The Bigger Picture

What responsibility, as talk radio people, do you have to society, above and beyond getting ratings and revenue?

Most of you -- maybe all of you -- will answer that the way it's always been answered: none. Talk radio is entertainment, right? Opinion, no matter how outrageous or even flat out wrong, blasted out as entertainingly as possible, that's what we do. Get too serious and it's something else, a public affairs show, maybe. Can't do that and keep our jobs. Besides, it's not OUR job. It's someone else's, right?

That's how it was during my own talk radio career. I operated under the assumption that the audience would know that what they were hearing was opinion, not gospel. The job was to get ratings to sell to advertisers to earn revenue to pay for our salaries. We weren't public radio, we weren't "reporters," we were entertainers. Yet I also operated under the assumption that if you were doing it right, you'd talk about things that matter to the audience, the stuff that affects their daily lives, the nuts-and-bolts of getting through the day. It worked, and it convinced me that you could do talk radio in an entertaining manner and be (relatively) smart about topics without going over the heads of the audience, or, worse, boring them.

Times have changed. You don't need me to tell you how.

While we're in the middle of a firehose of news blasting us practically 24/7, there are things that get lost. This came to mind when I saw a tweet by a cable news anchor who responded to someone's complaint that the media have been failing over the years to adequately cover the climate change issue by responding that it's a "ratings killer." He wasn't saying that it shouldn't be covered or that it isn't one of the biggest issues facing the world right now, but that, well, business comes first.

I totally understand that. I also came away feeling a little queasy about it. Is there a point where the business aspect gets, pardon the expression, trumped by something bigger? You might still say no, especially given radio's precarious financial situation, but I think that there has to be a way to do both, to make plenty of money and treat larger, critical issues with the attention they deserve.

What issues am I talking about? Well, climate change is one, whatever you want to believe about it. Health insurance is another, and if you're ignoring that because you think people don't care, it's still open enrollment time and people are dealing with it right this second and they care more now than ever. Infrastructure is a big yawn? Tell that to listeners stuck in traffic because the roads are inadequate and there are potholes everywhere. I'm not talking about liberal vs. conservative positions here, either. It's a matter of explaining to your listeners why these things matter and what can be done about them. It's fighting on their behalf. It's getting answers and holding politicians accountable. It's a lot of what good talk radio used to do.

This doesn't have to be a "very special episode" moment, either. (We can all agree that we hated "very special episodes," right?) It can be done in a compelling and listenable manner. NPR figured that out with "Planet Money," talking about the economy and finance in a way anyone can find interesting. Health insurance? There's a podcast I'll recommend, "An Arm and a Leg," only three episodes so far but really good storytelling from the perspective of people having to fight the system just to be able to afford to stay alive. Climate change? There's plenty you can do, but I'll just strongly suggest that when you have guests on to talk about it, avoid anyone who begins every sentence with "I'm not a scientist, but..." (Cable news has them on all the time, and it raises the question that if you're not a scientist, why are we even listening to you about, you know, science? I could write an entire column on how most pundits are useless on any topic. Maybe I will.) Infrastructure? The ol' pothole patrol (Dominos Pizza, of all people, caught on to the value of that), or putting people stuck on late trains on the air to vent. Or challenge a politician to get from point A to point B without a car, and cover it live. And if you want revenue, maybe regular segments talking about these issues can be -- just spitballing here -- sponsored. Your sales staff wouldn't turn down the chance to sell live-read sponsorships to solar companies for the environmental stuff, car dealers for commuting stuff, insurance brokers for health care talk.

None of this is to suggest that you NOT talk about the stuff you're currently talking about. The constant barrage of news from Washington is on people's minds and you need to talk about it. Immigration is obviously a core topic for the typical talk radio listener, and you're going to be talking a lot about it. Do that. But saving some time to address issues that you might have dismissed as wonkery that nobody wants to hear, and doing it in an entertaining way to keep listeners with you, is something I hope talk radio people will consider. Look, if nothing else, you know how we always say, when it's snowing, talk about the weather? It's snowing, figuratively. I'd hate to think that history will look back at how the media handled crises beyond the usual political stuff and determined that talk radio fiddled while Rome burned. We can be better than that.

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It's short notice, but here's something for the college radio folks in the audience: The Intercollegiate Broadcasting System is back on the west coast with the Western Regional Conference this Saturday, December 1st at Cal State-Long Beach, and I will be there, on a panel about careers in the media along with Valerie Geller and iHeartMedia's Dennis Clark. The agenda looks great, you'll be networking with people you should know, and being in a room full of young, motivated people is always a good thing. The details are here. I hope to see you there....

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