The New York Post reports that WABC/New York-based Citadel Media syndicated talk host and Guardian Angels founder Curtis Sliwa says John “Junior” Gotti threatened him today inside a Manhattan federal court room. According to Sliwa when the pre-trial hearing ended, Gotti pointed at the talk host, who was in the last row of the court room and muttered, “You’re going down.” Sliwa replied with an expletive and left the courthouse looking “visibly shaken” according to the newspaper. This Friday marks the 17th anniversary of the morning when Sliwa was shot and seriously injured in a NYC cab by men allegedly working for Gotti. Gotti’s attorney Charles Carnesi, says Sliwa misheard his client who was reportedly telling another lawyer sitting in the gallery, “I’m going down,” referring to a meeting he was about to attend in a downstairs conference room. Read Post reporter Bruce Golding’s story HERE.

Here’s a “feel good” story to remind all of us of the power that local radio still wields when at it’s best. We recently told you of KOA/Denver’s “Radio Resume,” a promotion in which listeners seeking a job are given a 30-second on air spot to “pitch” their resume to local employers. This week, KOA listener Lisa Elliott — who had been temping while searching for an accounting position for the past two years — broadcast her resume on the Clear Channel News/Talker. The result? She was contacted by two employers who heard it, one of which offered her a new full time gig. On KOA’s Ride Home with Dave Logan and Lois Melkonian this week, Elliot offered a ringing endorsement of the power of local radio. “I did the ‘Radio Resume’, someone heard it, and lo and behold, I got a call,” said the newly employed and very happy KOA fan. “Being on the radio, you get to reach so many people — a very captive audience.” Congrats to PD Kris Olinger and the crew at KOA for tapping into a timely promotion that meets a real need for listeners. Learn more about the station’s “Radio Resume” HERE.

Although President Obama’s nominee to become the next FCC Chairman emphatically stated his opposition to any return of the Fairness Doctrine during his Senate confirmation hearing yesterday (read NTS MediaOnline’s coverage HERE), Julius Genachowsky (pictured) did indicate that indecency issues would remain a priority under his watch. “I share concerns of parents on indecency,” said Genachowski. “The FCC’s job in this area is to enforce the law and Congress has been clear on the indecency law.” The agency’s apparent next head honcho also pledged that the FCC would be “a model for transparency, openness and fairness” with him at the helm, something that was met with great enthusiasm by members of the Senate panel after years of what many legislators felt was a veil of secrecy that enveloped the Commission under former Chairman Kevin Martin.

Commenting on what he heard during yesterday’s Senate confirmation hearing for FCC Chairman-designate Julius Genachowski about any potential return of the Fairness Doctrine, veteran Talk radio programmer, and author of Censorship: The Threat To Silence Talk Radio, Brian Jennings said, “I think his response is encouraging.” Although Jennings wishes Senator Kay Bailey Hutchinson had specifically asked Genachowski for his thoughts on proposed programming advisory boards, he was happy the incoming Chairman did speak clearly to the issue of reviving the Fairness Doctrine. “I think the attention the industry has given this issue helped protect our free speech rights,” Jennings told NTS MediaOnline Today. “But, we must continue to be vigilant because, as we have heard in the last few years, many lawmakers have advocated for a return of the Doctrine, or Fairness Doctrine-like regulations. I would call on Genachowski to not mandate that radio stations have programming advisory boards. Let the free marketplace determine what listeners want to hear.” Your comments are always welcome at al@ntsmediaonline.com.

No, not that “Norm.” We’re talking about the “new norm” for broadcast radio according to Media Post columnist Diane Mermigas in an extensive interview with Radio Intelligence President Mark Ramsey. “What everyone really needs to understand is, there’s nothing normal about anything that’s going on,” says Mermigas. “There’s going to be a new norm, we’re not sure what it is yet. But, all the more reason why no one should expect any of what was trending before to just resume trending as it was, say, eighteen months from now when perhaps, with any luck, we’re into full-blown recovery.” Mermigas also notes that, while radio broadcasters are facing difficult challenges, there’s still a bright future for those willing to “make the leap into the digital age and into interactivity and develop the future revenue streams they must have, even during these very challenging economic times.” Read a transcript of highlights and listen to audio of Ramsey’s full interview with the respected media analyst on his hear2.0 blog HERE.

This group of 20 students from United College, Chinese University of Hong Kong recently visited the studios of WTOP/Washington for a tour and a Q&A with staffers at the Bonneville all-newser. The theme of the students’ trip was, “American Society, Government and Media.” The foreign college students learned first-hand about how commercial radio stations and other media outlets in the U.S. are quite a bit different from what they’re used to hearing and seeing in the Chinese media industry.