One of the bad raps given to News/Talk radio hosts is that it’s a bunch of angry Boomers yelling about Democrats. Don’t get me wrong, there’s no shortage of that kind of content if you are seeking it, but there is so much creativity and depth to dozens of quality News/Talk radio hosts around the country who are so much more than other media perceive them to be. This week’s story around South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem (R) was an incredible opportunity to show your audience that you can have fun at the expense of “one of your own.”
As is now well known, Kristi Noem has infamously admitted in her upcoming memoir No Going Back: The Truth on What’s Wrong with Politics and How We Move America Forward (buy it here, dog leash not included) to killing her dog Cricket (R.I.P.) because the dog wasn’t trained properly and didn’t handle itself well when pheasant hunting and had killed a couple of the neighbor’s chickens.
There was also a fiasco in the book’s passage, in which she describes meeting with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, as her story has consistently changed. However, she has declined to say that the account was false — even though the passage has since been redacted.
To make matters worse, Noem seemed hellbent on trying to dig herself out of this mess by appearing on TV shows around the country in recent days, which were generally disastrous. So it’s been an absolute trainwreck of a week for Kristi Noem. And it’s made for an incredible opportunity for News/Talk radio content.
I talked to and heard from some hosts concerned about mocking Noem, a perceived rising star in the Republican Party and potential VP pick for Donald Trump.
Please. Who cares? Create great and entertaining content for your audience. Don’t worry about whether or not you might one day get to interview Kristi Noem. Plus, based on what I saw on TV, she’s not a compelling interview anyway.
There aren’t many things that Americans near-universally agree on anymore, but being against killing dogs has to be pretty high up on that list. Loving dogs is as American as apple pie. You will be on the side of (at least) 80-90% of the American public on this one. There was no fear of alienating the pro-dog killing crowd if that is a constituency that event exists. And if it does, I’m not interested in catering to it.
So, with that being said, I hope you used this as an opportunity to get creative and have fun. Whether via on-air bits, like an on-air candlelight vigil to Cricket, playing horrific sound bytes from Noem as she tried to defend herself on cable news (which was an absolute disaster) and/or mixing callers into the equation, it was content gold.
Granted, this story was not local, and while we emphasize the importance of local content in this weekly column, some things are too good to pass up. And at our core, entertainment needs to lead the way.
And heck, if you really want to localize it and get audience participation, throw this one out there, “Which local politician is most likely to be a dog killer?” Too crass? You could convince me of that, but you get the broader point. Don’t avoid one of the week’s biggest stories out of fear of offending the audience.
When a public figure deserves to be dogged, don’t hold back. Inform, entertain, and let the chips fall where they may.
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.
