Bruce Bond. (Facebook)
Bruce Bond, a veteran and long-time controversial radio host in Pennsylvania, says he quit the station because he was told to stop criticizing President Donald Trump.
Bond hosted a radio show for 92.1 WTPA-FM. PennLive describes him as an “outspoken shock jock.”
Trump won Pennsylvania by a relatively small margin, flipping the state out of the blue column in a surprise upset. The triumvirate of wins in Pennsylvania, Wisconsin and Michigan helped give Trump the White House. The radio station describes itself as “The ROCK of Central PA” and “Harrisburg’s heritage rock station” for more than 30 years. It plays music from 80s bands like Aerosmith and Metallica.
Bond has a colorful past as a radio host in Pennsylvania dating back to the 1980s and was once convicted of defrauding Craig’s List job seekers.
Here’s what you need to know:
1. Bond Says He Was Asked to Stop Disrespecting Trump on the Air & Quit Because He Found That Condition Intolerable
Bruce Bond. (Facebook)
Bond posted a typo-riddled memo he says he received from a man named Tim, the VP and General Manager of the station. He blacked out “Tim’s” last name. According to The New York Daily News, he’s Tim Michaels. “General Manager Tim Michaels says the station has accepted his (Bond’s) resignation and wishes him well,” the newspaper reported.
The memo was dated June 15, 2017. Bond then quit the station. He wasn’t fired.
The memo asks Bond to stop talking disrespectfully about Trump and to “cease political discussion,” saying he was already asked to do so once before.
Bruce,
This is to serve notice that it is not permissible on WTPA airwaves to talk disrectfully (sic) of the President. I have received backlash in the form of emails, phones (sic) calls and suck. I have listeners threatening a boycotts (sic) of sponsors and social media campaigns against the station, I have spoken with several parties personally this week that are very angered and have discontinued listening to WTPA. And are encouraging their friends to do the same. This cannot continue to happen. I have asked previously to cease political discussion. If this cannon be acheieved (sic), we will have no choice but to discontinue the show.”
Here’s the memo as it appears on Bond’s Facebook page:
On Facebook, Bond wrote that he decided to quit when he received the missive because “there is this really ugly political environment in this country with the current President” and because he couldn’t stay in a job if he couldn’t “continue being honest to my fans & listeners.”
2. Bond Wrote That Central Pennsylvania Can’t Handle Someone as ‘Liberal & Brutally Honest’ As Bond
Bruce Bond. (Facebook)
Bond has commented on the situation on his Facebook page.
In one post, he wrote that he was too liberal and brutally honest for central Pennsylvania.
“I really hated to quit my very fun & honest show but under these rules, I could not continue being honest to my fans & listeners,” he wrote. “Toni-Toni-Toni was the best co-host I ever had in radio and we were really having fun every Saturday morning. I’m sorry that there is this really ugly political environment in this country with the current President. Unfortunately, Central PA can’t handle someone as liberal & brutally honest as I can be quite often. Thanks for understanding my side of this story.”
Bond’s profile page was still up on the station’s website on June 20. It was headlined: “Central PA Radio Legend Bruce Bond hosts the ‘Bruce Bond Late Afternoon show….Saturday Morning’ On 92.1 WTPA.”
“Tune in Bruce each Saturday morning from 9am – 12noon His show features special guests, and engaging and interesting conversations on a variety of topics. Bruce has a long history of being one of the most talked about personalities in local radio. And now you can hear him Saturdays on 92.1 WTPA,” the promotional blurb read.
3. Bond’s Career in Pennsylvania Radio Dates to the 1980s & He Was Known for Making Prank Calls
Bruce Bond. (Facebook)
According to PennLive, Bond started working for WTPA three years ago, on “The Bruce Bond Show.”
He had been a Pennsylvania radio host dating back to the 1980s. According to a 2014 PennLive story, Bond was “a well-known host on WNNK-FM in the 1980s and 90s. He was known in the midstate for making prank phone calls and never shying away from sharing his opinion.”
He was brought back to the airwaves because an advertiser mentioned that marketing on Bond’s shows worked well for businesses, according to PennLive.
His first radio job on LinkedIn was in 1980. “I helped program the music for the very popular Z-95/WZZO in the early 80’s. I also met a lot of popular, current rock artists. I was also a radio personality on air during the midday hours,” he wrote.
From 1983 through 2001, he was a radio host for WNNK. “This was certainly the highlight of my career. I was the host of the Bruce Bond Late Afternoon Show and to this day, listeners are yearning for the show to return. We were a radio soap opera that became part of listeners lives. Unfortunately, management did not understand our show and ended our important radio show,” he wrote.
From 2004 to 2011, he owned Bruce Bond Productions, which he described as “My job is to get a ‘broadcasting’ job on some form or what we all used to know as ‘radio.'”
On LinkedIn, Bond says he worked for WTPA since June 2011.
4. Bond Was Previously Convicted in a Fraud Scheme Involving Ads on Craig’s List
Bruce Bond. (Facebook)
Bond has a colorful and checkered past.
According to The Associated Press, in 2008, he was sentenced “to 2-1/3 to 7 years in prison for victimizing the Federal Communications Commission, Bard College and others in a $4.3 million forged check scheme.”
At the time, he was described as a former radio host for WNNK in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania.
The AP reported that Bond “sent bogus checks drawn on corporate accounts to work-at-home job seekers who had replied to Craigslist ads. Prosecutors say recipients cashed the checks, kept 10 percent, and sent the rest to Bond’s accomplices in Europe and Nigeria. The overseas accomplices then sent Bond his cut.”
PennLive confirmed that this is the same Bruce Bond as the host caught up in the Trump controversy.
5. Bond Describes Himself as a ‘Shipper’ & Radio Personality
Bruce Bond. (Facebook)
On LinkedIn, in addition to his time in radio, Bond says he has worked as a shipper at Bamboula from 2011 to present.
“At Bamboula I help to receive shipments from various countries in Africa. We inspect and improve various goods and then we send the goods out to various retailers,” he wrote.
He studied at American Academy of Broadcasting, went to Kutztown Area Senior High School, is single, and is from Kempton, Pennsylvania, according to Facebook.