She’s strong, feisty, and always willing to stand her ground. Radio host Mary Walter has a very specific idea of what the media should look like. “I wish people would be honest,” she said. “I wish the media would do their job. Who, what, when, where, why, and how. I long for an unbiased news report, an actual news report. Now, to be fair, some outlets will label commentary or opinion commentary or opinion that is important.”
The problem she believes stems from people being emotionally invested in politics, “[The population] can’t sit back and have a conversation with someone who feels differently than they do,” she said. “So, the media, what do they do? They cater to that. They’re going to cater because their ratings are going to go up because they’re telling people what they want to hear. So, their ratings go up. So, it’s all about the dollars and cents.”
Her experience spans decades and her exposure is almost unmatched for a fill in host. “I fill in for everybody all over the country, but I don’t have a full-time job. When you work in this industry, that happens a lot.” While she’s hoping for a full-time gig to come along soon, she’s found some unique ways to stay relevant. Including TV appearances, radio fill-in hosting, and her own podcast.
“I’ve been very blessed in that,” she said. “Listen WMAL gave me a great gift of a high profile. I did Fox television, so that gave me a great gift of a high profile. Now I do Newsmax TV, so that gives me a bit of a high profile. So, I’ve been blessed in that way, and because of that, I’m never really without an upcoming gig.”
Between full-time gigs Walter began working on two podcasts which she later merged into one, Mary Walter Radio. “It was really hard doing two podcasts a day plus do the fill-in work, plus the TV. It was a lot. So I merged them into one. So sometimes we talk politics, sometimes we don’t. Sometimes we talk about both.”
While it is a grind to continuously hustle, Walter, who noted she’s looking for her next full-time gig, said how important events like the BNM News Summitt are for people looking to stay relevant in the industry. “I got to make connections; I got fill-in work. I got more work because I was able to make those connections.”
She later noted about the summit, “I found such an incredible opportunity, and especially if you want to expand your profile, if you want to make new connections. Of all the media events I’ve gone to over the years, this was the best [event] I’ve ever gone to. It was the most fruitful for me.”
Mary Walter is meant to be in this industry, she has personality, she’s authoritative, energizing, and intelligent. Her media career, however, started in one of the most unique ways. As she explains, “I was working as a computer consultant. I ran an HR Department, and I got this job at AT&T writing user manuals for computers and when you’re a consultant, it’s like radio. When your contract is over and you’ve done the job, you’re done. You don’t have a job.”
While driving to Philidelphia, Walter turned on the radio. “I’m listening to this radio station because I could get it the whole way to Philadelphia because it’s 50,000 watts and it says they’re looking for a new host. They were having a contest, and you could call in if you want to be a host. So, I’m listening to this and I’m like, ‘This is terrible. These women think they can host the show because they’ve had three husbands, and they’ve made bad choices in their entire lives. This is terrible.’”
Somewhere along the drive her husband encouraged her to try out. “My husband finally says to me, ‘Go call. I can’t take it. Go call. You’d do better than that. If you think this is so terrible, you do better than them.’ Long story short, I call in. It’s a Friday. Monday, my mother calls me and says she got a call from ‘one of your crazy friends about some radio thing’ and it was real, they asked me to come in and do a show.” And the rest is history.
For those looking to follow in Walter’s footsteps the likelihood of another radio host contest happening might be a little slim. However, Walter has three points to be sure you are ready for the media industry:
1 – “It doesn’t pay”
2 – “Don’t go into this to express your point of view”
3 – “You have to have a strong backbone”
Walter compared getting a six-figure job in journalism to getting into professional basketball. “It’s like [saying,] ‘I’m going to play basketball my whole life.’ Do you know how many people actually make it to the pros? Do you know how many people actually make it to where you’re earning six figures in radio or in ‘journalism?’ It’s not realistic.”
For those who really want to be in journalism she encourages them to get a side hustle. “You’re going to have to have a side hustle. So, work on either a newsletter or substack or video or something along those lines to help get your name out there.”
She also wants people to know the difference between journalists and propagandists. “If you’re just going into this because you want to be able to express your point of view and you want to be able to help the cause, don’t go into it because you’re a hack, you’re a propagandist. You’re not a journalist. Don’t call yourself a journalist. That’s not what you are. If you truly want to be a journalist, you [need to take a] step back emotionally from whatever story it is you’re covering and take the blowback.”
Walter does take a step back, and knows when it’s important to criticize those who she believes in. “When [Trump] tweeted out or put on truth social, ‘I hate Taylor Swift.’ Was that necessary? Look, I’ll criticize him for that stuff. I’ll criticize what I think is wrong. I don’t agree with everything my husband does, so I sure as heck am not going to agree with everything a politician does. And if you can do that, if you can step back and really be objective and not have a slant [that’s important.]”
Most importantly she wants you to be strong. “Something like over 90% of people who work in our newsrooms donate to democratic causes. So, if you can get away with that and be your own person and not be a follower, that’s fantastic. Then go forward. If that’s your passion, do it.” Walter later noted, “Stand out from the crowd. You got to do it, and you got to be able to handle the blowback. If you can’t handle the blowback, don’t do it.”
You can check out Mary’s podcast on YouTube and Getter at 7:15 ET @MaryWalterRadio. Her podcast is also available on Apple podcasts and Spotify.
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.
