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A sad observation
- Thread starter Nairda
- Start date
I have an idea.. how about we challenge the Old vs the New... Let's arrange a softball game between the Old WARM Softball Softies.. and the new regime... Even though we're old a gray, we can't be defeated! At stake is the right to own and program the station. First off Scott Shannon won't show up.. and since he's on only guy on the air, that pretty much kills the air talent. Sales? They're too busy selling a product that is worthless. Engineering? They caught the last train to the coast.. (thanks Don McLean)... who's left? No one corporate!
We can bring Bobby Day out of retirement to pitch (as soon as the Penguins win the cup and he can put the arena mic down)... There's Stan, Julio, Chet, and the gang... Of course this game would never be promoted, and we would need to have it played at a site that Scott Shannon couldn't pronounce like Minooka or Shickshinny, so if there was a liner, he'd butcher the town. I miss the softies and all the community good will those games created.
We can bring Bobby Day out of retirement to pitch (as soon as the Penguins win the cup and he can put the arena mic down)... There's Stan, Julio, Chet, and the gang... Of course this game would never be promoted, and we would need to have it played at a site that Scott Shannon couldn't pronounce like Minooka or Shickshinny, so if there was a liner, he'd butcher the town. I miss the softies and all the community good will those games created.
One must consider this, voicetracking has both positive and negative issues. Some small stations that were economically not viable now work because of voicetracking. Now overuse of voicetracking or doing voicetracking wrong is another issue, like having all voicetrackers from thousands of miles away. Now satellite radio is another issue. Stations that rerun the bird that could easily voicetrack are the worst. I don't mind satellite for sports or talk; but for music stations its just greed or lack of operational knowledge. Stations that just run liners with no DJ's at all (ala Jack) are just lazy and the pits; I'm personally not ready to give up on the traditional model of radio with DJ's between the songs.
KF
KF
Right on Kevin! Satellite is 70s or at best 80s technology for music formats. Show me a satellite success story. Music off the bird is nothing more than a desperate attempt by inexperienced management trying to get something for nothing. If it was that good everybody would be doing it. Back when local automation meant running reels and carts satellite was the best almost live alternative available. There is no excuse to run a satellite music format today given the automation systems that are available and what they can do to make a radio station sound live and locally connected even if they are totally voice tracked and in reality they are never truly live.
D
DStroyer
Guest
emo said:
I'm not disagreeing with you here, just playing devil's advocate...
How should WBHT serve Mountaintop? Are we talking about just a 30-minute show called "Mountaintop This Week" at 6:00 on Sunday mornings? Or, would it have to be a 2- or 3-hour block of Mountaintop-focused programming on Sunday mornings? Is there enough going on in Mountaintop to fill up a new 2- or 3-hour show every week? Since there's barely any measurable listenership on early Sunday mornings, you'd have to run these Mountaintop-focused shows during primetime on the weekend - or during the week - to REALLY, TRULY be serving Mountaintop.
Would there be enough revenue from Mountaintop businesses to pay for almost-daily WBHT DJ appearances at these businesses, so that the station can really get in touch with the Mountaintop public it's supposed to be serving? Are we talking about Marino, AJ, Ralphie, and Danny doing free appearances at Mountaintop-area church and firehouse spaghetti dinners and carnivals?
(Side note... I used to love having the in-studio PSA sheet to fall back on when I was working the 7-hour overnight shift on Sunday mornings. "It's donkey basketball at Wyalusing High School! Give us a call at 1-800-97-HOT97 for the details!!")
DStroyer... well put and a good comment...
What I'm getting to though is that these and similar stations never really think of the community that they're licensed to serve. When I worked at WQEQ in FREELAND, we made damn sure if there was a snowstorm, that we covered that small town like a blanket.. when something impacted that community, we made our prersence known. Now I've used this as as an example before.. when the tornado touched down in mountaintop two years ago and all heck broke loose.. did BHT say to themselves.. "Hey we're licensed to serve that community...we have to do something more that run the EBS tones?" I mean, when a station applies for a broadcast license, don't they submit documentation as to how that station will serve that community and what benefits will be gained by them getting that license. If they didn't have to say WBHT-Mountaintop, in their legal ID, no one world ever know that sation was granted a license for that town. This goes for every station that has that piece of paper to "serve the people of that community"... You don't get a frequency and a broadcast license just because you have money... you have to submit documentation on what you will do for that community and how you will serve their best interests... "Kid Craddock in the Morning" doesn't even know mountaintop exists, and for that matter, if sales couldn't sell spots to advertisers there, neither would the rest of the station. Guys, what I'm trying to say, is that someone somewhere has to be saying that we're responsible to to something for the community we're tied to!
