Petition

[radiobot]

I hereby file this petition on behalf of all Communication scholars who have lost their jobs, been overlooked or underpaid to Non-Degree Communication persons (Because they're more popular).

This petition shall call the attention of all University programs administering the BA/MA/Ph.D In Mass Communication and all other associated distinctions therein to order.

Said petition shall implore these institutions to ,hereby, discontinue the curriculum on the grounds of 'meaningless use and credibility."

Dang! I knew I should have become a rapper! ;D

Nah. Never mind. Keep your degree programs. I think it should be stressed (however) in each program that you're only as important as the amount of money coming in.

Is this where we are? Celebrity takeover and syndication? Are we afraid to acknowledge the threat? Even non-degree "LEGENDS" are being short-changed. This is not too unusual since they know that ratings are their food.

OH well. Merry Christmas.

 

[radiogooroo]

I don't know why mass comm degrees have been around this long. Not that any degree is really a requirement for radio, a degree in business, marketing or journalism seems a lot more useful than mass comm.

 

[aunti-terrestrial]

My hat's off to you, Steve, for understanding that post.

 

[radiogooroo]

My hat's off to you, Steve, for understanding that post.

Again, I'm not Steve. Never been a Steve, never will be a Steve. I've had some friends named Steve, but I've never even met the Steve you all seem to think I am.

 

[radiobot]

My hat's off to you, Steve, for understanding that post.

I'll clear it up for you. We are in a time where "seasoned" individuals are losing their jobs to National Celebrities who "thought it would be nice to host a radio show." Not to disrespect the hard work of some people but would you rather have, say, Al Shapiro, on your side or James Spader, as Alan Shore, simply because he is an excellent lawyer on television?

If you were to chose Mr. Spader then you represent the current train of thought in "corporate-radio."

I pray we never see the day when the public gets fed up with people who don't live in their respective communities. By that I mean, syndicated radio shows.

If this is going to be the norm and the audiences embrace it, then students and individuals who wish to commit to a career as a true On Air Personality/DJ or whatever are fighting a losing battle.

 

[aunti-terrestrial]

My hat's off to you, Steve, for understanding that post.

Again, I'm not Steve. Never been a Steve, never will be a Steve. I've had some friends named Steve, but I've never even met the Steve you all seem to think I am.

Okay, sorry. *wink*

My hat's off to you, Steve, for understanding that post.

I'll clear it up for you. We are in a time where "seasoned" individuals are losing their jobs to National Celebrities who "thought it would be nice to host a radio show." Not to disrespect the hard work of some people but would you rather have, say, Al Shapiro, on your side or James Spader, as Alan Shore, simply because he is an excellent lawyer on television?

If you were to chose Mr. Spader then you represent the current train of thought in "corporate-radio."

I pray we never see the day when the public gets fed up with people who don't live in their respective communities. By that I mean, syndicated radio shows.

If this is going to be the norm and the audiences embrace it, then students and individuals who wish to commit to a career as a true On Air Personality/DJ or whatever are fighting a losing battle.

And in other news, fire is hot. I think what you're actually lamenting is not degrees or the lack thereof, but the trading of the Class C operator's license for the SAG card. It's been happening for eons.

If you'll look around, you'll notice that actors are now doing all of the television ads, cartoon characters, CD roms, and audio books. I would have loved to have spent my career narrating nature shows and documentaries, but Morgan Freakin' Freeman has a "take every job that comes along" work ethic, all jobs earning at least SAG scale. That means there's less money to pay your rank and file voiceover artist/class C radio operator who might do a very good voiceover, but hasn't got the name brand recognition that you get instantly when you hear a Morgan Freeman.

As for the radio side,

a few years ago, the FCC, at the insistence of lobbyists, threw out the requirement that every individual who touched the board was to be certified at least as far as knowing what to do if the tower crashed (hit one and raise, put the fire out if possible, speed dial the engineer). You had to be certified to launch the emergency broadcast signals and local emergency warnings. The deregulation of radio licensing meant that any warm body off the street could babysit a board, even if you had to program their songs in for them. And so began the rise of celebrity radio shows. Even better...two competing satellite companies with oodles and oodles of airtime to fill. Anybody with a Playskool (TM) laptop can access YouTube and become a viral star. Hollywood would have been blind not to notice, and they're a lot of things out there, but they're really good at creating a money and fad stream out of almost anything. Little Steven, Iggy Pop, that guy from Twisted Sister...it's easy to find a guy who used to be in a hot band willing to share his record collection for a couple of hours and send it down the wire to all the other stations in the chain. Voila, happy budget trimming and job eliminations.

