You do not win a special award for being first with major news events on social media.
You do not gain anything by spreading rumors and speculation and conspiracy theories in the wake of a major news event.
There is no race to be the first. There is no prize for being right or wrong.
The best thing you can do when something like Saturday’s shooting at the Trump rally takes place is to shut up and wait for legitimate, verifiable information. The exception is if you’re reporting on the incident and are working rock-solid sources; if that’s what you’re doing and you have verified information in your hands, yeah, go ahead, report it. If not, shut up.
Oh, and nobody will remember if you were right, but if you were wrong, it’ll haunt you because it’ll be dredged up in screen shots every time you post an opinion about anything on Xitter or Facebook or wherever.
None of this is new, of course, but it struck me when looking at the reactions to the shooting that talk radio hosts have a unique position among all of this. They’re paid to have opinions. Everyone’s talking about the event. The expectation is that talk hosts are going to voice opinions on whatever everyone’s talking about. How can you NOT offer opinions as soon as things happen?
Well, for one thing, while your job is to entertain, it’s not to misinform. Your listeners are already forming conspiracy theories of their own. You don’t need to add to the chaos. It’s okay to say that you don’t know the details of what’s happening, and that while you think (insert probably incorrect assumption here), you have not confirmed it and caution listeners to wait for the truth to emerge. You don’t want to get caught up in the Reddit/X frenzy of identifying a suspect before it’s confirmed, because, as everyone should have learned from the Boston Marathon bombing, the first names are almost always wrong, and some unfortunate innocent person ends up being branded and harassed.
I’d add here that talk hosts should resist branding everyone on the “other side” as if they’re all responsible and guilty, but I recognize that division has become part of the job and that you’ve probably been banging that drum for your entire career. It sucks that talk radio has played a role in making political discussions toxic, but to use a cliché I can’t stand, it is what it is. I could ask you to resist, but you won’t, although you should. It’s one of the unfortunate things about talk radio in 2024: the talk is practically designed to alienate half of your available audience. Maybe this time, try not doing that. It’s not necessary, it’s not going to help your ratings, and it’s certainly not going to be good for the nation or, really, anyone.
The other thing to remember is not to assume that this will still be the topic du jour two weeks from now. It might even be gone sooner. The news cycle keeps getting faster and faster, and while an attempted assassination will be remembered well into the future, other news will supplant it on the front page. Talk about it as long as you know your audience is talking about it and know when to move on.
And the very best use of social media in these circumstances is to not use social media. Okay, if your station or site is covering the news, you can link to the coverage. Otherwise, the aftermath of a major news story, especially a traumatic one, tends to bring out the very stupidest takes and insane conspiracy theories. The conversation is not the most rational or educated. You’re best served by staying out of it. You don’t need to be part of that, and nobody will notice that you’re not saying anything. I took my own advice this weekend; nobody needed my commentary, and nobody complained that my accounts were silent.
Actually, I don’t post much anymore, and I think it’s helping lower my blood pressure. You should try it.
Perry Michael Simon is a weekly news media columnist for Barrett Media. He previously served as VP and Editor/News-Talk-Sports/Podcast for AllAccess.com. Prior to joining the industry trade publication, Perry spent years in radio working as a Program Director and Operations Manager for KLSX and KLYY in Los Angeles and New Jersey 101.5 in Trenton. He can be found on X (formerly Twitter) @PMSimon.
