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morrisjames
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Posted: Fri Apr 25th, 2008 08:05 pm |
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I was talking to a former reporter in Arkansas the other day and they told me this story which made me shake in my boots as a long time journalist.
This person had covered a city council meeting where the station's morning jock is also on the council. The councilman had made some very controversial statements at the meeting about annexation and his remarks had become the focus of he entire night.
The now former reporter (they had already turned in their resignation to take another job outside radio) wrote a story about what the councilman had said.
The story was yanked quickly the next morning by the station manager (a person with only a sales back ground and on their first manager's job) over claims it made the station "look bad."
No, the station LOOKS BAD for not running the story. The dj was a councilman and what he said was not as a radio person. The reporter did the RIGHT THING! By they way, the council had a second session on what the councilman had said and a Springfield tv station was there to provide coverage. The reporter who was at the first meeting couldn't provide a story on it.
You can't build audience trust the way the station did this. Period. If the station can't report the news in an objective manner without a story being yanked by management then maybe it ought to do what 90-percent of all other stations in the nation do...JUST PLAY MUSIC. That is the safe way.
Last edited on Fri Apr 25th, 2008 10:36 pm by morrisjames
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JCW
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Posted: Mon Apr 28th, 2008 12:36 pm |
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That happens all the time in small markets.
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Musicczar
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Posted: Mon Apr 27th, 2009 06:54 pm |
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I was the P.D. at that station during the incident you speak of. I made the ultimate decision to take the story off the air. Maybe I was still green (I had only been P.D. for a little over a month), but unfortunately politics does play a role in making decisions sometimes.
Yes the manager would have pulled it, if I had not, and no I am not a big fan of said G.M., but a story that was about annexation ended up being a piece of sensationalism. I would have had no problem continuing to air the story, if it did not completely revolve around the idiotic comments of the morning jock (the only audio from the meeting was that of the comments). Putting the remarks or mentioning them would have been one thing, to make it the main focus was taking away from the issue that everyone in town was concerned with at that was the annexation.
I think the world of the journalist that went and covered the story and had gone to bat for them many times, but they also had a dislike of the manager and said D.J., and I am not for sure if a little bit of pleasure was taken in writing and airing that piece.
If I hadn't been a lame duck P.D. (hindsight now 20/20), and actually had authority over my staff, things would have been a little different. The D.J. would have been suspended from his duties, and the story would have been allowed to run if it had been worded differently. Of course I'm not a fan of any media mouth piece to be an elected or appointed official in the first place (the G.M. actually encouraged such things).
But again, the D.J. is not Imus, and the station is not CBS. Retaining advertisers in a small market is a difficult process as it is, and that whole incident didn't help matters.
Imagine being in my shoes as P.D., one part of you is furious, the other half actually loves the buzz and publicity your getting (shoot, not too often a small market radio station or it's personality is getting exposure from news outlets like Springfield!)
It was a tuff line to tow!
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MediaMogul
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Posted: Wed Apr 29th, 2009 03:42 am |
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You would have suspended him for his duties over the comments made during his duties as a city councilman?
That doesn't exactly count as 9 to 5... And it can also make KHOZ look bad in the sense that (idiotic comments or not) the employer stifled a public official's opinion.
Awkward situation, but I don't think interrupting employment is the answer unless he embarrassed the station on the air.
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artmorris
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Posted: Wed Apr 29th, 2009 11:31 am |
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I don't know how you can be on the air and run for an elected position in the first place.
During the election process, your competitors would be entitled to 'equal time' on the air. Just the thought of having other council candidates demanding free time makes me shudder.
just a thought.
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Musicczar
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Posted: Thu Apr 30th, 2009 12:30 am |
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Media Mogul your right, that would have been wrong of me (not to mention a knee jerk reaction). It was my first management job in radio, and I was less than two months into the gig.
I am always looking for advice to further my knowledge, any thoughts from you, or anyone else as to what I should have done?
Art, that's exactly why I do not believe in radio personalities being public officials...equal time! I remember last year that a DJ from Nebraska was going to run for a local office seat, until someone running against him brought up the issue of equal time. He opted out really fast from that point!
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MediaMogul
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Posted: Thu Apr 30th, 2009 01:08 am |
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Well I think that is a situation where right or wrong, by the time that you got there, he was on the council and there wasn't much you could do about it. Something like this was probably bound to happen sooner or later.
Arkansas is a right-to-work state, and you could have fired him for wearing a color of shirt that didn't suit your fancy technically... But at the same time, booting a guy off the air for something he said during the course of another very public job could be a PR nightmare.
That's not to say that you can't pull the guy aside or get ahold of him ASAP after the meeting and say "If this is talked about on the air... you're done."
Everyone has a different style, and I'm not condemning.. just offering an opinion. (what these boards are for.. right?)
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Musicczar
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Posted: Thu Apr 30th, 2009 01:11 am |
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Exactly what these boards are for. Thanks for the advice!
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Sneaky Snooper
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Posted: Thu Apr 30th, 2009 11:03 am |
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In a situation like this, I'd do the right thing and air the story with different wording and running a legal disclaimer that the statements made do not necessarily reflect the views of the station or its managment and are solely those of the speaker.
The first rule of journalism: Be fair and unbiased.
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