There have been glitches along the way. For instance, in the video and computer game industry, SAG actors expected mailbox money for their work. They were surprised to find that most videogame companies don't expect to pay regular residuals for a one-time voice work session, no matter how famous you are (radio folks are used to selling a spot, getting paid, and moving on to the next job). SAG decided to sue and set the standard for what the videogame industry will have to pay, and I fully expect that will be another nail in the coffin of available freelance work for the rest of us. I don't know whether or not that's still in litigation, so I'll have to look it up when I get a moment.

Still, unless it becomes unprofitable for actors and famous drummers to put together a couple of hours on disc and sell them to a radio station parent company, I don't see them backing off anytime soon. After all, that moneystream kept us and our families afloat for years, didn't it? I don't see it getting any better unless localism requirements are revisited. By then, I'm willing to bet there'll be SAG requirements on issues we never even realized we were in danger of losing.

Just my opinion, anyway. It actually is an interesting discussion, even though it feels like old ground.

 

[davideduardo]

a few years ago, the FCC, at the insistence of lobbyists, threw out the requirement that every individual who touched the board was to be certified at least as far as knowing what to do if the tower crashed (hit one and raise, put the fire out if possible, speed dial the engineer). You had to be certified to launch the emergency broadcast signals and local emergency warnings.

No, not really. All you had to do was memorize some stuff from a booklet and get a restricted permit, and then, well before consolidation or syndicated shows* the requirement was reduced to being able to sign your name... we're talking several decades here.

And the transferral of the responsability from the employee to the licensee makes the licensee responsible for training on the station equipment, in a real life environment. Learning the traffic rules does not make you a good driver; it may help but the real driving skills are acquired by training and practice. The change is beneficial, and unrelated to program content.

*The original "syndicated" shows were on CBS, Mutual and the Red and Blue nets of NBC. That's how radio started.

 

[aunti-terrestrial]

Okeydokey, Dave. Merry Christmas with your bad self.

 

[edriskill]

As easy as getting a 3rd ticket was, I did know a few good jocks who had to take the test more than twice to pass it...

The saddest part of this story, no matter how we feel about it, is that we're talking apples and oranges, here. Radio, especially in major markets, just isn't what it was. It never will be, again. I grew up working in stations where the owner's office was in the building, if not right next to the studio. You met him (or her) the first day at work, you were likely hired by the owner. The owner might have even still participated in the on-air activity of the station. Yes, I realize I'm talking small-time radio, here, but people like Jim Gibbs, J.C. Stallings, Dana Adams, and a thousand others like them created the radio we lament the passing of. The closest thing to 'syndicated programming' that we carried was TSN and the Southwest Conference Game of the Week (remember Kern Tips?) The stations had an obligation to serve the public, and those owners had reputations in their communities that they worked hard to protect on a daily basis... stupid things we did on the air (oh... did we do stupid things) reflected on them personally, which created a pride in all of us that worked in those places. If we didn't have that pride, we didn't work there for long. Now, the owner doesn't exist. The owner is thousands of pieces of paper, shares of ownership that, on a daily basis, have no idea what the station sounds like, what the board operator is doing, and could care less how you're doing or what the hell your kid's names are. Radio is made up of bottom lines, stockholders, and properties to be bought and sold... and little else. People can be found in one of the numbers on the balance sheet... down there somewhere... even the very best of us has been reduced to a number.

I see a lot of that pride on these boards, people that got to work in that kind of radio that we wish was still here, but for the most part, it's just gone. Yeah... a Third Class Radiotelephone License was pretty silly, but I still have mine, somewhere. I even called once to see if I could still renew it.. (no)

 

[mrbeasley]

Believe it or not, you can still find that kind of radio station in some of the smaller markets like Conroe; with KVST. They still run a live board with real on-air people. They have a few very good ones and a few that are so-so; but, they still do radio the right way.

You're right. All the big-radio companies want a station in a large matket for, is for whatever amount of money can be brought in. To hell with developing talent that entertains the audience.

 

[edriskill]

I worked weekends at KVST for a while, and it was really fun. The people there are great, and even though I was only a weekend guy, they treated me like family. I had to leave for surgery, and then the cost of gas finished it off (I live 60 miles away)... last time I was there they had updated the control room and everything was good...

I'm just sad to see what has happened in markets like B/CS, Nacogdoches/Lufkin, Tyler, Waco... and the way corporate radio has taken the local personality and 'feel' away from these stations. In the big markets, it goes without saying... we've seen the bloodbath here. Some of the finest, most talented people ever in the business have been cast aside to boost the bottom line, and there is less and less real local programming. I have nothing against consultants, but rubber-stamp programming and promotions coming from a thousand miles away doesn't grab me as a listener. Beyond that, the great jobs we all used to covet are almost gone, replaced by voice tracked stuff from out of market. When I came down here, even weekenders were superb talents, and we've seen a lot of them let go lately, too. You could easily fully staff a dozen new (damn good sounding) radio stations with the unemployed talent in this area, and still have some left over.

