USA and Canada. Maybe Lars had an "illegal" running his show?

How could she not be better off? I've thought many a time that she had the worst job in the world. There must be a 20 year old sycophant lined up.

Shawn was the best. She'll land on her feet.

I don't have any strong feelings about Lars and his program either way. However, I've listened enough to sense that the act is beginning to lose its punch. Immigration's a hot issue---but not as a 24/7 main dish. Bashing politicians is fun enough, but resorting to schoolyard name calling tends to discourage the moderate listeners that hope for some enlightenment. I think the former journalist is now trapped in a box he'd like to break out of. Trouble is he built the box pretty well.

It's possible the old producer was holding him back. It's just a wild guess but the show went stale and she got axed. There may be no connection but I think we've all worked with producers who lacked either the initiative, experience, or savvy to put together a compelling product. I'm anchoring on a lazy producer's program right now and it sucks. Producing is an interesting job in that you can work very hard---or not hard at all. Sometimes it takes a while to sort out the wheat from the chaf.

It is really a shame about Shawn. She would constantly go to bat for Lars and defend him (like a good producer should) but to flat out fire the girl is pretty stupid. How many times, EVEN IN THE LAST YEAR, have we heard Lars glow on the air about Shawn. I don't get it. Everbody gets fired in radio, but its usually when things are going bad. Lars still is strong in the ratings and he has a national show that just picked up stations in LA and San Diego. I don't get it....best of luck Shawn!

A friend who knows Shawn says that she's a smart, interesting woman who worked hard. She wasn't lazy and definitely had initiative. I think Lars owes a lot of his success to his producers -- and an apology to Shawn! And he owes us this: quit bashing illegal immigration. Read to get some fresh ideas, Lars.

So is this confirmed? Her name is still listed on the KXL website.

Firing someone just before Xmas. That's SOOOOOO family values, right Lars.

where is Shawn? Anyone have her email address?

I heard that Lars did a MAJOR blow up in Shawn's face shortly before she was fired. I've heard different versions of what happened, but it supposedly had something to do with some confusion about one of the guests on the show that didn't work out. In addition, Shawn was reportedly upset about not getting the producer's job for Lars national show.

Since he was off between Christmas and New Year's, Santa Lars could have shown some class and waited until the new year to pipe her.

I hadn't listened to Larson for at least a year, until I happened across his show the other day. Maybe it's just me but he seems to have gotten even nastier than the last time I heard him. He ranted for several minutes about the first Portland-area baby born in '08 being a so-called "anchor baby" ... and as if that alone wasn't ugly enough, it soon became clear he hadn't even bothered to verify the infant's parents' immigration status -- he just inferred it based on the fact that they spoke to the media through an interpreter! How anyone who believes in "family values" (or even basic human decency) can support or defend this vile bigot is unfathomable to me.

I’m not in the media business, but I simply don't understand how anyone with an IQ over forty can listen seriously to Larson for over five minutes. He has to be (with apologies to Victoria Taft -- who tries real hard) the vilest individual on local radio. Simple invectives combined with a sneering, dismissive persona to anyone who dares offer a differing viewpoint, added to a nearly total lack of humor does not make great radio.

Larson is one of 2 media people locally that have the balls to tell it like it is on "undocumented immigrants" and the raft of ancillary problems they float over the border with.

Political correctness seems to have sissified most of Blue Oregon to the point where calling a spade a spade nets you a badge of racism - how sad.
Seems Blue Oregon isn't the bulwark for the First Amendment they claim to be. But we all knew that years ago. Too bad they were not cognizant enough to realize that a spine is internal, not something strapped on the the Democrat Party.

Fair use quote:

Lars Larson producer sues KXL over firing
Posted by The Oregonian February 14, 2008 14:50PM
http://blog.oregonlive.com/breakingnews/2008/02/lars_larson_producer_sue...

[edited for actual fair use. Quoting the entire article is not fair use. Also? Bumping this to post status, and clarifying this is not Shawn Taylor but a different producer.--L]