They are a modern-day myth. Do they even exist? Has anyone ever seen one? If so, where? Well, I can tell you, where I come from there is one. One. If you quietly maneuver through the wilderness of this particular news radio station in Connecticut, you might catch a glimpse.
If you’re lucky.
Tiptoe. Low to the ground. Quiet!
There he is! By the printer. Shhhh! A one-in-a-million find.
Don’t disturb him, though, and definitely don’t take his picture! He may run away – and never come back.
A wild bear? (We do have a bear problem in Connecticut). No.
A unicorn? Sort of. What is it then?!?! It’s a young person working in news radio.
Yes, it’s true. His name is Morgan Cunningham. I know him! He’s 27, and he’s the lead news anchor at my station, WTIC 1080.
The whole setup joke is appropriate because there simply aren’t many young people working in news radio – at least I don’t know of any others.
At our company, he’s at least 15 years younger than anyone with a full-time on-air job. That’s not just at WTIC 1080 but also at the other three music stations in the building.
How did it happen, you may ask, someone young with an array of career choices happened to pick news radio? Not podcasts. Not YouTube. News radio.
For Cunningham, it started with resistance to yard work. To entice him to help out one day, his parents brought out a radio, so they could work to music. It turns out, the station was taking requests.
He called in and not only had his song played but also had his conversation with the DJ put on the air.
Cunningham was hooked.
He was eight.
Not long after that experience, Cunningham started to “play radio” at home and then eventually began volunteering at the community station at Eastern Connecticut State University. He must have liked the school because he ended up going there to study communications, graduating in 2018.
The rest, as they say, is history.
“News excites me wherever it happens,” said Cunningham, who went right from school to full-time at WTIC.
The approach that has helped him be successful? Simplify.
“An old mentor of mine, from Western Pennsylvania, taught me a trick: One thought, One idea,” Cunningham told me. “In other words, get to the point and keep it simple at all times.”
Wise beyond his years, and that bares itself in other ways. For one, his work ethic. Despite his young age, Cunningham carries a heavy workload, anchoring for hours each morning, hosting a weekend show, and helping organize staff and coverage plans. That’s a lot for someone who’s just 27.
The joke on our morning show is that he certainly doesn’t present as that young. He’s more likely to don a suit with a nifty pocket square than to wear trendy clothes and expensive hoop sneakers. He’s more likely to see Paul Anka in concert than Pink. He may actually like Pink, I don’t know, but I do know he went to the Anka concert last week!
Our traffic guy who’s been in the business for decades and is more than twice Cunningham’s age playfully calls him “Big Voice”. We tease him for his love of turtlenecks and cats.
He’s like a little brother, except one who can deliver the news as well as anyone in the market.
Kidding aside, Cunningham insists he’s not alone and that there are, in fact, young people in the radio business. If so, they aren’t in our building, which houses three other FM music stations.
In our barn, he’s the youth-I-corn.
“Many of them (younger people) work in music radio,” said Cunningham, who added there are some in news – just not in our company. (I’m going to have to see proof!). “The industry needs to do better to attract new and younger brains that will work in radio jobs.
“I often hear companies pitch positions as if the applicant is going to become the next megastar in a large city or nationally,” he added. “Maybe that will happen for some … But I find this kind of recruitment as stale and passe.”
Instead, Cunningham says that companies should promote all the varied skills needed to excel in radio.
“A position in news, for instance, applies skills in writing, research and even political science,” Cunningham said. “Plenty of people love those different subjects, but I bet they never thought of applying them to radio news.
“That’s a problem.”
What’s not a problem is the opportunities in front of Cunningham. But for now, he’s doing just fine being the lone young on-air personality for the people of Connecticut.
“Just last week, someone told me their alarm clock is set to one of my newscasts,” he said. “Another person told me they listen while they shower. Insomniacs listen to the radio, low at night, while they relax.
“Connecticut has my heart, so I’m even happier to have landed a solid news/talk opportunity in my home state.”
Brian Shactman is a weekly columnist for Barrett News Radio. In addition to writing for BNM, Brian can be heard weekday mornings in Hartford, CT on 1080 WTIC hosting the popular morning program ‘Brian & Company’. During his career, Brian has worked for ESPN, CNBC, MSNBC, and local TV channels in Connecticut and Massachusetts. You can find him on Twitter @bshactman.
