2007 Turkeys of the Year

It's not just that their allegedly wacky group of character voices includes a redneck and a lisping gay guy, it's that — if listening to the show is any indication — they apparently haven't had an original thought in years. Last month — in 2007, mind you — they spent a whole segment discussing, and taking as gospel, that idiotic list of people whom the Clintons supposedly have had killed.

And then there's KTRH, long known as the city's leading news station. Back in the day (say, the early '90s) it had up to three dozen people staffing regular beats (City Hall, the courts) and breaking investigative news.

Now there's maybe half that number of people, and they ain't breakin' much. Unless you count rip-and-reading that morning's Chronicle.

"A viable news operation has been slowly frittered away," one KTRH alum says.

Berry has shown a keen eye for spotting potential ethical problems — and then acting like they don't exist. He is, after all, the boss of KTRH, which occasionally covers City Council. Including City Council member Michael Berry. Doesn't bother him.

Not to mention that he now has the station's two legendary anchors, JP Pritchard and Lana Hughes, doing advertisements for clients. Because you want a name you can trust, whether it's telling you about the latest Metro scandal or the wonderful Lasik work you can get from Dr. Jeff Whitsitt.

But maybe Berry's not to blame.

"I do know other people that interviewed for that position, and one of them said when he started to lay out his vision for reviving KTRH, it became clear that Clear Channel headquarters just wanted a yes man who would do their bidding," the KTRH alum says.

"Maybe Michael Berry isn't the [media] turkey of the year," he said. "Maybe Clear Channel is, and Berry's just the wattle hanging from its neck, going in whatever direction they want."

Bitter? Maybe. But seeing some great radio stations die can do that to a person.

(To revisit our honorees for the past four years, click here.)

rich.connelly@houstonpress.com