We’ve always said there is no shame in being fired from radio but it’s no badge of honor, either.
The beginning of the 21st Century saw severe reductions in radio station budgeting and workforce that continue to this day. This isn’t news to any of us, especially those of us who have been “downsized” or “laid-off” (despicable corporate euphemisms), in many cases more than once.
People who lose jobs they love and do well are blindsided financially and emotionally. I’ve been there, maybe you have, too. Everyone says, “You’re too good to stay on the beach. You’ll land well soon.” Nice sentiment but it’s not always true. And there’s that deep dark place in your mind where your self-confidence falters and you suspect your beloved career is over for good.
When it happened to me I had trouble understanding the harsh truth that regardless of my talent, positive nature, and work ethic the company found me disposable. It was a simple matter of economics as they said; it was impersonal to management but entirely personal to me.
If they needed to cut the budget why me?
A lot of good people dispassionately dismissed have changed careers but many of them still carry the torch for radio. Social media is filled with pages dedicated to sharing memories of their good old days. Radio may be done with them but they weren’t finished with radio.
The deep love of radio is much more widespread than most of us in the business believe. While we’re thinking it’s the end of the road for an outdated technology the people we know who have never worked in radio don’t think that way and still have love their memories and are fascinated by it all. And yes, that includes younger people that we old farts think see a radio like they see a rotary dial telephone.
So, how can you avoid the grim reaper who lurks near the HR office? Keep loving what you do, keep learning, and innovate.
Here’s a little secret that seems to have gotten lost over the years: versatility.
Like a lot of my contemporaries (which is a funny word to use for people in their 60s and 70s), I started at the bottom, learning to read meters and clean tape machine heads. I graduated to a weekend on-air shift at a small town top-40 station, then full-time, and finally on to a medium market. Along the way, I began to learn to do everything involved in programming. I did what was needed, back-to-back or fill-in jock shifts, classifying and compiling song lists, news prep and reading, commercial writing and production.
In my first three years, I grew from learning to use cotton swabs, Ampex head cleaner, and a splicing block to being on-air weekends and eventually a morning drive jock; then I advanced to become a production director, a music director, and a program director. I learned all of these skills from my advanced colleagues. They moved on, I moved up. Each skill I learned sharpened my understanding of the others. And here’s the big difference between then and now: I needed years to make it to a major market and to stick. While I advanced quickly I needed time to absorb radio and life experience.
I know news reporters, anchors, and talk hosts today who never worked in a small market. They went straight from journalism school to major market radio. They’re smart and talented but they don’t have a firm grounding. Fortunately, most of them have experienced news and program directors to teach them but that’s just on-the-job schooling. Real learning in life takes place in the trenches.
And, ponder this: today’s instant major market stars will soon become the news, talk, and programming overseers and consultants of tomorrow.
If I had a son or daughter getting into the business today with a wonderful major market opportunity I would have trouble endorsing it. I would anyway but I’d caution them every step of the way that they haven’t arrived yet. “You’re starting at the top,” I’d tell them. “You don’t even know what you don’t know.” I would hope to instill in them some sense of gratitude and devotion to learning by doing.
We live in a chaotic time of doubt and misinformation. Some of it is intentional but it grows through ignorance.
Social media is exposing and accelerating the dumbing-down of America. Most people don’t pay much attention to what’s going on in the world. We’re busy, I get that. The problem is we share posts we haven’t read and give likes to mere headlines. We form opinions based on nothing but hearsay, fake news, and now, heavily manipulated artificial intelligence.
Americans aren’t stupid but we are overwhelmed. When we entered the so-called information age in the 90s we didn’t expect this. The technology dazzled us. We learned to love and trust Google and every other source of immediate information. It didn’t occur to us then that behind every source is a fallible or dishonest human with personal biases. Some of them believe that they have a calling to enlighten us with their version of the truth.
Radio is capable of tapping the brakes. As you prepare your news and talk shows take time to question sources openly. When possible expose lies and fake news, no matter the source. You can be a hard-core conservative or liberal and effectively disagree with others’ opinions. Honesty creates trust and nourishes curiosity.
Above all else, we need to remember to learn before we speak. New technology is instantaneous but humans still grow slowly, over time and experience.
You have a responsibility and an exciting opportunity to make a difference. Be grateful, think hard, and work joyously. It will get you as close to being indispensable as possible.