What I'm getting to though is that these and similar stations never really think of the community that they're licensed to serve. When I worked at WQEQ in FREELAND, we made damn sure if there was a snowstorm, that we covered that small town like a blanket.. when something impacted that community, we made our prersence known. Now I've used this as as an example before.. when the tornado touched down in mountaintop two years ago and all heck broke loose.. did BHT say to themselves.. "Hey we're licensed to serve that community...we have to do something more that run the EBS tones?" I mean, when a station applies for a broadcast license, don't they submit documentation as to how that station will serve that community and what benefits will be gained by them getting that license. If they didn't have to say WBHT-Mountaintop, in their legal ID, no one world ever know that sation was granted a license for that town. This goes for every station that has that piece of paper to "serve the people of that community"... You don't get a frequency and a broadcast license just because you have money... you have to submit documentation on what you will do for that community and how you will serve their best interests... "Kid Craddock in the Morning" doesn't even know mountaintop exists, and for that matter, if sales couldn't sell spots to advertisers there, neither would the rest of the station. Guys, what I'm trying to say, is that someone somewhere has to be saying that we're responsible to to something for the community we're tied to!
DStroyer said:
Excellent point...regarding ANY station, for that matter.
One could argue that a high degree of community listenership (AKA: ratings) equals good community service.
Or, could it be that LOW listenership is a sign of success as you are serving the underserved? (Public radio and Air America come to mind...)
So, if the goal for showing you are 'serving' the community is a bunch of low rated shows that attract listeners that don't listen to other programs (or stations), then serving the community runs counter to ratings success.
Keeping the lights on and the carrier modulated would seem to be a goal of every station. To do that requires a product that will be listened to...by a sufficient number of folks to make it a viable advertising medium.
Seems that the 'public trustees' need the help of a majority (or a goodly number) of the 'public' to serve and continue to serve the public interest, no?
jeffwoehrle said:
This is a slightly different take on the situation, prompted by what you wrote.
Social commentators speak of this being the "me" generation. Give me what I want. Not what I should have, not what I need, but what I want.
Try this on for an observation of the industry: We haven't trained to listener to even know what he/she should be listening to at times, much less training them to want it.
We have trained a couple of generations of "spoiled brat" listeners who have no inclination to come into the kitchen and help Mom with the dishes or come out in the yard and help Dad edge the flowerbeds.
Goat Rodeo Cowboy said:
Hey Cowboy, you hit a home run.
Lots of fingers pointing in all different directions.
Instead of playing the blame game, lets figure out a way to make the industry once again relevant.
Playing 30 minutes of music/12 in a row, and a boatload of commercials won't cut it.
Reading a bunch of local p.s.a.'s that 99% of your listeners could care less about, won't cut it.
Listening to a "live and local" personality reading horoscopes/hollywood news/bizarre stories won't cut it.
I do have to ask the painful question, is the "talent pool" deep enough to make it work?
30 years ago, when you needed to staff your station 24/7, the pool was shallow.
Every market had two or three exceptional talents, the rest were there to keep you on the air.
Sorry, but true.
Ahhh, my friends. Consider the high school coach. Once in a while there is a school districts that just hands him/her a team full of people born to be stars. Maybe for 2 or 3 years in a career. The successful coach takes what he has, and teaches them to be winners, and sometimes to be a star.
Looking back on it, I had a few employers who were attempting to be mentors and coaches. They weren't very good at it. I wasn't very good at being a 'mentoree'. Most of them not help me find and develop my broadcasting skills..... they could have at least trained me to know that I needed to get attached to a real coach, and teach me how to accept coaching.
Radio will be really good..... if we ever figure out what GOOD radio is, and then we learn how to coach our people to DO good radio. Out of 15 people that I worked for, ONE really knew what he was doing, and he knew that he knew it! (Read that one about three times and it will make sense.)
Most of the other 14 were reasonably good broadcasters for the era. I not sure they knew what they were doing. I'm pretty sure most of them did not know that they did not know what they were doing.
