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Art Bell Retires -- A Void it's up to us to Fill

The announcement last Friday the 31st of March that Art Bell, host the "Coast to Coast AM" radio talk show had decided to retire came as no real shock to any of his devoted listeners. Bell had been under siege for more than a year, first due to a series of private family concerns and then due to a very public series of attacks that left him exasperated and angry. These issues had forced him to cut back his broadcast schedule on the highly successful "Coast to Coast," and when he did not resume his full weekly schedule it seemed obvious that his private concerns had chipped away at his resolve to continue the program. We should have seen it coming, and most of us did. It is a credit to the kind of talent that Art has that when he was on the air, his performance suffered not one bit from all of the concerns dragging him down. Indeed, when compared to the various and sundry substitute hosts that attempted to fill his sizable broadcast shoes, the difference in attention to detail and knowledge of his subject was all too palpable and sometimes even embarrassing. Art is a master interviewer, always knowing how to draw the best out of his guests and never, ever missing an opportunity to ask the right follow up questions and pursue the issues to their fullest and logical conclusion. The same, sadly, cannot be said of the substitutes.

I had the good fortune to be a guest on Bell's show on December 30th, 1998 with Richard C. Hoagland. It was quite a thrill, since I had been listening as an avid fan for many years and getting a gig on Art's show had been one of my ambitions since I started my own foray into the paranormal with this web page. I had always assumed that there would be other opportunities, and there were, but now with Art leaving it just won't be the same. Art brought something special to the table. More than just his passion for the subjects or for the radio program itself, he has a certain kind of dignity that fosters respect beyond that normally reserved for mere radio talk show hosts.

I had occasion to talk with Art several times since my initial appearance on his show. At no time during any of these conversations did I detect the slightest hint of insincerity or cynicism about the man or the show. When Richard C. Hoagland suffered his heart attack, Bell called me in a hotel room in Detroit, Michigan late at night. He had not the slightest concern for the very real possibility that he might be losing his "star" guest. His sole interest was the fate of a man he had come to regard as a friend. That, and his subsequent actions in keeping his audience informed at every step of Richard's recovery is, to my mind anyway, the best measure of a man that I really don't know all that well. Just as with Richard C. Hoagland, there is virtually no difference (as near as I have been able to detect) between the on air personality and the off air man. In short, Bell is the real deal.

Perhaps that is what made the show magic. There was a genuine connection between Bell and his audience that made "Coast to Coast" the best five hours of radio on the planet. With all due kudos to Rush Limbaugh, Art's program never suffered from the sometimes boorish behavior of its host or a disrespect for the audience that sometimes characterizes that show. Art Bell was the program, but he never let himself be bigger than the program.

All of which led to the creation of a very special place in the world of media. Bell's show is more than just a forum for the paranormal. It is, in fact -- to use an overused phrase -- an agent of real change. Art and his audience have made a major difference in the worlds of politics and science. His show has given exposure to many alternative ideas and men of science that would have been ignored or ridiculed without the careful take that "Coast to Coast" took on their offerings. Among many others, we would know far less about the truth of what happened to TWA-800, what NASA has really been up to over 40 years, and many alternative ideas in energy and physics without him. This audience has forced NASA, through the fax campaign started by Bell and Hoagland, to re-photograph the Cydonia region of Mars.

Now think about that. We, -- us -- the Bell audience, actually forced NASA to take images of something they desperately did not want to take pictures of. We cannot control how they manipulated them afterwards, but we forced the hand of major government agency to do something it demonstrably didn't want to do. We know that NASA scientists and major politicians listen to his show in the smoke filled back rooms of government to find out what's "really" going on.

That folks, is real power.

Which brings me to the second and most difficult part of this article. I have come here not to bury Bell, but to praise him. I still hope that someday in the not too distant future, Art will have resolved his personal issues and relight the fire that will put him back where he belongs -- on the air. But whether he can or not, we are in danger of losing this extraordinary forum, this agent of change, if we do not nurture it.

It seems that the network which owns Art's show, Premiere radio networks, is leaning towards plugging one of the substitute hosts into Art's spot. This, to my mind, would be an unmitigated disaster. What Premiere has done to this point with the hosts has been to test a series of radio "Pro's," men and women with a track record in talk radio, for Art's spot. Unfortunately, they seem to be leaning toward one or two of these as Art's replacement.

