This week's All Access newsletter tries to tie in two topics, technology and the idea of talk radio stations "owning a topic," and does so in a particularly incoherent manner:
I was reading a blog about new media -- stop rolling your eyes! -- and I saw an item about something a small newspaper did that got me wondering why radio stations aren't doing something similar. Here's what the paper did: after the bridge collapse, with everyone wondering about the bridges and roads and infrastructure in their own towns, the paper decided to ask readers to tell them about dodgy-looking bridges and buildings and other stuff in their neighborhoods. But they did it through their Web site, and they did it with a new tool that combines Google mapping with another application that lets people zoom in on a problem in town, post information, and send the tip to the newspaper for coverage. Simple, extremely effective, and the paper ends up owning the topic, because readers know that the paper is the go-to place for information about it.
Did you do something like that with the infrastructure topic? Do you do that with any topic? It's not just talking about a topic, it's OWNING a topic. And that's a critical difference between a run-of-the-mill talk station and a dominant talk station.
Owning a topic means that whenever something happens, people will instinctively turn to you for information. It means that listeners know that they'll not only hear everything there is to know about what's going on, but that they'll be able to contribute to the conversation, too. It's not just setting up the topic and opening the phones, it's making your station the nerve center. It's not just complaining, it's rallying, it's getting politicians on the line and demanding action, it's doing your homework so that you have answers and a plan for every issue. It is hard work, but it pays off.
And now there are tools to help you dominate a topic even more. But that raises another issue: how much does your Web site suck? Most radio Web sites do. As consultant Holland Cooke notes in his "10 Questions With..." interview this week, they're often just brochures for the station. Some have news headlines, too, which is a start, and maybe a poll. But why aren't you doing something like that newspaper did? Why isn't there an interactive map on your site where people can post their observations about crumbling bridges and abandoned eyesores, or, for that matter, their favorite places to visit or spots where traffic lights are needed or where police blotter items are happening? Why isn't there a place where people can post video of things happening around your market? Why isn't there a regularly updated blog with additional information about every topic you do? Why are most radio Web sites corporate cookie cutter sales kits which haven't been updated since early 2003?
Money is not an excuse. That map thing was done by a paper with a newsroom staff of 25 people. Someone around your building, or their kids, can update your site without too much trouble or expense. And if you have to throw a few bucks at someone to do it, well, consider it a new cost of doing radio business, and tell the sales staff it's one of them new-fangled NTR opportunities they keep reading about in the RAB brochures. It's a matter of keeping your station relevant and in the thick of the news. And if you do it right, for any topic, it'll give you tons of material for that OTHER highly interactive medium you have at your disposal: talk radio.
More information is available on the Internets. Specifically, you can find the blog item I saw here at Jeff Jarvis' Buzz Machine blog. But this isn't a Buzz Machine newsletter, this is an All Access News-Talk-Sports newsletter, so remember that you can find topics galore for your show and station at All Access' Talk Topics column. THAT'S the plug. And here's more of the plug: this week in Talk Topics, you'll find items about a guy being saved from choking by a car crash, another guy who's donated 30 gallons of blood (not all at once), how anyone can get your cell phone number (and why you're almost powerless to do anything about it), strife among the Violent Femmes, why it's hard to be The Cheeseman these days, a gruesome way to scam insurers and hospitals, why middle-aged businessmen are getting plastic surgery, how Reggie the Alligator almost went AWOL again, a reality show on which you don't want to appear, a "deadly toilet-seat squabble," the bat-wielding rage of Jose Offerman, a stirring tribute to the late Stanley Myron Handleman, bee attacks, and Abraham Lincoln's secret shame, plus the sacred eggplant, the naked swimmer, lots of politics and weather and earthquake trouble, and Ron Jeremy. And if that's not enough, you'll get a provocative "10 Questions With..." the aforementioned Holland Cooke and the rest of All Access with news and music and columns and message boards and ratings and jobs and much more, all for the low, low price of free.
I'd insert the usual last joke in here, but it's way too hot to come up with anything funny right now, as you can tell. Let's hope next week's cooler.
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