I often wonder what I could have done if someone had helped to know what I was doing, and made sure that I knew that I knew what I was doing.
Sometime in the future I'm going to put a Part 15 operation in the old folks home when I get there. They will think that I know what I am doing.
I'm not a sports fan so someone will have to remind me.... when a team is playing poorly, to the fans start yelling that the players be fired, or that the team manager/coach be replaced?
Looking back on it, I had a few employers who were attempting to be mentors and coaches. They weren't very good at it. I wasn't very good at being a 'mentoree'. Most of them not help me find and develop my broadcasting skills..... they could have at least trained me to know that I needed to get attached to a real coach, and teach me how to accept coaching.
Radio will be really good..... if we ever figure out what GOOD radio is, and then we learn how to coach our people to DO good radio. Out of 15 people that I worked for, ONE really knew what he was doing, and he knew that he knew it! (Read that one about three times and it will make sense.)
Most of the other 14 were reasonably good broadcasters for the era. I not sure they knew what they were doing. I'm pretty sure most of them did not know that they did not know what they were doing.
I often wonder what I could have done if someone had helped to know what I was doing, and made sure that I knew that I knew what I was doing.
Sometime in the future I'm going to put a Part 15 operation in the old folks home when I get there. They will think that I know what I am doing.
I'm not a sports fan so someone will have to remind me.... when a team is playing poorly, to the fans start yelling that the players be fired, or that the team manager/coach be replaced?
U
uncleDJ
Guest
The talent pool:
30 years ago talent was bursting at the seems...why? People in the business - the experts, the legends - started getting involved in schools around the country to teach students eager for the microphone the tenets of the business. I was tutored by one of the best, WRKO-Boston's legendary Roger Allan, a news and public affairs guy with oodles of years experience in both broadcasting and life itself.
His schtick? Not just the news...he and a bunch of other New England broadcast buddies were also part of a bible society who supplied area hospitals, hotels, etc. with free bibles. His idea of public affairs was public SERVICE. Now there are those behind the mic who still do this - serve the community from a leadership role - like the ones that own and operate WINY Radio / Putnam CT, the very folks enabling me to do the Juke Box Gold program. Gary & Karen Osbrey are part of a handful of independent station owners that get it; the survival and flourishing of radio happens when owners generate it by direct involvement with the neighbors.
Gary and I are about the same age (although he'll immediately admit I've got the advanced age, and he'd be right)...but we who were 70s bred in the business got to work alongside some incredible talents in MA / RI / CT which were found all across the dial...each unique...at all times of the day. None of them 'took up space'. Of course, Providence had always been a hot market...huge into advertising, some say at the pinnacle of it nationally at one time. Maybe that had something to do with the talent pool.
One attracts talent by offer, no other bait will make the talent surface. If stations offer what the talented want, they'll bite, and fast. I can't tell you how many of the talented have abandoned their radio posts for better pay and situations outside this business because for many years (and still prevalent sadly) DJs were thought to 'work for a song'. Well that might have worked for the crazed kid needing a break, but not for the talented. I have been intricately involved in the workings of several start-up projects, some analyzed by bankers and lawyers, and all have questioned my foresight in paying the announcer salaries that most don't see in this business while paying myself in a leadership role significantly less than the counterparts. Why? Well some say I resemble Ben & Jerry logic (in fact some say I resemble Ben, or Jerry, or Jerry Garcia). They had great success by the 7:1 ratio: the lowest person will receive 1/7th of what the CEO gets.
What that does for the morale of working people...what that does to attract talent...the radio business needs a long overdue change of attitude on salary for its dedicated crazed employees. Not many make the kind of money it takes to survive without working at least another full time job. If paid like professionals, you would hear a qualitative difference even in the tiniest signal, because both DJ and owner would raise the bar and the expectation.
Thoughts?
-Bill Alley
30 years ago talent was bursting at the seems...why? People in the business - the experts, the legends - started getting involved in schools around the country to teach students eager for the microphone the tenets of the business. I was tutored by one of the best, WRKO-Boston's legendary Roger Allan, a news and public affairs guy with oodles of years experience in both broadcasting and life itself.
