Diane Newman has built a philosophy at WWL Radio that sounds deceptively simple but proves powerful in practice — if you’re going to serve New Orleans, you’d better enjoy living in it.
The longtime program director has made “having fun” a core part of the station’s identity, not as a gimmick, but as a survival skill in a market where the news never sleeps and the emotions always run high.
“New Orleans is just a nonstop news story,” Newman said. “It is deeply mystical, enchanting, and crazy good. It’s a deeply soulful market. The spirit of the people is like no other. We have our hardships, and we have our celebrations, and we probably do both bigger than anybody else.”
“WWL has always been at the epicenter of everything that happens in the city,” Newman shared. “People know us, they trust us, they believe what we say. They love us, and we love them back. What everybody says about the city of New Orleans is, if you love New Orleans, it’ll love you back, and WWL is a reflection of that.”
“It’s just who we are,” Diane Newman added. “It’s what we do, and yes, it comes with pressure, of course.”
That pressure, Newman explained, is inseparable from the city’s defining moments — especially Hurricane Katrina — and it has shaped how she leads and how she encourages her team to approach their work with perspective and joy rather than fear.
“There’s a line of demarcation for everybody who is from New Orleans and who has experienced the world’s worst natural and manmade disaster, Katrina,” Newman said. “A lot of times it just goes down to that. If we went through Katrina, fought for this city, survived it, and then thrived after, we can get through anything.”
“When you’re dealt the cards that are dealt to the market, you have to play them,” the WWL Radio leader added. “I was just looking at this in a meeting earlier this morning at all the things that happened last year in this market. We started off last year with a terror attack on January 1st, and we covered that,” Newman said.
“Then, a historic snowstorm that basically shut the city down for almost a week. Then we had a Super Bowl, and WWL is the flagship station for the Saints, so we’re in the middle of that. We broadcast live from the convention center, all of the shows on the station, for the entire week. Then there was a Mardi Gras like no other, with high wind, so it changed the story,” Newman shared. “We changed with it. It’s constant action like that in this market.”
For Newman, the ability to handle that constant action comes from an emotional contract with the audience — one rooted in empathy, connection, and a belief that radio should feel human, even during chaos.
“We tell the people who live here, who believe in WWL, who trust us, who know we’re there with them no matter what happens in this city, that we are here,” Newman said. “We will tell you what you need to know, we will guide you through, and we will talk to you. And we will feel with you. We will think with you.”
That same philosophy drives how Newman evaluates talent and builds teams. She views WWL Radio less like a traditional talk station and more like a championship locker room.
“I think it’s not unlike an NFL team,” Newman said. “It’s about the players on the field. These guys are this market. Tommy Tucker came from music radio and learned the craft of talk radio through our Katrina experience,” Newman shared. “Newell Normand was the sheriff of Jefferson Parish and had a 90-plus approval rating three times. He’s brilliant, and he cares deeply about what happens within this city.”
“Then you have Scoot (Paisant), who evolved into a news/talk host and came back to the city for a rebirth on WWL,” Newman said. “He is deeply rooted here. They all are. We also have Bobby Hebert, the Cajun Cannon, who led the Saints to the playoffs. People love Bobby. They love Deuce McAllister. In so many ways, it’s about that deep connection. People can hear themselves on this radio station and see themselves in our hosts.”
WWL Radio has a slightly different philosophy in one of the most important dayparts. In afternoon drive, the aforementioned Hebert hosts a sports talk show from 4-8 PM on the news/talk station. And while that might seem out of place, to Diane Newman — who finished seventh in the Mid-Market News/Talk Program Director rankings in the 2025 Barrett Media Top 20 series — the show fits perfectly into the vision of the station.
“Give people what they love,” Newman said. “We can still cover everything in news and talk, all the conversations about the indicted mayor and the new mayor coming in to bring a rebirth to the city. But people love the New Orleans Saints. People love LSU football and baseball. Sports are part of who we are here. So why wouldn’t you give them a taste of what they love every day?”
At the heart of it all, Newman still sees herself as a producer — someone responsible for shaping daily moments that reflect the life of the city.
“Producers produce,” Newman said. “At heart, I’m a producer, and I think that’s who all of us at this radio station are. Every day, you’re served up a blank slate. You have to fill it with what’s going on in your market, what people care about, what people want to talk about, what people are happy about, and what people are upset about. To me, it all goes back to connection. When a station can reflect the market the way WWL does, that’s the goal.”
Ultimately, Newman believes that fun isn’t a distraction from the seriousness of some of the topics that are discussed on the station — it’s what sustains it.
“It still is so much fun. In the end, it’s supposed to be fun. You have things that are a pain that you have to do every day,” Newman admitted. “But even covering Mardi Gras, you’re delivering something special. Who gets to do this for a living? If the Saints win, how much fun is that? When LSU is a championship baseball team, how much fun is that?”
“We have amazing jobs,” Diane Newman concluded. “Every day starts with a blank slate, but we have jobs that most people in the world would want. How much fun is this?”
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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.
