Spit 'N' Argue

What did people do to kick around the issues of the day before talk radio existed? Mostly, they sat around and argued amongst themselves. As a kid, I thought that was how it would always be: You got older and argued about politics with your friends at the diner, then you got REALLY older and moved to Boca, where you'd wear your pants with the waistline practically at your armpits and complain about the government, the weather, and the early bird special ("Terrible food!" "And such small portions!").

But it goes further back than that, of course. The Los Angeles Times ran an article the other day about the talk radio equivalent of the late 19th and early 20th century, namely clubs of guys who would gather to complain, whittle, debate, and spit. Really. There was a club over in Long Beach called the "Spit 'n' Argue Club." They were a bunch of old guys who would meet and whittle and, yes, spit and argue, and they became a tourist attraction, drawing about 1,500 fans per day. The club, and others like it, lasted until the 1960's and 1970's, but by then they'd dissolved into partisan bickering and the audience drifted to the New Media of 1970, talk radio.

Today, of course, the spitting and arguing continues on talk radio, and cable TV news channels as well. But there are a lot of futurists who say that talk radio's days are numbered, because newer outlets are capturing the younger generations. Indeed, Facebook and Twitter and Google Buzz work pretty well for political debate; Post a controversial comment and the replies come fast and furious. You can get dozens of comments on any topic, and it reads a lot like talk radio sounds. Those new media outlets can only multiply as the years pass, and, unlike talk radio, they're not necessarily linear. Talk radio has a host proposing a topic and controlling the calls. Facebook lets the users go wherever they want to go, no screener, no time constraints, no interruptions, and if someone wants to hijack the thread and change the topic, there's no producer to rein it all in. And people who would never in a million years call in to a radio show feel a lot more comfortable making comments in a Facebook thread or via Twitter, even at the risk of getting flamed for it.

So, that means talk radio's dead, right? And talk radio's whittlin' and spittin' in Long Beach, while status updates and tweets and buzzes are the future? Could be, but I'm not so sure that the new media will necessarily obliterate the old. It will, however, take strong personalities -- stars -- to keep people coming back to radio when they can easily participate in political or social debate online. As in everything else we talk about here, if you give people a compelling reason to listen, you can survive. If you're not just "some guy talking," if you're funny, smart, entertaining, you'll be fine. But you'll also have to go where the audience is. That means you need to be connecting with your audience everywhere, not just on the air but through social media, too. Those old guys in Long Beach, and their descendants, would still have a following today if they'd transitioned to the new-fangled electronic talking box instead of sticking to meeting someplace and hoping people would continue to show up.

No, you're not going to have a following online nearly as large as your typical cume for a radio show, but you're building a core and you're building loyalty. As we've discussed here before, having that loyal audience that will follow you anywhere (and patronize your advertisers, and pay you for premium content) is a key to success in the next media age. That's not to suggest that you abandon radio, or that radio (or streaming, or podcasts) won't remain the primary delivery system for what you do. It just means that you should be doing your spitting and arguing everywhere you can.

(If you want to read more about the "Spit 'n' Argue Club," the article's here. There's a passage in there about an attempt to shut down the club, which was described by opponents as "four psychopaths, two religious fanatics and a crackpot." Sounds like the lineup at a pretty entertaining talk station)

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What do you do if it's coming up on showtime and you're fresh out of spit... er, you don't have enough material? Here's what you do: You go to AllAccess.com, you click on "Formats," then "News-Talk-Sports," then "Talk Topics," and there, you'll find everything you need. Just about. Almost. Think of it as having an extra producer throwing hundreds of topic ideas and kicker stories at you, with stupid jokes and commentary to get your creative flow started. This week's pile of stuff includes items about the passing of the inventor of the Frisbee and the architect who designed the Waffle House buildings, an unfortunate utilization of "Super Fart Spray," a stiletto in the eye, how one health insurer is taking on the government and its own customers, the continuing lack of jobs, why Al Gore has become a big fan of chicken poop, more airline fees, how boredom can kill you, a guy with cheese down his pants, a $177 bagel, the continuing saga of Toyota's troubles (now including extra lawyers!), the "trend" (not that there's any proof of it) of people bailing from Facebook and Twitter, where the stimulus money to build wind farms actually went (hint: not to American workers), the Blizzard of '10 (and why telecommuters got shafted in the process), and why beer may be good for you, plus much more about the top stories and "real news" of the week. "10 Questions With..." KMED/Medford, OR PD and host Bill Meyer is definitely worth a read, and you'll find all the industry news coverage and resources you need throughout the site, all free.

Oh, yeah, it's Valentine's Day on Sunday, so have a great time with the one you love. And remember, on Monday, all that candy's going to be half price. Love's great, but so is cheap chocolate.

Perry Michael Simon
Editor
All Access News-Talk-Sports
psimon@allaccess.com
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