His schtick? Not just the news...he and a bunch of other New England broadcast buddies were also part of a bible society who supplied area hospitals, hotels, etc. with free bibles. His idea of public affairs was public SERVICE. Now there are those behind the mic who still do this - serve the community from a leadership role - like the ones that own and operate WINY Radio / Putnam CT, the very folks enabling me to do the Juke Box Gold program. Gary & Karen Osbrey are part of a handful of independent station owners that get it; the survival and flourishing of radio happens when owners generate it by direct involvement with the neighbors.
Gary and I are about the same age (although he'll immediately admit I've got the advanced age, and he'd be right)...but we who were 70s bred in the business got to work alongside some incredible talents in MA / RI / CT which were found all across the dial...each unique...at all times of the day. None of them 'took up space'. Of course, Providence had always been a hot market...huge into advertising, some say at the pinnacle of it nationally at one time. Maybe that had something to do with the talent pool.
One attracts talent by offer, no other bait will make the talent surface. If stations offer what the talented want, they'll bite, and fast. I can't tell you how many of the talented have abandoned their radio posts for better pay and situations outside this business because for many years (and still prevalent sadly) DJs were thought to 'work for a song'. Well that might have worked for the crazed kid needing a break, but not for the talented. I have been intricately involved in the workings of several start-up projects, some analyzed by bankers and lawyers, and all have questioned my foresight in paying the announcer salaries that most don't see in this business while paying myself in a leadership role significantly less than the counterparts. Why? Well some say I resemble Ben & Jerry logic (in fact some say I resemble Ben, or Jerry, or Jerry Garcia). They had great success by the 7:1 ratio: the lowest person will receive 1/7th of what the CEO gets.
What that does for the morale of working people...what that does to attract talent...the radio business needs a long overdue change of attitude on salary for its dedicated crazed employees. Not many make the kind of money it takes to survive without working at least another full time job. If paid like professionals, you would hear a qualitative difference even in the tiniest signal, because both DJ and owner would raise the bar and the expectation.
Thoughts?
-Bill Alley
T
The Sigon
Guest
Essentially, you get what you pay for. Agreed.
But when a cheaply run 5th, 6th, 7th place station can still generate a profit despite it's standing in the ratings, you will get six dollar an hour jobs, you will get voice-track or satellite formats, and you will get owners whose first and ONLY concern is the bottom line.
This is a business of whores and malcontents.
I don't say that lightly or in a condescending way as I earn my living in this business. I call it the way I see it based on decades of experience. Call it perverse or what you will, but I justify making my living this way because I know that to a large extent I work for and with people who would never survive in any other line of work since they are ill-equipped for anything save this; a business that demands so little on any level you can name, first, intellectually.
But when a cheaply run 5th, 6th, 7th place station can still generate a profit despite it's standing in the ratings, you will get six dollar an hour jobs, you will get voice-track or satellite formats, and you will get owners whose first and ONLY concern is the bottom line.
This is a business of whores and malcontents.
I don't say that lightly or in a condescending way as I earn my living in this business. I call it the way I see it based on decades of experience. Call it perverse or what you will, but I justify making my living this way because I know that to a large extent I work for and with people who would never survive in any other line of work since they are ill-equipped for anything save this; a business that demands so little on any level you can name, first, intellectually.
You are correct on many levels. You get what you pay for.
Here are a few tips I've given to those just starting out in the business.
It's worked for me.
If you want to make any kind of money, work hard on your given talents and shoot for morning drive.
1. Be the person sales and clients "goes to" for production.
2. Don't get trapped in the station all day long.
Some have complained, "I have no time."
Lose some sleep, make the time.
3. If you are shy or an introvert, get out of the business.
How can you possibly "connect" with your listeners?
4. If you have a disdain for sales, get out of the business.
This is show business.
5. Most importantly, reach out to the community.
Don't just talk about what's happening in the community, get your hands dirty and go do it.
It's THE BEST possible way to connect with listeners, community and business leaders.
If your goal is to sit behind a microphone, play with Selector and live in a vacuum, you will be paid what your worth, not much.
Here are a few tips I've given to those just starting out in the business.
It's worked for me.
If you want to make any kind of money, work hard on your given talents and shoot for morning drive.
1. Be the person sales and clients "goes to" for production.
2. Don't get trapped in the station all day long.
Some have complained, "I have no time."
Lose some sleep, make the time.
3. If you are shy or an introvert, get out of the business.
How can you possibly "connect" with your listeners?
4. If you have a disdain for sales, get out of the business.
This is show business.
