Pryor Out at KLBJ-FM

Moderate-turned-conservative KLBJ-AM talk show host Paul Pryor was fired by the station effective Monday, December 18, apparently for slipping off the wagon. By his own admission, he has battled alcohol and substance abuse problems ever since high school. After missing work for four days last week, Pryor was terminated by the station, but left a note for the public that said he is "fighting depression, relapsed, and gone into treatment." Pryor, who has worked in Austin radio for much of his life, began his stint at KLBJ (which is partly owned by his father, Cactus) in November of 1993. Although he had generally taken a middle-of-the-road stance in his previous jobs, at KLBJ he unleashed a right-wing persona modeled after Republican poster boy Rush Limbaugh, who is also broadcast on this station. So-called "environmental wackos" were one of Pryor's most frequent objects of scorn -- he frequently joked of the tastiness of the golden cheeked warbler, a Hill Country songbird whose endangered habitat has occasionally stalled development plans. When not engaging in these kinds of obnoxious quips, he espoused many of the pro-family, law-and-order themes on which much of the current GOP platform is based.

In an interview with the Statesman recently, he admitted that he had taken on the conservative role, not for his personal beliefs, but "for the ratings, for the money." Playing that role paid off -- Pryor enjoyed the best ratings in the city for his afternoon time slot. A brief incarceration for abuse problems in the early 1990s preceded his employment by a local rehab clinic. The KLBJ job seemed to indicate a turn in fortunes, but earlier this year he was arrested for a probation violation. In the last two months, Pryor began telling listeners of his struggles to find female companionship, indicating that he and his wife had separated. For Pryor, the hardest part was apparently structuring his personal life to fit the conservative right themes. n

"Deep Six" will return for the January 19 issue in its normal spot.