Transmitter Not Only Victim Of Lightning Strike At WDHP Radio
What did they know and when did they know it? O'Bryan's departure sparks firestorm at WDHP
The lightning strike on Wednesday was just the beginning of the drama for radio station WDHP this week.
From the time morning mainstay and now gubernatorial candidate Jimmy O’Bryan formally announced his candidacy Tuesday morning, to the arrival of the new morning host, former senator Norma Pickard-Samuel, on Friday, the station, and the controversy surrounding O’Bryan’s departure, have been as much of the news as the upcoming primary election.
Drama for everyone.
Norma Pickard-Samuel is the new morning host on WDHP, 1620 AM
We at CIF want to welcome Ms. Samuel and wish her the best in her new venture. Her voice and her views are familiar on the airwaves, and we look forward to her commentary and perspective during this most interesting time.
But the events that preceded her arrival still baffle us. Here’s the chronology.
After a couple of months of heavy hinting, O’Bryan announced formally Tuesday on the Jamila Russell show that he would be entering the gubernatorial Democratic primary for Governor. On Tuesday afternoon, on the Mario Moorhead show, Moorhead, in conversations with several callers, indicated that O’Bryan’s departure came as a surprise for Mr. Hugh Pemberton, the station owner. In fact, Moorhead said, he was asked by Pemberton to “recruit” for O’Bryan’s replacement.
Gubernatorial candidate and former radio host Jimmy O'Bryan
The inference – no the outright statement – that O’Bryan had left his post without informing Pemberton of his departure and therefore in the lurch for coverage for the all important morning slot triggered a firestorm of negative backlash against O’Bryan who, for the past year, has been one strong voice in opposition to the current Administration and a standard bearer for the not-so-quiet political revolution overtaking the Virgin Islands.
Wednesday morning, lightning stuck (literally) – and the station was down until the afternoon.
On Thursday morning, Moorhead’s voice greeted listeners and continued until the delayed broadcast of the Legislature filled most of the rest of the day. Moorhead said he would man the post Thursday and Friday morning until a replacement for O’Bryan could be found.
But on Friday, Pickard-Samuel’s voice was introduced as the new morning voice of 1620AM.
Before going any farther, let us say this – the most important thing is that someone is in that morning time slot so that the message and the conversation that is so critical to this election season can continue. It would have been a tragedy, whatever the back story, to cut off one of the few remaining opposition voices as we approach the September primary and November general election.
But what really happened between O’Bryan and the station?
Mario Moorhead pictured here en route to Unity Day Rally on St. Thomas last May.
As late as today’s (Friday’s) program, Moorhead stated on his program that Pemberton was not the type of business manager who would allow a situation like the sudden absence of the morning host to occur if he had prior knowledge that O’Bryan planned to run, thereby causing him to have to replace the position of radio host. What that leaves us with is the ongoing assertion that Pemberton was unaware that O’Bryan was serious about seeking the nomination and therefore, had made no arrangements for his replacement.
Frankly, we find that hard to believe.
Now, we know this has been a tough year for 1620, starting with Sen. Louis Patrick Hill’s failed attempt to get Moorhead removed from the airwaves through this most recent “crisis.” And we have said often that the forum that the station provides is a necessary voice for “information and enlightenment” in an environment when most other mainstream media seems to be squarely in the pocket of the deJongh Administration.
And, based on the responses on the radio and on this website, the public has certainly embraced the belief that O’Bryan’s departure was indeed the surprise to Pemberton that is being portrayed.
But in fairness, we must tell you, that CIF has received many calls and messages that say that O’Bryan’s intentions were known to Pemberton and that the picture being painted this week is being driven by motives that have not yet been made apparent to the “listening audience.”
We cannot know what conversations took place between O’Bryan and Pemberton and can only present the information on this story as we know it. What we do know is that there is more to this story than meets the eye, and we wait patiently to hear its resolution.
In the meantime, we are grateful that a solution has been found and that a significant time slot has been filled. In the world of political strategy, it is common to create an issue to distract the opposition from the task at hand – this may be one such distraction.
So we encourage our readers to let Pemberton and the family at Reef Broadcasting solve their own problems, and return our attention to the matter at hand.
Because the truth is, the only impact we feel is relevant is that there is another team in the Democratic primary and that is the initiative we should focus on.
