ATLANTA (WXIA) – Long-time Atlanta radio host Steve McCoy has been fired.
The longtime media personality lost his job at NewsRadio 106.7 after doctoring an interview with Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump.
Radio industry insiders Friday said McCoy, who was more entertainer than journalist, made a major mistake.
The interview was fake, but the consequences for McCoy were real. Friday morning, WYAY general manager Sean Shannon emailed a statement to 11Alive News saying in part, "For obvious reasons, McCoy no longer works at the station."
The obvious reasons being sound from a long-ago interview with Trump, which McCoy presented as having been done this week.
"Steve McCoy brought his DJ and entertainer background into a news situation," said talk radio consultant Randall Bloomquist.
Bloomquist left the station in January, just before McCoy signed on. He says the re-packaging of interviews in entertainment radio is far more common.
"Tricks that are maybe acceptable when you're doing a bit about the Kardashians, but simply isn't acceptable when you're talking about a presidential candidate," Bloomquist said.
"He didn't use good judgment," said radio and television host Tom Sullivan.
Sullivan has known McCoy for years, and has recently hosted podcasts with him. Sullivan also knows what else McCoy has been battling.
"Steve is kind of dealing with a diagnosis of Parkinson's Disease," he said. "This is something that we've known about for awhile, and he's come out with it today."
McCoy did not respond to request from 11Alive News for an interview, but those who know him, hope his Atlanta reputation extends beyond this job-costing offense.
"I wouldn't judge him on this one incident. Look at his history here in Atlanta – Raising money for CURE Childhood Cancer," Sullivan said. "He wanted to get up at 3 a.m., and go in and do the news. He loves radio, but what he did though, he got Trumped."
McCoy came to Atlanta in 1981, working for numerous radio and television stations – including 11Alive. Before this year, he had been off the air since 2010.
