At times, KMOX Radio news reporter Sean Malone contemplated leaving the industry. Before his recent breakthrough in St. Louis, he reminisces about his experiences of working part-time while wanting more from his career. Malone’s commitment to both himself and his industry remained unyielding.
He channeled his determination and effort, intensifying his pursuit and sending out resumes to any radio station he could think of. Enduring challenges along the way, he recognizes how not giving up allowed him to land the opportunity of a lifetime working at KMOX.
Nearly eight years ago, Sean Malone relocated from Connecticut to Farmington, Missouri, a small Midwestern town with a population of just under 19,000. Alpha Media and KTJJ Radio hired him, and he eventually became the program director at KFMO, where he led successful efforts to rebrand the station.
His work paid off when KFMO won the “Station of the Year” award from the Missouri Broadcasters Association. Malone believes that his success at KFMO and the station’s community and state connections contributed to his recognition as a viable candidate for employment at KMOX.
Sean Malone was looking for a more focused endeavor after programming KFMO. Smaller market stations generally require more time and tasks beyond the assigned role. However, Malone has been chosen to assume the significant responsibilities of Kevin Killeen, a retired veteran KMOX reporter. Killeen worked with Malone last week on stories and engaging with St. Louis newsmakers.
Malone was drawn to radio in the first place because of the significance of building connections with individuals. He understands making connections will serve him well in The Gateway to The West.
Sean Malone recently spoke with Barrett News Media about his transition from program director to a news reporter at KMOX, what he learned from working with Kevin Killeen, and what he believes his responsibility is in restoring integrity and trust back in local news.
Ryan Hedrick: While taking over for KMOX reporter Kevin Killeen, what have you learned from shadowing him?
Sean Malone: I finished up my first week here, and I got to spend the week following a local legend in Kevin. I’ve been trying to leach off as many connections as he has and absorb as much knowledge and advice from him as I can.
Shadowing Kevin has been a wonderful learning opportunity. On my first day, I packed myself some breakfast, but I didn’t get to enjoy it because, by 9’clock, I was out on the road with him doing interviews. So KMOX allowed me to hit the ground running and follow someone who I really have, in a short amount of time, been able to learn a lot from.
The biggest takeaway from this past week with him has been the connections. Every time I would go somewhere with Kevin, people would just start talking [to him], and that makes the job so much easier.
I joked earlier in the week that any person I call, I just might say that I got their number from Kevin because I know it will open them up to talk to me. Having somebody like that that I’ve been able to follow, I’ve made some good connections, and I’m looking forward to making more in the future.
RH: How has your transition been from being a program director in a small market to a news reporter in a major market?
SM: It’s almost the inverse. I went from being a program director, the shot caller in a small market, the engine that drives the machine now, to a gear in the machine and a much larger machine at KMOX. It’s interesting because I really don’t have the say over all the programming that I used to at my previous station, but this is something that I thoroughly enjoy, especially working with a station like KMOX.
It’s not like I’m going to be having any thoughts about what I think they should be doing. They just won another Edward R. Murrow award for newscasts nationally. So, working at a legendary station like this is no problem at all. It’s quite the shift from what I was doing.
RH: What persuaded you to accept the position at KMOX?
Sean Malone: I’ve felt for a little while now that I am ready for the next challenge in my career, and that’s what I viewed this here at KMOX as. I had a lot of success when I was at KFMO. When I took over programming at that station, it didn’t have much of an identity at that point. I’m very thankful that the ownership trusted in me, someone in their mid-20s, to rebrand that station.
Anyone who’s had to go through a station re-brand, a new logo, liners, a slogan, it’s a labor-intensive process, and it’s in some ways a risk as well because if it doesn’t go right, it’s not something that you can really turn around and back out. You have to be committed and stick to it.
We made the change in April of 2021, which is when we officially flipped the switch, and we had a lot of success with that. Recently, KFMO was named Station of the Year by the Missouri Broadcasters Association for small markets. This is the first year that they’ve split into multiple markets instead of one award for the entire state. I think that was a real honor how far we came as a station where we were really known for just our sports broadcasting, which was legendary in the area.
RH: What do you think is your responsibility in restoring integrity and trust, especially in local news?
SM: Not to take anything away from national news, but the people that you’re seeing on TV, whether it’s Jake Tapper or Sean Hannity, you’re not going to get an opportunity to interact with those people or see what they’re like outside of their one-hour television show or their three-hour radio program.
Local is that opportunity to get that direct interaction, and I think if more people were able to see what our jobs are like, they would know that we weren’t just making stuff up. We are going out and talking to people, asking questions, and getting that story that matters to people out there. If more people could see that, they would realize that it’s not all fake.
National [news] doesn’t really have the opportunity to do that. It is on us in regional and local news to leave that impression on people.
RH: You achieved early success as a programmer. Will you seek advice from KMOX about future programming opportunities?
SM: I might. I’ve always enjoyed the on-air aspect of it. Maybe I will get to the point in my on-air career where the on-air aspect is long hours, late nights, weekends, and holidays that you have to work. Maybe I will take a step back from that and get into programming.
But I love the on-air aspect and the strategy behind programming and coming up with new campaigns and rebrands that we did at KFMO; that was an awesome opportunity. I am very grateful that I was given the trust to be able to do that.
I wanted to find some more focus in my career. Whether it was just doing sports or just doing news. In small radio market radio, you have to wear, and everybody has to wear a lot of hats. My previous job was doing a lot of projects and prepping for games. I had an afternoon shift on our classic hits FM station. Sometimes, I would be filling in on the mornings on our news/talk show. If there was a big breaking news story, I would also jump in to help with that.
RH: What makes St. Louis radio unique to you?
Sean Malone: This is a passionate market. They care about the local issues that matter to them. They care deeply about the sports teams. Look at how they treated the Rams after they left and how they treated the Battlehawks (XFL) when they came to town.
