KDKA Radio has a long and storied history in the 100 years since it was founded in 1920, which will be honored Thu., Sept. 3 at the Press Club of Western Pennsylvania’s annual Golden Quill Awards. KDKA Radio will receive a Service to Journalism award for its contributions to the profession.
But the radio station is also under fire this week, as once again Wendy Bell, one of its most public-facing radio hosts, has made comments enraging many Pittsburghers.
“My easy solution for the park rangers, and hopefully snipers who are hopefully going to be watching for this, is to shoot on sight. [Shooting noise] Shoot. Done,” said Bell, about protesters targeting Mount Rushmore during a June 26 episode of her radio show. “No more messing with monuments. You wanna mess with a monument? Done.”
Bell is no stranger to controversy, as she has repeatedly come under fire for comments made during her KDKA Radio show. But this week, the clip of her suggesting that park rangers shoot people protesting monuments went viral, and many Pittsburghers on social media criticized Bell. The opposition against her was so strong that KDKA-TV, which is not affiliated with the radio station, issued a statement reminding people that Bell doesn’t work for the station, as many people were complaining about her to KDKA-TV. (KDKA Radio is owned by Entercom, while KDKA-TV owned by VIacomCBS.)
