- Mike Mendoza
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Michael David Mendoza (born 1 November 1948[1]) is a British radio presenter and politician best known for the overnight shows he presented on talkSPORT between 2004 and 2008, initially on weeknights before being moved to weekends in 2006. Mendoza has since joined his former talkSPORT colleague George Galloway on the Iranian government-funded news channel Press TV, presenting a 13 week television series entitled Off The Cuff. Mike Mendoza is a Conservative Councillor sitting on Adur District Council. Mike Mendoza now owns What's Happening Magazine, read by 30,000 in the South of England.
Contents
Radio career
Mendoza has worked around the world within the radio industry, getting his start at Radio I in Auckland, New Zealand. He has also worked in Australia, the United States, the French Riviera, Italy, and Monaco for an English language radio station. He returned to UK in his late thirties, and has worked for the BBC, Radio Mercury, Southern Sound, and LBC, before joining talkSPORT in 2004, from which he parted company in 2008.[2] After leaving Talksport, Mike Mendoza joined internet radio in 2008. Originally broadcasting on Play Radio UK for 8 hours a week, this was reduced to 2 hours a week until he left in 2009. After leaving Play Radio, Mike joined up with www.talkradioOne, an LA-based Internet radio station, where he presents a three hour weekly show. From September this year (2009) the LA show will also be heard on Radio Glastonbury (a UK-based Internet station).
Mendoza is Jewish[3] although an atheist,[4] and co-founded a London-based Jewish radio station, Shalom FM (which ceased broadcasting at midnight on 17 October 2007),[5] since "We are one of the few ethnic groups in London without a radio voice, and it would be nice to hear some balanced reporting about the community and Israel."[3] Mendoza's former talkSPORT colleague Charlie Wolf presented a twice-weekly show on the station. Mendoza is now currently completely off air.
Political career
A member of the Conservative Party, he has served as a councillor for the Party on Brighton and Hove City Council and nearby Adur District Council.[6][7] Mendoza represented the Peverel Ward for the Conservatives in the May 2002 elections. He resigned from the Conservative Party in 2004, and stood in the June 2004 elections for the Marine Ward on Adur District Council. He won the seat as an Independent, a week before it was announced that he would be joining talkSPORT. [1] He stood down as a councillor in May 2005. In the June 2009 local elections he was as a candidate for UKIP in the Saltings ward of West Sussex County Council. He re-joined the Conservative Party in December 2009. He was elected to Adur District Council in May 2010 as councilor to St Mary's ward. He is on the Planning committee
Personal life
Mendoza has been married several times previously and is currently married to Jennifer and they live in Shoreham-by-Sea near Brighton. He has numerous children from previous marriages and relationships in different countries, including New Zealand. He also has a number of grandchildren in various parts of the world. Mendoza is a cousin of comedian and actor Peter Sellers, and a direct descendant of British boxing legend Daniel Mendoza. He also has a long friendship with the New Zealand actor Alan Dale.[8]
Controversies
Ofcom received a complaint about a show that aired on talkSPORT on 11 May 2006, although Mendoza was subsequently cleared of "Crime Incitement".[9]
On 20 August 2007, the BBC reported that the British radio station talkSPORT had been censured by regulator Ofcom because Mendoza and another presenter, Garry Bushell, made derogatory comments about gay people.[10] Commenting on the search for Madeleine McCann, Mendoza was heard to say "paedophiles in general are the type of people that surely would not follow football... not many gay people to the best of my knowledge are great football fans", comparing homosexuals to paedophiles. He was suspended by the station for a week. This matter was raised by members of other political parties when he stood for election in 2010.
References
- ^ Mike Mendoza on Facebook
- ^ Weekend presenter Mike Mendoza leaves Talksport
- ^ a b Britain’s only Jewish radio station has gone live for its third stint on the air... , JTA news service, January 25, 2004, accessed November 16, 2006
- ^ Mike Mendoza on Myspace
- ^ http://www.shalomradio.co.uk/
- ^ Sussex Wharf decision delayed, The Argus, 22 July 2003, accessed 4 September 2007
- ^ Community Licence Application - Shalom FM, Ofcom, accessed September 4, 2007
- ^ THE LEGEND THAT IS ALAN DALE IS IN TOWN Post from The Mike Mendoza Show website, accessed May 29, 2008
- ^ Ofcom. "OfCom Broadcast Bulletin Issue 63" (PDF). ofcom.org.uk. http://www.ofcom.org.uk/tv/obb/prog_cb/pcb32/issue63.pdf. Retrieved 2007-08-24.
- ^ BBC (2007-08-20). "Talksport rapped over gay jibes". BBC News. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/6955065.stm. Retrieved 2007-08-20.
External links
www.whatshappeningmagazine.blogspot.com
Categories:- 1955 births
- Living people
- Brighton and Hove
- British atheists
- British radio personalities
- Conservative Party (UK) politicians
- English Jews
- English people of Spanish descent
- Jewish atheists
- Spanish Jews
- United Kingdom Independence Party politicians
- People from Shoreham-by-Sea
- English television presenters
- Councillors in East Sussex
- Councillors in West Sussex
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