The Return Of Mr. Do-Bee

Last year, I wrote a lot about the need for political talk radio to be prepared for what to do after the election. I counseled that there could very well be a phase in which people would be tired of all the political stuff.

Well, then. I had no idea.

I don't think my advice is invalidated by what's going on now, but I do think that the nature of the core listener to political talk -- you can call them P1s, but I can't stand that jargon -- may have changed. Or not. I don't really know, because I haven't seen any research to indicate that the fervor seen on social media or at rallies is reflective of a massive audience or just a narrow subset, but from what little we have to consider, politics has turned into sports, the worst kind of sports boosterism, with the truly committed taunting each other like Yankees and Red Sox fans. And those who AREN'T as fervent in their political fandom are probably so sick of the whole thing that they're listening to anything BUT political talk now; you have to ask yourself whether listening to pundits and hosts screech at each other is worth the additional stress in your life.

That's a problem even bigger than I anticipated when I thought about what would happen after the election. Catering to your core, whether they're Trump trolls or #NeverTrumpers or panicked Clinton supporters or Bernie Bros, means pushing away all the other potential listeners. It's hard to feed your most committed listeners the red meat they want and keep the others around, too. Talk radio has itself to blame, of course ("Polarizing America Since 1959 Or Thereabouts!"), but it's never been like this, mostly because the social media megaphone and the nature of this election have obliterated all the restraints people put upon themselves in the past. Politics is a hockey fight, and America is the fan drooling behind the glass, cheering the sight of blood.

What, then, do we do with this? I don't know (more precisely, unless you're paying me, I'm not telling), but I can tell you what I'd like to hear and what I don't want to hear on talk radio in 2017:

*I don't want to hear rehashing of the election. The President-elect may not be behaving like the campaign's over (dude, you won, no need to keep campaigning), but you can leave that behind and focus on what's going on now and what may be coming up. It's one thing to "play the hits," but some hits get burned out, and the Trump-vs.-Clinton thing's done. Onward.

*I do want to hear you get back to representing your listeners and not a candidate or party. Now that the election's done, you should be holding the President-elect, the Congress, and the Senate accountable, no matter where you land on the political spectrum. Every campaign promise your audience bought into should be followed up. I'll give you an example: If your listeners are freaked out that we don't know what's going to happen to some of the Obamacare benefits they don't want to see eliminated, you should get your elected officials on the phone right now to ask them point blank if they support, say, eliminating the rules regarding pre-existing conditions. (And if you get an answer, alert local TV news and newspaper assignment editors and provide them a tape: instant marketing.)

*I don't want to hear ad hominem attacks either way. If you're still calling Trump something involving "orange" or "Cheeto," or calling Clinton "Killary" or Obama "Obummer," you are not clever or funny. Grow up and come up with something more creative than that.

*I do want to hear honesty. If you're pro-Trump, you need to be honest when your guy does or says something stupid or indefensible. If you're anti-Trump, it's not criminal to acknowledge anything he gets right. Be independent.

*I don't want to hear party talking points. Talk radio was long accused of being fed what to talk about from the DNC and RNC, and as a programmer, I would always tell those who believed we were parroting scripts from the parties that a) we didn't get anything of the sort and b) we wouldn't follow talking points even if we DID get them. The closeness of some talk hosts to the campaigns in 2016 was remarkable, though, and not in a good way. The word "puppet" comes to mind. Don't be a puppet.

*I do want to hear you react quickly to what's going on. Be on top of the news. As soon as something starts to catch fire on Twitter or Facebook, you should be talking about it, taking calls, getting guests who are connected to the story on the air ASAP. The news cycle's on hyperdrive now. You should be, too.

*I don't want to hear just politics. You know, the world didn't stop in its tracks because of what's happening in Washington or at Trump Tower. As intense as the process has been, life HAS gone on, other things have been happening, and people are doing the same things they were doing before November 8th. Don't forget that you can, and should, be talking about more than one thing.

*I do want to hear more varied voices, political or apolitical. Not just as hosts, although that's obviously important; If you rely on certain politicians or pundits as go-to guests, try some new ones, younger ones, more diverse ones. Even cable news found fresh screeching weasels... er, talking heads for this campaign. You should, too.

That's my wish list (and anti-wish list) for political talk this year. You know you're going to have plenty of material for at least the next few years; what you do with it will make all the difference.

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Whether you're all about the politics or talking about other things, you'll find the best selection of topics for your show at All Access News-Talk-Sports' Talk Topics, available by clicking here, and follow the Talk Topics Twitter feed at @talktopics with every story individually linked to the appropriate item, too. And there's the Podcasting section at AllAccess.com/podcasts.

You can follow my personal Twitter account at @pmsimon, and my Instagram account (same handle, @pmsimon) as well. And you can find me on Facebook at www.facebook.com/pmsimon, and at pmsimon.com.

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If you want to hear me pontificate about radio and stuff, I was the guest on another podcast, this time SB Nation Radio host Matt Perrault's "The Perrault Vault," and you can hear it by clicking here (it's Episode 7) or via iTunes here, and you can still hear me bloviate my 2016 wrap-up on Matt Cundill's "Sound Off" podcast here or via iTunes here. Listen and prepare for more of me than you ever thought you'd need in 2017. That's a warning.

Perry Michael Simon Vice President/Editor, News-Talk-Sports AllAccess.com psimon@allaccess.com www.facebook.com/pmsimon Twitter @pmsimon Instagram @pmsimon