Enough said.
and your an idiot who seeks attention through your nonsensical ramblings. So bbthe70s, deal with it. Shows the type of person you are by agreeing herb is a racist and still agreeing and defending a person like him.
Yep.
Did you graduate from high school Senator Donastorg? Bring some proof.
Ha! Ha! Ha! De Jongh you all are so desperate and pathetic. ‘Captain de ship is sinking………..’ LMAO!!!!!!!
John better be careful, with all of that fat surrounding his heart he might get a heart attack when the primary results come in. Instead of man down, his supporters will scream ‘WHALE DOWN!’
You alwys asking someone to bring proof! This is the 21st century, the thing in frot of you is called a COMPUTER, use it and do your own dmn research. Maybe, you didnt finish school and your friend sitting next to you is helping you get on this site to talk totl crap. Maybe its because you dewolf people are just getting so afraid as time draws near to the debate that you are trying anything and everything. HA HA HA HA You all are too damn childish….Why dont you check your pack leaders schooling before you try to talk about someone elses!
It’s a Yes/No question.
its not a yes no question….My gosh are you that stupid? You asked a question and then made a statement relative to your question. You asked if, if he graduated? Yes. Thes you sid Bring proof. To that I say look it up! My gosh do I have to spell it all out for you? WHere the hell did you graduate from? Oh yeah, your in the wolf pack! Sorry your excused, you can go nd sit in the corner with the rest of the wolverines come Sept 11th!
So the answer is Yes. If you SAY so Insider.
No I did what you should have done in the first place! I also looked up the university of pheonix, and guess what A $ $. He is an alum of there too. Damn you wolverines are pulling at straws. So tell me is your masters credentials good as well?? Yes/No???
de Jongh graduated from high school at the age of 20! He then attend a BULLSH_T college that has since then been shut down. De Jongh has been fired and failed at nearly every job he ever has.
He alomost bankrupt, Charlies Trucking, screwd up the financials at Lockhart LLC, was fired as Commissioner as Finance (the guy is a dunce and didn’t know what the hell he was doing), was removed as Governor Farrelly’s executive Assistant because he was plotting against the VI and secretly giving a private company classified Government info so they could buy WICO knowing that Governor Farrely was in the process of purchasing the WICO dock for the VI, sat on the Board at WAPA and was lost and confused about what was being discussed (the guy never had one), has scraped through life getting in key positions because of his families last name and favors people owe his father.
John de Jongh has always been a no knowledge having, incompetent fool. It is sad that we have to see the blunders and idiocracy of this one man played out infront of a Caribbean and National Audience. We have official become a circus in the eyes of the world because our ring master, John de Jongh, is a Fat, Ridiculous, Evil, Vindictice, Unintelligent Clown.
Mr. P you should have stayed far away from Norma. Norma threatened veterans that came onto this website to express their displeasure with her as a senator. Norma even went as far as suggesting that the administrators of this site were providing her bloggers IP addresses to sue individuals for exposing her.
Norma you got a bigger problem on your hand and let us see if you are going to threaten that other demmansay web site like you threatened CIF bloggers.
Is it true what that other demansay web site is saying about you Norma? Mapp when you copy off of de Wolf and surround your self with trash the outcome could only be the same.
Norma that is a very nasty article about you and your pees. Now go threaten that other demmansay website because you got a big credibility problem on your hands.
If Foncie went to Bassett High from 1976-80 like he says he did and also attended IEKHS and CAHS like his bio says then how many years did he spend in high shool Insider? Now we know he was a modified student as a slow learner so I’m curious to hear this explanation.
No one is listening to you John, your days are numbered. You have nothing on Donastorg. HAAAAAAAAAAA!
I can see the beads of sweat dripping from de Jongh’s forehead. De Jongh is a loser…a liar……and a thief.
Here we are,a few short weeks from the primary and still talking about who has and who hasn’t a degree as if any of that matters.Keep it up and you’ll wake up one morning wondering why you’re still being
governed by the same people you say need to be removed from office.
Ignore it. The bloggers are de Jongh”s wolves trying to distract us. They are very desperate. Things are not going well for John at all.
Ju Ju’s a comming…Ju Ju’s a coming and senden all ah we home!
What?
Anon @4.38…you,sah,need to be kept home.