Words Mean Things

Oh, who can forget Hillary Clinton alleging that Senator Obama had nothing to offer but words.

And I seem to remember predicting that certain Conservative radio voices would trip over their tongues and be unable to negotiate the rapids of race in the political stream of consciousness that is American talk radio.

Well, I was surprised to notice this week that the first casualty on the talk radio front wasn't one of the Conservatives, but one of the loudest voices on the Left.

Randi Rhodes has left Air America over remarks she made at an affiliate event in San Francisco. Oh, the irony. Air America - prescribed antidote to the controlled message of Corporate media did the corporate thing and gagged it's most popular talker for being offensive. And after they checked with attorneys who defined the word exposure and the word slander, they did the mental math that says: exposure plus slander plus offensive equals suspended.

So she quit.

Now, I don't know what the Clinton campaign said or did. But Hillary Clinton is a lawyer. She knows lawyers. Lawyers know how to fire off threatening letters like my kids know how to mess up the house. It comes with the job. So let's assume there were words between the campaign and Air America about the words used by Randi Rhodes.

I know I once said some things I shouldn't have about an ex-girlfriend and I said them on an afternoon radio show when I was a top 40 DJ. I didn't call her a whore...exactly...and I didn't mention her name. But I wasn't prudent or kind.

And if she ever finds this post I hereby offer my apologies and I beg her pardon.

On the day I made my remarks I found out I that I had threatened my job and my employer. Her new boyfriend showed up to defend her honor. Jim Ranger was an old school broadcaster; a Reagan Conservative who built his broadcasting business as a local owner. He sat in his private office and listened to the story he was told by the offended party and promised the man he would deal with it. The plaintiff continued hotly and at one point made a legal threat - at which point he was shown the door and loudly told to get lost.

Later I heard a few quiet words from Jim explaining that what I had done was wrong. He told me it was wrong because my career, my interests, the interests of the business he owned and the community we served were bigger than whatever I thought I needed to say about one woman. A little self control - in my own interest - was all he asked me for. And we never spoke of it again.

Aside from the fact that Air America has made a lot of rookie mistakes and has indulged itself in plenty of poor programming choices made by people who aren't career broadcasters, it has now made the huge mistake of not standing up for it's flagship talent in public. They sacrificed their credibility and the ability of other hosts to continue to speak freely. Why? Because somebody lost their nerve.
National talk radio is hardball. Trash talk is part of the game. Talk radio will continue. But Air America has again proven that it isn't ready for the major leagues.

And Randi? To quote Good Morning Viet Nam, "You're mean. And this is just radio."

The New Innovative Medium Is - Radio?

A lot of folks will tell you that radio is dying. Trends show fewer people listening and advertising dollars shrinking. A lot of folks - myself included - have read the tea leaves and concluded that radio is diminishing in importance as a mass medium. Well, what if we're all wrong?

Certainly the facts show that internet usage is increasing steadily and the tide is rising in on-line content creation and advertising revenue. But what about the old media? Is it really dying? I think the answer is yes...and no.

After TV invaded the North American living room, the network radio programs of the 30's, 40's and 50's faded away. They were replaced by rock and roll radio and music programming that captured a huge audience. The new radio programming ushered in a musical and cultural revolution. The transistor radio became a driving force of this change. It was the ipod of the 60's.

Radio will change again. Radio is changing already.

Clear Channel announced the sale of its stations this year. Clearly they thought the time was right to get out of Dodge. I saw the pictures of doddering old Don Imus in the days before he was excused from CBS radio. Why was this guy still holding forth on a major radio network in an era when young consumers are the hot commodity? Rush Limbaugh is a product of the '80's, Paul Harvey is still on the air, Rick Dees is still doing mornings in LA (though no longer at KiiS FM) and everyone else is still doing a robotic version of a music format that was invented by Bill Drake in 1965. Could it be that radio has simply become stuck in a malevolent time warp?

Taking a moment to gaze into my crystal ball, I see good things for radio. I see a medium that won't be tied to it's past much longer. I see radio learning from the new producers and entertainment programmers in podcasting. When radio loses it's rigid format clock, the possibilities for the kind of innovation we're hearing on line will migrate into broadcasting. That will be good for radio. That will be good for new and interesting programmers who will reach a broader audience and that will be the death of radio as we've known it for a generation.

The net is full of innovative programs without much of an audience. Radio has an audience but it sure could use some innovative programming.

In the mean time, since the exit of Clear Channel, we're producing more radio commercials at The Production Room than we have in quite some time.