It's Not Supposed To Be Easy

So I started plowing through all the newspaper websites bright and early on Thursday to find material for the Talk Topics column, same as every morning. (All right, "bright" is not quite the right word for starting at 2:45 am. "Early" works, though) Right at the start, I came across an article from a big city paper back east that addressed the impact on Tuesday's elections on local talk radio. It was from a state where liberal Democrats won most of the local elections, and the gist of the story was that this would be "good for business" for conservative local talkers, because with the "enemy" in charge, they'll have great material. The article even quoted an "expert" on talk radio saing that conservative talkers are "far better off" with Democrats in power.

Had the reporter asked me for a quote, I'd have told her something different, something I touched on last week. It's simple: If your success depends at all on who's in power -- if it's "good for business" that the opposition gets elected, or if you're "far better off" that way, you're doing it wrong.

Your job as a talk show host isn't to get someone elected, or to simply bash people who disagree with you. It's to entertain. It's to do that in a way that means people will come back to you and want to hear what you have to say every single day of the week, every year, all the time. Do more people tune in during a hot election? Sure. But you want those people to keep listening after the election's done, and that means providing entertainment that's worth seeking out whether there's an election going on or not. Remember last week's column and all that stuff about preparing for the post-election period? This is what it's about.

And, yes, in a way, it's "easier" to come up with material if the opposition is in power. That's because it's easy -- too easy -- to just go on the air and trash the (insert elected position here) every day. It's also boring. And it's what people complain about when they say talk radio is predictable. When you're partisan and that's all your act is about, and you just get on every day and bash away, why should anyone actually listen? They know what you're gonna say, every single time. On the other hand, if you take things story-by-story, issue-by-issue, personality-by-personality, people might want to keep tuning in, because they DON'T know what you'll say, and they'll want to hear your opinion on whatever's in the news at that moment. That takes more work, but that's true whether "your" candidates get control or not. The easy way isn't necessarily the best way.

Besides, if you buy into the wisdom that it's better for you when the other guys get elected, so it's somehow "easier" to get material, what are you saying about what would have happened if your favored candidates DID get elected? What does that say to the conservative talkers where the Tea Party candidates won? Or liberal talkers in, for example, here in California, where voters elected Democrats in most of the statewide races? Are those hosts in trouble now? Not if they're entertaining. Not if they give listeners enough reason on their own merits to tune back in. And definitely not if, instead of picking sides and cheerleading, they maintain a healthy skepticism, ready to hold the newly elected officials to their word and ready to point out when these emperors aren't wearing clothes, either. In an election where the most repeated refrain I heard from everyone around here was "I don't know who to vote for because I can't stand either candidate," there's a large audience for anyone who takes the people's side, not the Republican or Democratic or even Tea Party side.

Bottom line: It shouldn't matter who's in charge. If you're a political talker, there's always tons of material, and you don't need to resort to two or three hour doses of "blame the other guy." It turns out that the problems we had on Monday are the same problems we have today, and will have months and even years from now. Your job is to talk about that and make it entertaining, no matter who's in the White House or Congress or the Senate or the State House or City Hall.

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Did I mention All Access News-Talk-Sports' Talk Topics column? Yes, I did, way back in that first sentence. What is it? Only your best show prep pal, the source of hundreds of topic ideas and kicker stories and other material from which you can fashion that entertaining, compelling, must-listen radio show you do. It's where you'll find items like why that high-risk health insurance pool hasn't found many takers, Texas' new "corporate license plates," the Kardashian riot (sort of), something an Australian rugby player did that I'm not sure you can even talk about on the radio, a "burglary" prompted, allegedly, by the need to go potty, a cat in a microwave, rats in the subway, raccoons attacking a baby, the problem with Video Barbie, the important election you didn't cover (hint: topless!), an unusual urinal, and much more, plus the usual industry-leading news, job listings, columns, music charts, and other resources at All Access, all free.

Social media, you ask? Yes, as a matter of fact, we at All Access are all about that. Take the handy Talk Topics Twitter feed at twitter.com/talktopics, or the Net News Twitter feed at twitter.com/allaccess. Take both. Throw in the All Access iPhone app here or the All Access Android app here, both developed by jacAPPS. And then, should one be so inclined, one may subscribe to my personal Twitter feed at twitter.com/pmsimon and read my blog at pmsimon.com. Neither of those is part of All Access, and I'm pretty sure All Access is relieved to know that.

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Next week, we'll go through some more of what I found when I asked the users of another website what they think of radio. Funny thing: None of them mentioned HD Radio, or wanting FM on their cell phones. Guess I'm talking to different people from the ones the industry groups are surveying.

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