Melanie Morgan (courtesy San Francisco Chronicle)

WND exclusive columnist Melanie Morgan, renowned radio personality, national conservative leader and co-author with Catherine Moy of "American Mourning, A Story of Two Families," has announced her departure from talk radio powerhouse KSFO 560 AM.

Citadel Broadcasting, which owns KSFO, decided not to renew Morgan's contract as part of the company's announced across-the-board cost-cutting, and her last broadcast on the station was today.

"It has truly been an honor for me to work at KSFO for the past 14 years. What I loved most about my time at KSFO was that it allowed me to connect with listeners and take action to make real changes in the world," she said. "We never had a one-way dialogue with our listeners, and we never believed that we had to resolve ourselves to accept the status quo. We got out of our chairs, left our homes and offices, and circulated petitions, rallied for our troops and met with government leaders."

She said her efforts also were "to make sure that we left an even better world for our children than the one we had inherited from generations before us."

She said her work on conservative issues would continue.

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"My commitment and dedication to serve as a leader in the movement to support our military men and women continues to grow, and I am very proud to serve as chairman of the pro-troop non-profit group, 'Move America Forward,'" she said.

The group was launched in 2004 under her volunteer leadership.

She said she also will continue her WND column, and plans to serve as a television analyst on news programs on cable and broadcast television stations and networks.

"My passion and commitment to the troops who are fighting in Iraq, Afghanistan and around the world are foremost in my heart," she said.

She's been a fixture on KSFO for 14 years, with a run from 1994-2008 that far exceeded industry standards for longevity. She used the airwaves to motivate listeners to take action and fight for causes important to them.

Her activism included an effort to have MTBE, an gasoline additive, removed from California fuels because of its carcinogenic nature, and launching the historic Recall Gray Davis campaign that eventually resulted in the election of Arnold Schwarzenegger as California's governor.

She's traveled to the Middle East twice to interview U.S. troops in Iraq and Kuwait, and her broadcast efforts from Iraq produced for her the Associated Press' Mark Twain Journalism Award as well as The Peninsula Press Club's award for Best Interview or Talk Show.

"Meeting our troops who are on the frontlines of the war against terrorism stands as the most powerful experience in my broadcast career," said Morgan.

She began her career in 1981 with ABC when she worked as a television reporter for KGO television. In 1984, she became an on-air personality for KGO radio where she worked for six years before switching over to ABC-San Francisco sister-station, KSFO 560 AM, co-hosting the Lee Rodgers and Melanie Morgan show.

In 2006, Citadel Broadcasting acquired the ABC Radio group. She has reported on the scene from the Marine barracks bombing in Beirut, Lebanon; the Mexico City earthquake; and the Tiananmen Square massacre in China.

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American Mourning, A Story of Two Families by Melanie Morgan

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