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Using Experience to Enhance News Broadcasts

Tony Cartagena

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“Everyone has a podcast.”

A few months ago I was having a conversation with someone else in the media industry and they offered up this sentiment as a complaint and critique of the current landscape.

It reminded me of a very similar quote from one of my all-time favorite television shows, Parks and Recreation. Aziz Ansari’s character, Tom Haverford, explains to his boss why he’s so obsessed with screens and is non-stop on his phone consuming media.

“Everyone has a podcast, and they’re all awesome,” he said.

That quote really resonated with me, because it’s true. In today’s day and age, everyone is able to host and produce and create content in some way shape or form. That doesn’t mean you have to listen. It just opens the door for multiple opinions, experiences, ideas and creativity.

For example, the Nacho Average Podcast, where Haverford and his friend rate different nachos.

I find myself consuming a ton of different audio on a daily basis. Whether that’s live radio, or podcasts, or a video stream of a podcast, if you’re bold enough to put yourself out there, and the content piques my interest, i’ll definitely give it a chance.

Admittedly, though, I do have a quick hook.

And when it comes to news media – my area of focus here at Barrett News Media – I appreciate when hosts bends the rules we learned in Journalism 101.

The year is 2021, the second a news story breaks the good people at Apple already know if that story is of interest to me, or if the information if pertinent to my location and safety. Before news radio stations can even hit the breaking news hot key, a push notification has been sent to my home screen. Unfortunately, I don’t need to tune in to most stations for an update. It’s already in my pocket.

But most consumers of media want more. I don’t just want a headline written by someone 3,000 miles away. I prefer information and insight from someone who covers the area, who has driven on the local streets and knows a thing or two about the people in the community, and cares about them.

When it comes to news radio hosts, don’t be part of the story, but give listeners your true opinion on a subject based on your experiences. It adds an element of personality that you can’t get anywhere else. It allows consumers to be educated by a voice and experience they already trust. If you’re just reading a headline, listeners are switching to the next show or pod.

This is why diversity is so important in a news room, but more on that at a later date.

Cory Hepola is a host on News Talk 830 WCCO in Minneapolis. He’s a white guy with glasses, great hair and three of the cutest kids you will ever see. They’re black.

So last summer, when Minneapolis was at the center of the country’s racial conversation, his experience and commentary on a lot of the conversation, mattered a great deal. He was able to discuss in-depth what it’s like to grow up a white person in this country, juxtaposed against what it’s like to raise black children, and how the rules and conversations are different.

That experience had to be eye opening for a lot of listeners. A first hand account of real-life situations. Listeners wouldn’t have learned as much as they did had Hepola steered clear and only read the headline.

Not everyone agreed with everything he had to say, I’m sure, there are always doubters and deniers of your truth, but it was an important message, based on experience, that needed to be told.

I asked him about the fine line between discussing a news story and adding in personal anecdotes.

“I think there needs to be more transparency on what is “news” and what is opinion,” he said. “Far too many people are confusing facts and commentary. People need to take more personal responsibility to understand the difference, while some of it is a personal choice to follow a slant because it corroborates one’s own beliefs.

“That all said, it depends on a person’s job. If you’re a news reporter, you may end up diving into a story that you’re passionate about because you feel connected to it or it mirrors an experience you had. But it’s your job to tell the story accurately without making yourself the center.”

And that’s the key. His experience to a story may not be everyone’s. He’s certainly not the center of the story, but telling his truth enhances the report and allows people to think for themselves and maybe develop empathy and understanding for someone in a situation vastly different than their own.

Some may deny what he says, and others may have their eyes opened by it. Just stay away from the Twitter mentions.

In a world of around-the-clock news and headlines, if a local news radio host can relate, and is open to offering up their experiences to compliment a story, it’s going to captivate more audiences than just script reading.

The Daily Podcast from The New York Times doesn’t just read the headlines, they talk to experts who live and study the subject matter.

In a simpler form, what if Haverford didn’t actually eat and experience the nachos he talked about on his podcast, do you think the fictional characters of Pawnee would have listened?

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News Radio

Dana Loesch: Like Ronna McDaniel, ‘I Like to Go Where the Fight Is’

“Sometimes it’s not about winning the battle, but planting the seed is the victory, right? So that’s how I look at stuff.”

Barrett News Media

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A photo of Dana Loesch
(Photo: Dana Loesch)

Former RNC chair Ronna McDaniel is no longer a contributor at NBC News after intense internal backlash. Dana Loesch believes that while McDaniel wasn’t a successful political leader, she had the right intentions with her media aspirations.

During The Dana Show, Loesch argued that she was upset about the reactions from MSNBC hosts that ultimately led to McDaniel’s departure, saying she never wanted to be in a position of supporting the former RNC chair.

“I’m mad because I feel like these people are putting me in a position where I’m defending her,” said Loesch. “And that makes me mad because I don’t want to defend her. I think that she was an incompetent RNC head.”

