I think being upfront and honest is always important. So I’ll be upfront and honest: 95.5 WSB is one of my favorite news/talk radio stations in the country, and The Mark Arum Show is one of my favorite shows to listen to.
Arum understands what news/talk radio — at least what good news/talk radio — is supposed to sound like. He’s entertaining, he’s engaging, he’s interesting, and he does all of that while informing. Mark Arum has a firm grasp that 95.5 WSB is a news station that happens to do talk, and not the other way around.
There are few news/talk radio hosts in America that utilize the two-way offerings from national news network providers than Mark Arum. I don’t think that’s hyperbole. Nearly every day he’ll feature a discussion with a CBS News Radio or ABC News Radio correspondents to dive deeper into a story for his audience.
But how does that sound, especially when the listener — in this case, me — has no idea just what the topic entails? Let’s find out. I’m walking into this interview completely blind. The only primer I have is that Arum is speaking with CBS News’ Scott MacFarlane about the “inquiry into Democrat Rep. Robert Garcia.”
To begin the interview, Mark Arum asked the most obvious question of MacFarlane: “What are these inquiries all about?”
This is the K.I.S.S. method: “Keep It Simple, Stupid.” You don’t always have to outthink your opponent. And in this case, there is no opponent. All Arum is trying to do, and needs to in this situation, is inform the audience. And as much as I pay attention to the happenings in the political world, I had no idea about this story (sorry, my Thursdays and Fridays get a little busy sometimes, ok!).
This is the perfect question to begin the conversation. Don’t assume that your audience knows everything that you know. Great beginning to the segment.
In case you were curious, by the way, Rep. Robert Garcia (D-CA) made lewd comments about Elon Musk on social media, leading the Department of Justice to open an investigation. Not only was Garcia looked at, so was Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-NY) for comments that could be viewed as “threatening” to judges or to those working in the Department of Government Efficiency. Fun times we’re living in.
Anyway, MacFarlane explained the situation, and contextualized it by showcasing the difference in the current Department of Justice compared to previous iterations of the agency.
Arum’s follow-up sought additional context, when he asked what the changes tell us about the second Trump administration. “Is this just a new sheriff in town and there’s gonna be new protocols?”
Mark Arum doesn’t add too much to his comments before asking the question. Which news/talk radio hosts can tend to do. You don’t always have to share how much you know about a topic. That’s why you’re speaking to someone for additional context or for their expertise. This is a good example of that. Set your guest up to be the star. The quickest, easiest, and most efficient way to do that is by asking open-ended questions, highlighted here.
After MacFarlane’s answer, Arum asked “What were the alleged threats that Schumer and Garcia made that kicked off this inquiry?” Literally, that’s all he said between answers from the CBS News reporter. Which, again, highlights the importance of brevity.
You could probably argue, and I think it would be a fair argument, that this should have been the second question asked. My rebuttal to that would be that it’s an obviously scripted question, that Mark Arum came into the interview knowing he was going to ask. So was the first question. But that middle one is a query I’d like to highlight because I think it shows the importance of active listening and not simply running down the script of pre-planned questions.
I would guess that the 95.5 WSB host was not prepared for MacFarlane to answer the question by pointing out how wildly different some of the conduct — behind the scenes — the Department of Justice featured in this situation than from previous norms. So, logically, it makes sense to ask a follow-up question about that topic. “How different is it?” is a fantastic question to squeeze in between what you had already planned out.
At risk of boring you over the minutiae of the interview, especially when it came to the topic shift of the interview to other political happenings in Washington, I’ll stop there.
But I feel like the first portion of this interview is part and parcel to why I think so highly of the Atlanta-based radio host. When you’re seeking entertainment, engagement, interesting topics and subject matter, and information, this interview showcases why Arum fits the bill in those categories and highlights him at his best.
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Garrett Searight is Barrett Media’s News Editor, which includes writing daily news stories, features, and opinion columns. He joined Barrett Media in 2022 after a decade leading several radio brands in several formats, as well as a 5-year stint working in local television. In addition to his work with Barrett Media, he is a radio and TV play-by-play broadcaster. Reach out to him at Garrett@BarrettMedia.com.
