Mike Mendoza

Not to be confused with Mike Mendoza (baseball) or Michael Mendoza.

Michael David Mendoza (born 1 November 1948[1]) is a British radio presenter and former politician, best known for the overnight radio shows he presented on talkSPORT between 2004 and 2008, initially on weeknights before being moved to weekends in 2006. Mendoza later 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. Mendoza was a Conservative councillor sitting on Adur District Council in West Sussex and was chairman of the council. He owned a magazine called What's Happening?, which he later sold. In August 2014 Mendoza joined Latest TV, a local TV station in Brighton & Hove, presenting[2] news, political debate and newspaper reviews.

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 30s, and has worked for the BBC, Radio Mercury, Southern Sound, and LBC. He joined talkSPORT in 2004, from which he parted company in 2008.[3] Mendoza presented on internet station Play Radio UK, initially for eight hours a week; this was reduced to two hours a week until he left in 2009. He then joined talkradioOne, a Los Angeles-based internet radio station, presenting a three-hour weekly show. From September 2009 the LA show was also heard on Radio Glastonbury, a UK internet station.

Mendoza is Jewish[4] although an atheist, and co-founded a London-based Jewish radio station, Shalom FM, 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."[4] Mendoza's former talkSPORT colleague Charlie Wolf presented a twice-weekly show on the station, which ceased broadcasting in October 2007,[5]

Political career

A member of the Conservative Party, Mendoza was a councillor for the party on Hove Borough Council (now part of 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.[8] 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 and was elected to Adur District Council in May 2010 as a councillor in St Mary's ward. In 2012 Mendoza became deputy chairman (deputy mayor) of Adur District Council and vice-chairman of planning. In May 2013 he was elected chairman of Adur District Council, but resigned as a councillor in October 2014.[9]

Personal life

Mendoza is married to Jennifer, his third wife, and they live in Shoreham-by-Sea near Brighton. He has two children and four grandchildren.[2] He is a cousin of comedian and actor Peter Sellers, and a direct descendant of British boxing legend Daniel Mendoza. He also has a 'long and close friendship' with the New Zealand actor Alan Dale.[10]

Controversies

Ofcom received a complaint about a show that aired on talkSPORT on 11 May 2006, although Mendoza was subsequently cleared of "Crime Incitement".[11]

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.[12] 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.

References

  1. ↑ Mike Mendoza on Facebook
  2. 1 2 Self
  3. ↑ Weekend presenter Mike Mendoza leaves Talksport. Guardian (6 August 2008). Retrieved on 5 May 2012.
  4. 1 2 Britain’s only Jewish radio station has gone live for its third stint on the air... , JTA news service, 25 January 2004, accessed 16 November 2006
  5. ↑ Shalom FM | 101.4 FM. Shalomradio.co.uk (17 October 2007). Retrieved on 5 May 2012.
  6. ↑ Sussex Wharf decision delayed, The Argus, 22 July 2003, accessed 4 September 2007
  7. ↑ Community Licence Application – Shalom FM, Ofcom, accessed 4 September 2007
  8. ↑ LBC's Mike Mendoza to join talkSPORT – Radio – Digital Spy Forums. Digitalspy.co.uk (19 June 2004). Retrieved on 5 May 2012.
  9. ↑ "Shoreham Herald". 30 Oct 2014. Retrieved 31 Oct 2014.
  10. ↑ THE LEGEND THAT IS ALAN DALE IS IN TOWN Post from The Mike Mendoza Show website, accessed 29 May 2008
  11. ↑ Ofcom. "OfCom Broadcast Bulletin Issue 63" (PDF). ofcom.org.uk. Retrieved 24 August 2007.
  12. ↑ BBC (20 August 2007). "Talksport rapped over gay jibes". BBC News. Retrieved 20 August 2007.

External links

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