5. Most importantly, reach out to the community.
Don't just talk about what's happening in the community, get your hands dirty and go do it.
It's THE BEST possible way to connect with listeners, community and business leaders.
If your goal is to sit behind a microphone, play with Selector and live in a vacuum, you will be paid what your worth, not much.
N
Nokmo True
Guest
That is solid advice top to bottom (and especially the bottom!)
Posted by: 12 In a Row
Good list. Good advice.
On number three, maybe the advice would be: "some of the best rewards and opportunities go to to those who are gregarious and extroverts."
I would suggest that one of the reasons we don't solve some of our problems today is that most decisions are being made by the gregarious and extroverts, and they have NO CLUE how to operate a station and program a station that would be attractive to the shy and introvert. After all, the advertisers need to sell to that segment of the population also. Come to think of it, I have never read an article about audience surveys that address that trait in audience demographics. Age? yes. Gender? yes. Race? yes. Introverts vs extroverts? Nope. That might be an eye opener!
I can think of some air-people that I worked with who were among the most creative programmers and had a loyal following, and they were introverts. I think a good manager would make sure his/her team was flavored and seasoned with a few of these people who would be allowed to voice opinions on programming, promotions, etc, lest we fail to serve a major segment of the potential audience who are not comfortable, not at home with much of today's in your face programming style.
Good list. Good advice.
On number three, maybe the advice would be: "some of the best rewards and opportunities go to to those who are gregarious and extroverts."
I would suggest that one of the reasons we don't solve some of our problems today is that most decisions are being made by the gregarious and extroverts, and they have NO CLUE how to operate a station and program a station that would be attractive to the shy and introvert. After all, the advertisers need to sell to that segment of the population also. Come to think of it, I have never read an article about audience surveys that address that trait in audience demographics. Age? yes. Gender? yes. Race? yes. Introverts vs extroverts? Nope. That might be an eye opener!
I can think of some air-people that I worked with who were among the most creative programmers and had a loyal following, and they were introverts. I think a good manager would make sure his/her team was flavored and seasoned with a few of these people who would be allowed to voice opinions on programming, promotions, etc, lest we fail to serve a major segment of the potential audience who are not comfortable, not at home with much of today's in your face programming style.
Do introverts pick up the phone when called to do an Arbitron survey?
Hmm.
Hmm.
What made WARM so popular?--Tom Woods
Harry West, Terry McNulty, Jerry Heller, Kelly Reed, Elizabeth Fields, Rob Neyhard, Joey Shaver, Michael Neff, George Glibert, and Darryl Davis....
What made WARM nothing more than a near fogotten shell of a once-great radio station?--NEPA Listeners
Greed, Hubris, Incompetence, Avarice, and Willfull Neglect....
Jon-David Wells
WARM Fan
Harry West, Terry McNulty, Jerry Heller, Kelly Reed, Elizabeth Fields, Rob Neyhard, Joey Shaver, Michael Neff, George Glibert, and Darryl Davis....
What made WARM nothing more than a near fogotten shell of a once-great radio station?--NEPA Listeners
Greed, Hubris, Incompetence, Avarice, and Willfull Neglect....
Jon-David Wells
WARM Fan
"Playing 30 minutes of music/12 in a row, and a boatload of commercials won't cut it.
Reading a bunch of local p.s.a.'s that 99% of your listeners could care less about, won't cut it.
Listening to a "live and local" personality reading horoscopes/hollywood news/bizarre stories won't cut it. "
Agree 100%.
It's all about content, and fewer and fewer owners are willing to part with the bucks to feed that.
Consider WSBG in Stroudsburg:
Killer morning talent with great ratings despite the balance of the day featuring dismal music and no freshening of playlist nor elements.
Current owner Nassau cuts Gary in the Morning lose over a non-issue and plugs in a cookie-cutter morning show, presumably to hold down the fort until an out of market show can be wired in.
Nassau slows the bleeding of cash, but is left in a worse position than before: Having a radio station that was once relevant but no longer is.
A short-term fix with long-term consequences.
Sadly, the competitive advertising marketplace isn't what it once was. I've said before that the availability of cheap printing has starved local stations. Tab newspapers can now target neighborhoods, even streets...grabbing local dollars as never before.
Couple that with (what is now) sophisticated presentation of all manner of charity newsletters, sports programs, innovative cable spot marketing and Internet and you have a recipe for cash-starved local stations with nothing to do but cut, cut, cut.