No, radio isn't like it was forty years ago, but then the piece of crap I'm driving can't hold a candle to my '63 Chevy Impala SS, either... (and we know what's happening in that business...).

 

[radiopropd]

Since we're throwing things out there...whatever happened to serving your community of license??? I wonder what some groups public files look like in this regard...Remember, A Quarterly Issues Program list requires that stations have not only ascertained the community needs, but demonstrates that those needs have been met through their on-air broadcasts.

Any thoughts?????

 

[radiobot]

My hat's off to you, Steve, for understanding that post.

Again, I'm not Steve. Never been a Steve, never will be a Steve. I've had some friends named Steve, but I've never even met the Steve you all seem to think I am.

Okay, sorry. *wink*

My hat's off to you, Steve, for understanding that post.

I'll clear it up for you. We are in a time where "seasoned" individuals are losing their jobs to National Celebrities who "thought it would be nice to host a radio show." Not to disrespect the hard work of some people but would you rather have, say, Al Shapiro, on your side or James Spader, as Alan Shore, simply because he is an excellent lawyer on television?

If you were to chose Mr. Spader then you represent the current train of thought in "corporate-radio."

I pray we never see the day when the public gets fed up with people who don't live in their respective communities. By that I mean, syndicated radio shows.

If this is going to be the norm and the audiences embrace it, then students and individuals who wish to commit to a career as a true On Air Personality/DJ or whatever are fighting a losing battle.

And in other news, fire is hot. I think what you're actually lamenting is not degrees or the lack thereof, but the trading of the Class C operator's license for the SAG card. It's been happening for eons.

If you'll look around, you'll notice that actors are now doing all of the television ads, cartoon characters, CD roms, and audio books. I would have loved to have spent my career narrating nature shows and documentaries, but Morgan Freakin' Freeman has a "take every job that comes along" work ethic, all jobs earning at least SAG scale. That means there's less money to pay your rank and file voiceover artist/class C radio operator who might do a very good voiceover, but hasn't got the name brand recognition that you get instantly when you hear a Morgan Freeman.

As for the radio side,

a few years ago, the FCC, at the insistence of lobbyists, threw out the requirement that every individual who touched the board was to be certified at least as far as knowing what to do if the tower crashed (hit one and raise, put the fire out if possible, speed dial the engineer). You had to be certified to launch the emergency broadcast signals and local emergency warnings. The deregulation of radio licensing meant that any warm body off the street could babysit a board, even if you had to program their songs in for them. And so began the rise of celebrity radio shows. Even better...two competing satellite companies with oodles and oodles of airtime to fill. Anybody with a Playskool (TM) laptop can access YouTube and become a viral star. Hollywood would have been blind not to notice, and they're a lot of things out there, but they're really good at creating a money and fad stream out of almost anything. Little Steven, Iggy Pop, that guy from Twisted Sister...it's easy to find a guy who used to be in a hot band willing to share his record collection for a couple of hours and send it down the wire to all the other stations in the chain. Voila, happy budget trimming and job eliminations.

There have been glitches along the way. For instance, in the video and computer game industry, SAG actors expected mailbox money for their work. They were surprised to find that most videogame companies don't expect to pay regular residuals for a one-time voice work session, no matter how famous you are (radio folks are used to selling a spot, getting paid, and moving on to the next job). SAG decided to sue and set the standard for what the videogame industry will have to pay, and I fully expect that will be another nail in the coffin of available freelance work for the rest of us. I don't know whether or not that's still in litigation, so I'll have to look it up when I get a moment.

Still, unless it becomes unprofitable for actors and famous drummers to put together a couple of hours on disc and sell them to a radio station parent company, I don't see them backing off anytime soon. After all, that moneystream kept us and our families afloat for years, didn't it? I don't see it getting any better unless localism requirements are revisited. By then, I'm willing to bet there'll be SAG requirements on issues we never even realized we were in danger of losing.

Just my opinion, anyway. It actually is an interesting discussion, even though it feels like old ground.

Fundamentally, this is OLD news. At present, however, this old news and its history have developed into probably a nightmare come true inside a recession being closely compared to the Great Depression. Now, it seems, these corporations are being forced to "cut back" and cut live heads. Isn't that like reaping what you sew? You arrive on scence with a corporate strategy, you slaughter the beacon of the city (or buy it out) then the economy (the holy grail of your investors) slaughters you.

The result is what will keep them (the investors) happy will have to be the standard. I guess the best word ever created for any investor is "consolidation."