This week's All Access newsletter should have been out by now, but it's held up somewhere in the system. Nevertheless, here's a sneak preview:
OK, this week, it's a very quick primer for those of you who find yourself on the air when a major news story hits the wires. I had another topic ready to go, but it can wait until next week.
I happened to be driving around for much of Wednesday afternoon when the plane hit the condo building in New York, so I got to hear how some radio stations in L.A. handled the crisis. The good news is that I found solid reporting where I expected it, including a simulcast of an all-news station from New York- if you wanted facts, live coverage of the Mayor and NTSB press conferences, and non-sensational, just-the-facts information, you could get it.
And then I decided to check another station, a sports station, to see what they were saying about the crash, since at that relatively early moment the news was breaking that the plane was registered to Cory Lidle. And on that station, the hosts were announcing the wrong number of deaths and stating as fact stuff that even the Mayor and NTSB weren't prepared to confirm. They were not in possession of all the facts, but they were trying to sound as if they were.
I guess you don't know whether a host can handle an emergency change from the usual light banter to serious news until something forces the issue. And that's why hosts who find themselves having to shift gears should follow these guidelines:
1. Stick to the facts. Get the wire copy, check news sources, put out the right information. And if you catch a headline rush by on CNN but you don't know the details, wait until you can confirm the details before going with it- you may be missing important details or context. There's no need to rush.
2. Label speculation as speculation. If you don't know something for sure, you can speculate all you want, but don't spread rumor as fact. How hard is it to say "we've heard this, but we haven't yet confirmed it"?
3. If you just can't help yourself, go get someone from your news department to handle the crisis. If, that is, your station still HAS a news department.
In fairness, I've found that most hosts are capable of switching from their regular act to serious news coverage- 9/11 brought out the professionalism in most of the hosts who happened to be on the air at the time. But if you're unsure of yourself, or everything's happening at a breakneck pace and you find yourself swimming in facts and rumors and uncertainty, just go with the facts, attribute everything when appropriate, hand it off to the news department if you need to, and remember, nobody expects you to be Walter Cronkite. They do expect the truth. You owe it to the listeners to get things right.
And I won't even mention how quickly the Cory Lidle jokes hit the Internet. At least I didn't hear anyone rush them onto the air that afternoon.
That's all I wanted to say on the matter, so it's time to segue into the usual All Access News-Talk-Sports Talk Topics column sales pitch, pointing out that you'll find a ton of topics for your show prep needs there right now, including the return of "irrational exuberance," a guy with unfortunate bladder timing, why your kids can't write in cursive, the best sports sponsorship ever, why you might want to skip that glass of carrot juice, the real reason you gain weight, an unfortunate burger condiment, why watching sports could hurt or even kill you, off-the-field proof that the Tigers haven't done this playoff thing in a long time, and why you're probably already too late for some critical holiday gifts, plus items and links and commentary about everything from North Korean nukes to politics to way too many stories about teachers, students, and sex. There's also a provocative "10 Questions With..." KIFR (106.9 Free FM)/San Francisco and KIRO/Seattle host Turi Ryder, more useful sports resources at the Talent Toolkit, and the rest of All Access with first/fastest/most accurate radio and music industry coverage, message boards, Mediabase charts, the comprehensive (and searchable) Industry Directory, and all the other features you've come to love, all free.
Next week, I'll get to my originally-intended topic of how the future of radio may have already snuck in through the back door, and what it might mean to your career, if I can figure that part out. I have another week to do that.
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