The business model for radio has changed drastically over the last 15 years. The fact is that the change has nothing to do with Clear Channel and even less to do with available talent.
Available advertising dollars is the be all and end all.
Radio is a casualty of a changing marketplace. How it once was has nothing to do with what now is.
Sad.
Reading a bunch of local p.s.a.'s that 99% of your listeners could care less about, won't cut it.
Listening to a "live and local" personality reading horoscopes/hollywood news/bizarre stories won't cut it. "
Agree 100%.
It's all about content, and fewer and fewer owners are willing to part with the bucks to feed that.
Consider WSBG in Stroudsburg:
Killer morning talent with great ratings despite the balance of the day featuring dismal music and no freshening of playlist nor elements.
Current owner Nassau cuts Gary in the Morning lose over a non-issue and plugs in a cookie-cutter morning show, presumably to hold down the fort until an out of market show can be wired in.
Nassau slows the bleeding of cash, but is left in a worse position than before: Having a radio station that was once relevant but no longer is.
A short-term fix with long-term consequences.
Sadly, the competitive advertising marketplace isn't what it once was. I've said before that the availability of cheap printing has starved local stations. Tab newspapers can now target neighborhoods, even streets...grabbing local dollars as never before.
Couple that with (what is now) sophisticated presentation of all manner of charity newsletters, sports programs, innovative cable spot marketing and Internet and you have a recipe for cash-starved local stations with nothing to do but cut, cut, cut.
The business model for radio has changed drastically over the last 15 years. The fact is that the change has nothing to do with Clear Channel and even less to do with available talent.
Available advertising dollars is the be all and end all.
Radio is a casualty of a changing marketplace. How it once was has nothing to do with what now is.
Sad.
Thank you, Jeff.
The skill of a great photographer is the ability to know where to stand with the camera so that the picture conveys something to the viewer. You have just created a picture of the challenges of broadcasting, standing where no photographer has stood and you have given me a new view.
Because printing used to be capital intensive: expensive presses, lots of costly paper, and craftsmen who would manually set type and create graphic images. Thus papers tended to be market-wide. A big city newspaper. A paper focused on a region or an entire county. Along came radio and we like to think radio has prospered because it is effective and a superior medium. Following your picture, maybe a big part of radio's success was that we splintered up the audience and we could offer an advertiser an affordable segment without having to pay for an ENTIRE market-sized audience.
So, what do we have today? To buy radio in the city you need to buy a rated station that gives you THE WHOLE CITY. To buy radio in the rural area you turn to the regional cluster and you buy coverage for the entire region. Now comes the neighborhood shopper with low cost presses and computerized "desktop publishing" and advertisers can buy what is AFFORDABLE.... just their little neighborhood, their little suburb. Even major city newspapers now offer localized versions of the metro fishwrapper.
Wouldn't it be sad to wake up some morning and realize, whether you are a newspaper man or a broadcaster, that life was never primarily about good product versus bad product, but only about offering the right size market coverage at an affordable price? Kind of gives you the willies doesn't it.
The skill of a great photographer is the ability to know where to stand with the camera so that the picture conveys something to the viewer. You have just created a picture of the challenges of broadcasting, standing where no photographer has stood and you have given me a new view.
Because printing used to be capital intensive: expensive presses, lots of costly paper, and craftsmen who would manually set type and create graphic images. Thus papers tended to be market-wide. A big city newspaper. A paper focused on a region or an entire county. Along came radio and we like to think radio has prospered because it is effective and a superior medium. Following your picture, maybe a big part of radio's success was that we splintered up the audience and we could offer an advertiser an affordable segment without having to pay for an ENTIRE market-sized audience.
So, what do we have today? To buy radio in the city you need to buy a rated station that gives you THE WHOLE CITY. To buy radio in the rural area you turn to the regional cluster and you buy coverage for the entire region. Now comes the neighborhood shopper with low cost presses and computerized "desktop publishing" and advertisers can buy what is AFFORDABLE.... just their little neighborhood, their little suburb. Even major city newspapers now offer localized versions of the metro fishwrapper.
Wouldn't it be sad to wake up some morning and realize, whether you are a newspaper man or a broadcaster, that life was never primarily about good product versus bad product, but only about offering the right size market coverage at an affordable price? Kind of gives you the willies doesn't it.
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