During my show this past Friday, September 11th, I was navigating the 19th anniversary of one of the worst days in American history. I shared my thoughts and emotions as I thought back to that day as a 13-year-old who grew up 20 miles outside New York City and had a father who worked in Manhattan. We played audio clips from that day, including President Bush’s address the nation that evening from the Oval Office, plus I played one of the most powerful pieces of audio I’ve ever played during a show: Brian Sweeney’s phone call from United Fight 175 to his wife, which eventually crashed into the World Trade Center. Of course, we had callers share their sentimental memories from that horrific day as well.
As I spoke with the audience, a man named “Jim” called in and said, “I don’t know how old you are Pete, I think you’ve said you’re in your early 30’s, I just want to compliment you. You’re a fantastic young man and have the greatest attitude of young men today. You give me hope for our country. I can hear the emotion in your voice speaking about 9/11… I just wanted to call to tell you how much I appreciate you and your show and Kansas City is damn lucky to have you.”
I’m not sharing the caller’s comments to toot my own horn, but when I think about the idea of how a 32-year-old host can connect with a news talk audience where the demo often leans to the 35-64 crowd, it comes down to being honest with them about who you are and where your perspective comes from.
I’ve been hosting a daily news talk show in Kansas City since April of 2018, when I was 29 years old. Prior to that I hosted national fill-in shows at FOX News Radio. My first show there came when I was 27. There was definitely a period of time when I was slightly nervous over whether or not I could connect with an audience who had significantly more life experience than I did. But like so many things in radio, reps and life changed the name of the game.
With more reps and life experiences came increasing confidence. I never tried to pretend to be someone I’m not. Whether it’s been relating to the news cycle such as remembering the Vietnam War, I can’t talk about that in any honest context. Or if it’s something life-related, like raising children, I have a two-year-old daughter, but I am not yet dealing with teenagers who hate their parents. I can’t relate. What I can do is share where I am in life and the lens in which my opinions, on everything from Trump’s latest tweets to the Kansas City mayor’s COVID shutdown orders, come from.
What I’ve learned so far is that most of the audience appreciate it. There are two reasons for it: 1) They like to relive their own experiences and memories when I talk about “waking up with the toddler at 2am” or “changing the diaper when a second accident comes along”. I think there’s a part of it for them that makes them feel like it was just yesterday they were in my shoes.
2) They like seeing hope in the next generation. Of course most of the audience has a conservative perspective on life. But as a millennial conservative, we are not the majority right now. In fact we are constantly convinced that millennials are lazy, entitled and won’t grow up. Don’t get me wrong, there is definitely truth to that! But there are millions out there just like me, and we don’t get the same attention. While there’s certainly something to be said for every generation thinking the one that comes behind them is softer, weaker and more clueless, when the audience hear a perspective from someone who is a generation or two behind them, but believes in a worldview that is similar to their own, they seem to have hope. More hope than what they see from many my age on cable news every night.
Those are the sentiments I get from listeners who I’ve had the opportunity to meet and greet at station events (pre-COVID) or just cross paths with in public.
A lot of these thoughts transferred over from my time doing sports talk radio. I was never going to pretend to the audience that I knew what it was like to see the USA beat the Soviet Union in the Miracle on Ice, so I’m not going to act like I know what it was like living through Nixon’s impeachment as a parallel to the House’s impeachment of Trump. Of course I’ve read about both extensively, but living them is different. I will use historical context, but be clear that the example or analogy is based on knowledge, not experience.
Whether they agree or disagree with your opinion, honesty with yourself and your audience brings comfort for you and them. The connection will then continue to grow deeper, as will the trust. Just like any relationship with a spouse or a significant other, it’s not about agreeing on everything, it’s about appreciating the other person’s perspective, understanding where it’s coming from, and knowing that transparency will always be there.
Pete Mundo is a weekly columnist for Barrett Media, and the morning show host and program director for KCMO in Kansas City. Previously, he was a fill-in host nationally on FOX News Radio and CBS Sports Radio, while anchoring for WFAN, WCBS News Radio 880, and Bloomberg Radio. Pete was also the sports and news director for Omni Media Group at K-1O1/Z-92 in Woodward, Oklahoma. He’s also the owner of the Big 12-focused digital media outlet Heartland College Sports. To interact, find him on Twitter @PeteMundo.
