Here are brief sketches of some top-rated radio talkmeisters.
LARRY KING, Mutual Broadcasting and CNN, Washington: Has conducted more than 30,000 interviews in four decades on air; 400 radio stations; TV program seen worldwide. "I am not a journalist," he writes. "I'm an interviewer, a TV and radio personality - an entertainer."
GENE BURNS, WOR Network, New York: Talk host for 27 years; more than 100 stations; conservative/libertarian views; incoming president, National Association of Talk Radio Show Hosts. Talk radio, he says, "is raw, rough and tumble, occasionally hostile but basically honest and unfiltered."
JERRY WILLIAMS, WRKO, Boston: Forty years in broadcasting; at WRK0 since 1983; one-time liberal, now harshly criticizes taxes, government spending and politicians of all parties. He calls talk hosts "radio politicians without portfolio. . . . We can talk on anything."
MARY BEAL and DOUG STEPHAN, Independent Broadcasters Network, Wichita, Kan., and Framingham, Mass.: Paired on nationally syndicated program for three years; 135 stations, predominantly smaller cities and rural areas; Stephan takes conservative stands, Beal is more moderate. "We respect each other," Beal says, "but we don't always see eye to eye."
MICHAEL JACKSON, KABC, Los Angeles: Veteran of nation's first all-talk station; on air since 1965; British native, cerebral style; moderate to liberal views; critical of conservative hosts. "They don't generally welcome opinions different from their own," he says.
HOWARD STERN, Infinity Broadcasting (WXRK), New York: "Shock-jock" heard by 15 million listeners; on air since 1980; wrote best-selling autobiography, "Private Parts"; Infinity was fined more than $1 million by FCC for indecency. "I don't think that you can go too far on radio," he tells a reporter.
DON IMUS, WFAN, New York: Irreverent morning host on all-sports station; on air for more than 20 years; topics range from scatology to politics. "I'm Howard Stern with a vocabulary," he tells an interviewer. "I'm the man he wishes he could be."
C. MILES SMITH, WGST, Atlanta: Hosts "hippest trip on talk radio"; studied drama in college; on air since 1989; criticizes "so-called civil rights leaders"; endorses Nation of Islam leader Louis Farrakhan. "I think every black man ought to have a gun," he tells listeners.
RAY SUAREZ, National Public Radio, Washington: TV news reporter for 10 years; NPR host since April 1993; only Hispanic host of national talk program. "Listeners are driving the conversation," he says. "Calling `Talk of the Nation' and saying `Ditto, Ray' is just not enough."
BRUCE WILLIAMS, Talk Net, New Port Richey, Fla.: Top-rated nighttime syndicated program; about 325 stations; 19 years on air; listeners set the agenda, mostly personal or financial problems. "My program is vanilla," he says, "but vanilla is the most popular flavor."