Your Place In History

Are you proud of what you've done?

Now, see, some of you are already upset and defensive, and you're assuming that I'm going to take the opportunity of my last pre-election column to take you to task for your political views. Nope. (That's what Twitter and Facebook are for, right?) It's broader than that.

Talk radio's been doing well, relatively speaking, in the pandemic, at least in the Nielsens. You'd expect that in an election year, and, sure enough, some (but far from all) talk stations showed healthy gains in October's PPM numbers. How much of that is in the 65-to-death demographic is an issue, and how much of that is a function of those P1s listening longer because of the election and not bringing more people into the tent is another, but it's a victory in the beauty contest, at least. Gotta take Ws when you can find them.

That's not what I'm asking about, though. It's the eternal success-at-any-cost debate, and it comes to mind now because... because America is where it is and talk radio has contributed to it, and I wonder how the people making talk radio see their role in what we've become. And it came to mind several times in recent weeks, when I've listened to talk radio shows and heard things that were surely red meat for the core audience but factually and even morally wrong. (Lest you read that and think "he's insulting my side!," well, yes, but I've heard misinformation from across the political spectrum, not that I want to join the "both sides!" contingent but, yeah, it's a problem from all angles.)

So, a few additional questions:

Were you an advocate for your listeners or were you an advocate for a political party or candidate or ideology?

Did you put stuff you saw on the Internet or cable news on the air without confirming that it was true?

Did you ask tough questions when you interviewed people on "your side"? Did you challenge what they said when it might have been untrue?

Did you rely on science or politicians and memes for what you told listeners about the pandemic?

Did you bring on new voices or the same old parade of politicians and pundits?

Did you excuse everything "your guy" (no matter who that is) did? Or did you "whatabout" everything?

If you're a local and not syndicated host, did you remember to talk about local issues and races and not just concentrate on the presidential race? And when you did that, did you talk about things from the position of how they impact your listeners, not just from ideological angles but specifically how they'll affect the person listening to you?

Can you look back at your show over the last few months and honestly say that you contributed clarity and truth to your listeners' lives or did you just amplify the noise?

Wait.

The noise works. The chaos and lies and accusations and would-be scandals are ratings bait. Subtlety doesn't sell. (I admit, I've heard some big-name talkers practically scream flat-out falsehoods, and while I was appalled, I did listen to the end of the segment before bailing, because car crashes will, of course, grab your attention.) It's all about entertainment, and the circus is more entertaining than academia. Look at the numbers. Talk radio's doing well. Cable news is soaring. People are eating up whatever Facebook and Twitter are slinging into their brains. You want big ratings, you gotta keep up with that. Right?

Maybe. But that wasn't my question. Life is more than your AQH share this month. I'm not arguing the point that if you want to keep your job, sometimes you gotta, you know, do what you gotta do. I'm talking about sleeping at night. I'm talking about what you'll think when, years from now, you look back at this time. I'm talking about what you'll tell your kids and grandkids when they ask what you did when things went sideways back in 2020.

Will you be proud? Were the ratings worth it?

I guess we'll all come to our individual answers soon enough.

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I've returned from my week off (obviously), and so has my show prep column Talk Topics -- Click here and/or follow the Talk Topics Twitter feed at @talktopics with every story individually linked to the appropriate item.

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While I'd love to be able to take a nap and wake up a week or two from now so I don't have to experience the chaos, that's not in the cards, so let's all brace for the impact and remind ourselves that this, too, shall pass, unless it doesn't, because 2020. Talk to you on the other side.

Perry Michael Simon
Vice President/Editor, News-Talk-Sports and Podcast
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