As stated above, these hosts, while clearly competent to push the right buttons and hit the breaks, completely lack the passion or knowledge of the subjects at hand to keep the magic going. This shows a complete lack of appreciation on the part of the network for what Art's show really is, for what it can and has done to change the way we look at the world. If the "suits" at Premiere have their way and pick the best of this mediocre and indifferent lot, the show will die. If the show falls into the wrong hands, all that we have accomplished, the ability to democratize our space program and take back control of our own government, will be lost. "They" will win.

We cannot allow this to happen.

My sources tell me that Art has been given no input whatsoever into who gets to take the helm of his baby. This is tragic, but perhaps understandable. Art doesn't pay the bills at Premiere. We do. We are the audience that has made this show what it is.

And we do have a choice.

I know for a fact that when Art left the air for the first time, back in October 1998, that Richard C. Hoagland was offered an opportunity to take the seat. He turned it down at that time because he was convinced that Art was coming back. Subsequently, I know that a few weeks ago Richard was approached by Premiere, ostensibly as a "once a week" host, to sit in for Art. It seemed at that time that Richard was being given an opportunity to "try out" for the chance to host the show full time in the event that Art quit. The whole thing advanced very quickly, to the point of contracts being offered and a date being set, Saturday March the 18th. I know all this because I was one of the scheduled guests for the evening, along with another very credible and very interesting guest who was going to enlighten us about some of the more curious and embarrassing facts in JPL's past. Shortly after the setting of this guest schedule, Premiere pulled the plug on Richard and substituted an embarrassingly bad guest host being pushed by one of the network insiders for Art's job.

Since then, as far as I know, there has been no further contact from Premiere. They seem set on shoving the choice of the "suits" down the throat of the audience without any consideration as to who or what we want to hear on "our" show. Besides the issue of whether or not we are given a voice in the selection of a new host, I also think there are other fundamental issues of fairness here. I frankly don't know if Richard will be a good host or not. What I do know is that he has proven to be a fantastic guest over the years, and that as such he has probably been as responsible for the success of the show in that time as anyone other than Art. Just on pure fairness alone, he deserves the chance to show what he can do behind the mike, especially after having the rug pulled out from under him at the last minute. His history on the show demands that he be given a fair test. As it stands now, neither he nor the audience that made the show what it is, are going to get a fair hearing.

We can change this, just as we changed NASA's mind about photographing Cydonia. What we have to do is let the network know, through faxes, calls, and e-mails, just what we want.

I think Richard should be given a chance to host the show. Anybody can carry on the mechanics of the program, follow the format, hit the breaks, but we need somebody who can carry on the spirit of the show as well. Somebody who has the same integrity and honesty and respect for the audience that Art had.

Richard C. Hoagland.

I don't know what Richard wants at this point. In fact, I suspect that if knew I was suggesting what I am about suggest, he would be embarrassed about it and try to call me off. I know he does not want to host a show full time. But we need at least one of the participating hosts to have the same passion for it that Art does.

So what we need to to do is bombard Premiere with the idea that we, the audience, need to have a say in who takes over our baby. Maybe everybody reading this doesn't agree that Richard should be given a chance to host the show, maybe you have someone else in mind. The point is, we should have a say in it. Right now, we do not.

I suggest that we start sending faxes and phone calls and e-mails to Premiere right now, insisting that Richard be given a chance to host the show. Even more, in the time we have left with Art on the air, we need to call the show on the air and let the network know over the airwaves that we want our voice heard on the selection of a new host.

If we fail to do this, we risk losing everything that we, and Art, have built over the last seven or eight years. We owe Art more than that for all he has given us in that time.

Mike Bara

Premiere contact info:

E-mail for Premiere President Kraig Kitchin: kkitchin@premiereradio.com :

Premiere fax # (Medford Office): (541) 664-8261

I don't have the fax # for the Premiere office in LA, but when I get it I will post it.

Most important: Call the show on air!

Western US: 800-618-8255 (toll free)
Eastern US: 800-825-5033 (toll free)
First time caller: 775-727-1222
Satellite listener: 775-727-1222
Wild card line: 775-727-1295 (anyone can call)
International Toll Free: (ATT USA Direct Access Number) 800-893-0903
24 Hour FAX: 775-727-8499 (3 page limit)

This fax # is Art's. Maybe if we flood it with requests we can get Art to forward them to the network.