While many journalists are the first to record history, there are very few who make history. iHeartMedia’s Executive Vice President of News, Talk, and Sports Programming, Chris Berry is one of the few who have made history during his career.
It’s taken a lot of skill and tenacity to make it to the top. This combined with his warmhearted disposition and belief in journalism made it all possible and it all started in a Florida high school.
“I always wanted to be a newspaper reporter. In fact, when I was in high school I took a test on what your career should be. It said I should either be a newspaper reporter or a cop,” Berry told Barrett News Media over a Zoom call.
Falling short of wanting to risk his life as an officer of the law, Berry took his passion for print news to TV. His first station after graduating college was at the NBC affiliate in Memphis. Just a few years later, “I heard about an opening [as a news writer] at KNX News Radio in Los Angeles. The CBS-owned, all-news radio station.”
Berry paid his own way out west, took a writing test, and later accepted the job. His idea was to get back into TV after a stint at KNX, but his success put him on a different path. “I’ve spent the rest of my career in radio from the time that I started there.”
Spending 14 years in Los Angeles, Berry then Executive Produced in Washington, D.C. He later moved to WBBM in Chicago as Assistant News Director and later, News and Program Director. During the 1996 DNC Convention, Berry met up with a friend who suggested taking a look at ABC News Radio. Heeding the advice, he set off to New York as the General Manager of Operations for ABC News Radio right after the election. He moved up the ranks at the then-newly minted House of Mouse. It was there when the Ole Miss graduate’s career became historic.
While at ABC, Berry was also on the board of the Radio and Television News Directors Association. He played an instrumental role in the airing the first Supreme Court case. “One of the things that I’m very proud of was during the election of 2000, there was a Supreme Court challenge, Gore versus Bush. We petitioned the United States Supreme Court to broadcast that case,” Berry said.
The historic petition had never been done successfully until Berry’s advocacy. Because of his efforts, oral arguments of Supreme Court cases may now be broadcast. The first taped courtroom remarks aired December 12, 2000, when Gore versus Bush was heard.
While at ABC, Berry was awarded News/Talk Executive of the Year by Radio and Records magazine in 2002. Later, Berry and his team won a Peabody Award and a Marconi Award. In 2012, he left Disney for Clear Channel, which would later evolve into iHeartMedia.
“I’ve been doing this for a long time and I’ve watched the news media evolve. Consumers of news now has so many more sources and places where they can get content. I’m a huge believer in radio and the future of radio — especially radio, news, and sports content — because those are things that are happening right now.” Berry said.
He added social media is a great help to the medium grow listeners. “It helps a lot because it is a great way to inform people of something happening. For example, if you have a newsworthy interview or if you have an event happening like a tornado, you can do a push notification through social media and it can actually drive listening.”
As technology changes and evolves, the newsman with a storied career believes it can only help, as long as things like Artificial Intelligence are used responsibly. “[AI] is a terrific tool that radio stations also have to be very careful about how they use it. As it exists today, is only as good as the content that’s being fed into it.”
Berry believes there is nothing better than having a real live person broadcasting nor does he see an AI robot taking to iHeart’s airwaves anytime soon. “It’s moving very fast as a technology, but my company, iHeartMedia, has publicly said we have no intention of using AI to voice any content because it’s just not something that works right now.”
In other words, AI does not make good radio.
“Good radio has to be compelling. Jack Swanson once said, ‘To inform without entertaining is time squandered.’ When you take a look at, especially talk radio, there does have to be a certain amount of entertainment value as you’re providing the information. Especially now, because people’s attention spans are as short as they are.” Berry added, “You can never lose sight of being factual.”
This sense of good radio touches more than just your dial, it affects podcasts, too. “Radio research over the years has often shown when people are asked to describe why they listen to the radio, they say it’s because it’s a friend. It’s the one-on-one relationship that a listener has with the broadcaster.”
Outside of radio, Berry does have some concerns about the future of the industry. “One of the things that scares me, as a citizen really, is the decline of local newspapers, because they are the places that actually go to the school board meetings or the city council meetings and things like that. When you don’t have a watchdog out there, you run the risk of corruption and people taking advantage of the fact that nobody is watching them.”
For those looking to follow in his footsteps, Berry’s advice is simple.
“Don’t sell radio short because it is a very intimate medium. As a result, it has the ability, if you’re a good radio communicator, to really connect with your audience.” Berry went on to say, “Radio really does provide a relationship with the media consumer that I haven’t really been able to find anywhere else. It’s just different.”
Krystina Alarcon Carroll is a news media columnist and features writer for Barrett Media. She has experience in almost every facet of the industry including: digital and print news; live, streamed, and syndicated TV; documentary and film productions. Her prior employers have included NY1 and Fox News Digital and the Law & Crime Network. You can find Krystina on X (formerly twitter) @KrystinaAlaCarr.
