At many news/talk stations, the morning show is strictly dedicated to the most pertinent news of the area, state, and country. But that’s not the case for Nashville’s Morning News with Dan Mandis on SuperTalk 99.7 WTN.
It is a stereotypical news/talk radio show, driven by the host’s opinions more than interviews with local leaders, etc…there is still a news wheel that the show follows, but it isn’t as news-dominated as many other shows in the daypart.
So, while the show is somewhat atypical, is the interview style from Dan Mandis? I pulled an interview he conducted with Rep. Scott Desjarlais (R-TN) after President Donald Trump’s Address to a Joint Session of Congress last week to find out.
The first question, in my opinion, highlights that it isn’t a news-dominant show. Mandis began the conversation by asking what was the bigger story: the great speech by Donald Trump or the reaction by the Democrats. Not exactly an unbiased question. And I don’t care about the bias, to be frank. Dan Mandis hosts a conservative-focused news/talk show. That’s his right. But it does highlight the notion that this isn’t your straight-down-the-middle morning news program.
The next question from the SuperTalk 99.7 WTN was a good one, whether you agree with the politics of the show and guest or not. He noted that the representative got to speak with Trump following his address. Mandis asked what the President’s feeling were in the immediate aftermath of the speech. Fantastic question. Truly.
By asking that question, Dan Mandis got valuable insight for his listeners from a first-hand account to how the leader of the free world felt about the biggest news story of the week. It is really easy to overcook that thought process in this type of situation. Sometimes, less is more. This is a less is more question and a phenomenal one by Mandis.
The next portion of the interview was something I don’t especially love in an interview unless you’re asking your subject to react to audio they haven’t heard, but Mandis played a clip of Trump’s speech calling out Democrats for their failure to celebrate his accomplishments. In that moment, it feels almost as if you’re using the subject as a co-host rather than an expert.
And that should be the goal, right? In this instance, Rep. Scott Desjarlais should be on the show as an expert, not as a buddy or a friend of the program, in my view. It didn’t lead to a great reaction from the Congressman, it didn’t lead into a strong question, it was a chance for Mandis to make an additional point about the topic. Which is fine, but you have plenty of other time outside the interview to accomplish that. It breaks one of the Seven Deadly Sins of Interviewing, which is sharing your remarks rather than asking your subject an insightful question.
After re-setting the interview, Dan Mandis continued his remarks by sharing that the show has shared plenty of audio of Democratic pundits sharing their disappointment about how the party’s elected leaders reacted to the speech. He said he believed those members of Congress would think they “shanked” the response on Tuesday night.
That’s just more remarks. And, again, you have plenty of time to share your opinion throughout the show. There is only a finite amount of time you have to interview a sitting member of Congress. Additionally, you only have a finite amount of time with your listener.
Mandis then followed up remarks by Desjarlais by asking about the situation between the United States and Ukraine, and asked “What do you think — from your perspective — is going to be next?”
Another good question from the Nashville’s Morning News host. If the Trump speech was Topic 1A, which it was, the conflict between Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy was #2. And again, getting the insight from someone who is significantly closer than virtually anyone else available is good work by Mandis.
The final question included a question from one of Desjarlais’ constituents about executive orders. That was a good, engaging move by Mandis to give sort of the “last one for the road”, so to speak, to one of his audience members. It feels empowering from a listener’s perspective to have that opportunity.
Overall, when Dan Mandis asked questions of the guest, the answers were insanely valuable. The comments were likely used on newscasts throughout the day on SuperTalk 99.7 WTN, and probably also elsewhere inside the market. The questions provided valuable insight to the audience from an elected official.
The Congressman was able to share his perspective on the two largest topics in the news, which is ultimately all you can ask for. It just included some comments from the Nashville’s Morning News host that listeners needed to filter through to get there.
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Garrett Searight is Barrett Media’s News Editor, which includes writing bi-weekly industry features and a weekly column. He has previously served as Program Director and Afternoon Co-Host on 93.1 The Fan in Lima, OH, and is the radio play-by-play voice of Northern Michigan University hockey. Reach out to him at Garrett@BarrettMedia.com.
