Unfortunately in 2023, common sense is far too uncommon.
We’ve lived in a world for the last three years where there have been serious conversations on defunding some of the largest police departments in the country. These conversations have been pushed by organizations that have been funded, in large part, by corporate America.
As a result, we’ve been stuck in an odd environment where supporting your area law enforcement has been unusual, or somehow political in nature. No longer is it just common sense to support the men and women in Blue broadly, but of course, if there is corruption or a tragic mistake, you call it out when necessary and hold those involved accountable for their actions.
While living in such a bizarre time is not beneficial for society at large, it could be good for your station and show.
At KCMO Talk Radio, we recently launched a “Back the Blue” Tour. The idea came from a phone call I received late last year from a Kansas City area police chief. He asked me if I would host a show at his headquarters. He suggested it would help boost morale within the department given that most of the Kansas City media doesn’t give them a fair shake. He added that a large percentage of the department listens to the show and the station and that they would roll out the red carpet in any way possible.
It was a compelling idea, but I didn’t want it to be a one-off. It felt like it could be part of something bigger.
We got through the 2022 election season and got to work on this in 2023. There were some minor bumps in the road that delayed our initial plans, but we got it off the ground in recent weeks to great success.
The KCMO Talk Radio inaugural “Back the Blue” Tour at an area police department far exceeded expectations. The format for the show was to blend a regular “News of the Day” show with a handful of guests from the department who could take us behind the scenes on new initiatives, community involvement, and highlight the men and women who have done great work recently, and in some cases, saved lives of area residents.
Rather than only knowing the names of cops after they end up on the wrong side of a shooting or an arrest, we did our best to give the audience a chance to learn the names of the officers doing great work every day in their backyard, while largely going unnoticed.
The department even allowed us to get earned media coverage as they notified all KC area media of our show appearance prior to the visit, while also sharing clips, photos, and videos from the event on their Facebook page, which reaches tens of thousands of area residents.
Add in the sales possibilities and we believe we have a home run event to build off of in Kansas City. The Tour can have multiple sponsors, there can be a recruitment sponsorship element given the shortage for many police departments in 2023, while a digital component can be included since all the interviews were podcasted and shared to a page on our website.
And the icing on the cake came after the show, as within a couple of hours of the program ending, we had half a dozen inquiries from other area police departments asking if they could be next on the “Back the Blue” Tour.
I can’t say which one will be next, yet, but I can confidently say there will be a next one. And then a “next” after that.
In a world gone crazy, be the common sense. We apply it to our shows every day, now there’s an opportunity to localize, build a bond and make a buck. That’s a triple-win in my book.
Pete Mundo is a weekly columnist for Barrett Media, and the Vice President of News/Talk for Cumulus Media, while also hosting “Mundo in the Morning” and programming KCMO Talk Radio in Kansas City. Previously, he was a fill-in host nationally on FOX News Radio and CBS Sports Radio, while anchoring for WFAN, WCBS News Radio 880, and Bloomberg Radio. He’s also the owner of the Big 12-focused digital media outlet Heartland College Sports. To interact, find him on X @PeteMundo.
