Saturday Night Live is right! Don’t be dominated by Trump. Donald Trump is a genius of dominating the news cycle. He is out front and there is no question that he is in charge. He’s especially popular with news/talk radio hosts. Following Biden’s low key and unavailability, we are being shocked by the speed and transparency of this administration compared to the previous administration.
Here are some thoughts on how to handle the Trump 2.0 Presidency…
Trump = Trolling
He knows how to manipulate the conversation. It is an amazing skill. I don’t care if you hate or love Donald Trump, he is dumping so much content quickly.
For total transparency: I am a Conservative and love most of Trump’s policies. I am focusing on news/talk radio’s covering of this presidency.
Remember that it is all about the listener. Your mindset should be “How does this apply to your listener?” Making it real and relatable to your audience must be your first concern. The vast number of items in the news cycle makes us consider what the main topic is. It is essential to be nimble, yet prepared, to discuss the biggest story without being subject to the latest utterance by the President.
If you are a news/talk radio show host, you have 2-4 hours of radio to prepare for every day. If you’re a Program Director, you must keep your brand focused on the things that matter to your listeners. Don’t allow your show or station to be rolled by President Trump. Most commercial news/talk stations appeal to right-leaning or conservative listeners. Don’t consider that the majority of listeners are wildly MAGA. I am saying this as a man who enthusiastically voted for Trump. There is a subset of the MAGA crowd who are very outspoken and not representative of the vast majority of your listeners. Don’t focus on the rabid few. Be locked in on the majority of your audience.
It Can’t Be All Donald Trump, All the Time
During the Biden Administration, reporters and the public had very limited access to President Biden. His appearances were very tightly managed. For the Washington-based media, the schedule was very predictable. Trump is not predictable. The President will be posting to social media at any moment of any day. Trump knows that there is a 24-hour news cycle. Trump wants you to be discussing him constantly. It is a brilliant strategy and Trump’s understanding of this is unparalleled.
But don’t be a sucker. There is so much more for you to be focused on. Looking at your listener’s profile. Is there more to your station that Donald Trump and Washington hijinks? There better be. What is going on with crime in your community? What’s going on with your listener’s kids?
What about traffic? We don’t talk about traffic nearly enough. I don’t care if you are in Los Angeles or Florence, Alabama. Your listeners are complaining about the traffic.
What the heck is going on with insurance rates? I have a clean driving record but had a fender bender in 2014. My insurance rates for my car have doubled in the last few years.
What is the economic growth plan for your community or state? Your wife asked you if that dress made her butt look big and it does. How do you answer that question? How much time is too much time to allow your kid to play video games? What is your favorite video game? Is your job asking you to do too much? These are all things going on in your listener’s lives. Don’t let Trump dominate your station.
Know Your Audience
We have shows to host and stations to manage. We must be smart at managing the avalanche of information to provide our audience with a Listener-Focused Experience. I like data. When is the last time that you dug into the census information for your community? Look at data points like the average household size, average age, income, and more. You will learn that approximately 2.4 people live in the average household in your area. We often focus on people with children, which is a minority. Talk about a topic!
The biggest thing should be our focus. Just because the national media is hanging on every word of President Trump, doesn’t mean that your listeners are doing the same.
I am not saying to ignore Donald Trump. Hey, we are looking for content and Trump is easy content. Watching the reactions that many in the mainstream media are having is fun! I am personally entertained by the wringing of the hands. But I just want you to win.
Every success by news/talk radio stations is something I personally celebrate. Just know that there is more to your mission than the happenings in The White House. There is more to life than politics. Getting into the inner workings of the political news cycle is a natural temptation for many hosts. It is a trap, though. The more granular on politics and political theater that you get on your show or station the less accessible it is to your listeners.
One of the reasons that I discourage close relationships with elected officials is that most hosts cannot help becoming addicted to the access. Donald Trump’s ability to dominate the news cycle is awesome to watch. Just because President Trump utters something, it may be best to ignore it. It’s always about a Listener-Focused Experience. What’s going on with the people in your audience?
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Peter Thiele is a weekly news/talk radio columnist for Barrett Media, and an experienced news/talk radio programmer. He recently served as program director for WHO/KXNO in Des Moines, IA. Prior to that role he held programming positions in New York City, San Francisco, Little Rock, Greenville, Hunstville, and Joplin. Peter has also worked as a host, account executive and producer in Minneapolis, and San Antonio. He can be found on Twitter at @PeterThiele.
