Ostrom terminated by KOFI Radio

By CHRIS PETERSON / Hungry Horse News

The man who has been the voice of Flathead Valley radio news for decades has left the station after a conflict with management over broadcasting a news story about a former employee at the station.

G. George Ostrom was terminated by KOFI Radio on Monday after Ostrom "disagreed with management over editorial policy."

The dispute arose Monday morning after Ostrom read a report concerning Kent Etchison, a resident of Kalispell who was arraigned in federal court Feb. 28 on mail fraud charges. Etchison, who pleaded innocent, was a former office manager at KOFI Radio and is accused of ordering about $972,000 in supplies from 2001 to June 2006 for the station — far in excess of what it would ever need, according to court records. The bulk of those purchases — $925,000 — were made from March 2003 through June 2006, federal prosecutors maintain.

Etchison allegedly kept the purchases off the books by using hand-written checks, rather than use the station's computer system. He would then allegedly code the checks in the accounting system with incorrect amounts and payee names.

By ordering the excess supplies, Etchison allegedly received gifts, like televisions, a laptop computer, traveler's checks, gift certificates and cash.

According to Ostrom, he read an Associated Press story about Etchison on the air in the Monday (March 3) 6 a.m. news report.

Then Dave Rae, KOFI co-owner and general manager came in later that morning and told Ostrom to not read the story, Ostrom said.

Ostrom said he told Rae he already had. Rae, in short, insisted that Ostrom squash the story, Ostrom claimed.

Ostrom refused and walked out.

"I was asked to compromise my professional journalistic integrity," Ostrom claimed.

Ostrom who will be 80 in July, has worked on and off at KOFI for the better part of 53 years and is a member of the Montana Broadcaster's Hall of Fame and also was recognized by the University of Montana with a distinguished alumni award. He has written and photographed several books and is working on more. He will also be part of a DVD on Glacier National Park to be released in April.

Ostrom has been a columnist for the Hungry Horse News for decades as well.

But it's his mark as a broadcaster that has made him famous locally. He read the law logs every morning and referred to criminals as "dingbats, wingnuts and Looney Tunes."

He injected humor and perspective into every broadcast. He also signed off every morning by telling listeners to "be kind to one another and wear your seatbelts."

Rae did not return a call seeking comment.