However, she pushed back on the idea that Ronna McDaniel made a mistake by partnering with a liberal cable outlet like MSNBC to begin with.

“People are like, ‘Well, her first mistake was going to MSNBC.’ I disagree. I like to go where the fight is,” Loesch revealed. “I was one of the first token conservative contributors at CNN back in this was like 2011, 2012, 2013. Yeah, you kind of know that most of the people hate you. But you do have a couple of allies.

“I like to go where the fight is. Because sometimes it’s not about winning the battle, but planting the seed is the victory, right? So that’s how I look at stuff. I’ve never shied away from — clearly — going into any arena, literally or anywhere else. So I don’t fault her for going to MSNBC.”

Dana Loesch concluded by positing that the money for McDaniel’s contract — reported to be $300,000 per year — was an impressive figure because most contributors are only paid around $75,000.

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News Radio

Dom Giordano: Joe Rogan Needs to Remember He’s an Entertainer And Stay Away From ‘Dangerous’ Topics

Giordano called Rogan a “major, major figure who I think is insane in what he’s saying here and doesn’t have a thumbnail knowledge of anything.”

Barrett News Media

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A photo of Dom Giordano
(Photo: 1210 WPHT)

Popular podcaster Joe Rogan has never been afraid to wade into controversial topics or interview less-than-desirable guests on his podcast. 1210 WPHT host Dom Giordano believes it might be time for him to start.

In a recent podcast episode, Rogan claimed he believed Israel’s treatment of citizens in Gaza since the October 7th terrorist attacks from Hamas has bordered on genocide. He sat idly by as a guest equated the situation to that of the Allied Forces bombing of Dresden, Germany during World War II, which killed an estimated 25,000 people.

Rogan claimed the message would be “We’re basically saying genocide is ok as long as we’re doing it.”

After hearing those comments, Dom Giordano admonished Rogan.

“Look, I get Joe Rogan’s prominence, but this is a dangerous area. The guy throwing Dresden — and a lot of listeners might remember that the firebombing of Dresden — the allies took it out. They did. I forget how many people were killed. World War II was not pretty. That, Hiroshima, and Nagasaki, but it was exactly the moral thing to do,” said Giordano. “That’s exactly what needed to be done. So we’re not committing genocide here and then blaming the other side.”

Giordano called Rogan a “major, major figure who I think is insane in what he’s saying here and doesn’t have a thumbnail knowledge of anything…he doesn’t know what the hell he’s talking about here.”

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News Radio

Buck Sexton: NBC News Paying Contract of Ronna McDaniel is Nothing Compared to Megyn Kelly

“$600,000 for them is a rounding error. The amount of money these corporate news outlets can put toward stupid decision making — in both of those cases firing talent — is remarkable in and of itself.”

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A photo of Buck Sexton and the Clay Travis & Buck Sexton Show logo
(Photo: Premiere Networks)

NBC News severed its ties to former RNC chair Ronna McDaniel after intense internal backlash. Radio host Buck Sexton says paying out her contract will be a simple one for the network, especially after what it paid to Megyn Kelly.

In 2018, Kelly insinuated it was ok for people to wear blackface as long as they were impersonating a black character. The subsequent backlash led to her departure from NBC News, with the outlet paying her the rest of her contract.

A similar situation unfolded with Ronna McDaniel, who has signed a reported two-year, $600,000 contract with the network to serve as a political analyst after resigning from her role with the Republican National Committee earlier this month.

After her hiring, many at MSNBC and inside the NBC News organization pushed back against the idea of hiring someone who had been intensely critical of the mainstream media, and also touted lies about the validity of the 2020 Presidential election until joining the network as a contributor.

NBC News Chairman Cesar Conde revealed it was his decision to end the relationship with Ronna McDaniel.

“I want to personally apologize to our team members who felt we let them down. While this was a collective recommendation by some members of our leadership team, I approved it and take full responsibility for it,” he wrote in an internal memo to staffers.

After the news of McDaniel’s departure became official, The Clay Travis & Buck Sexton Show began the show with the topic, leading Sexton to argue this isn’t the first time NBC News has been in this position.

“They did it. They actually fired the former RNC chair. I think she did one interview. The reports are they’re gonna pay her $300,000 for both of the years of her contract. For NBC, that’s nothing. Remember, NBC had to pay out Megyn Kelly’s contract a while ago at like $70 million or something,” said Buck Sexton. “$600,000 for them is a rounding error. The amount of money these corporate news outlets can put toward stupid decision making — in both of those cases firing talent — is remarkable in and of itself.”

At the time of her exit from NBC News, it was reported Megyn Kelly would receive $30 million from the outlet.

Co-host Clay Travis argued that while listeners of the show may not be big fans of McDaniel, people should be concerned about the treatment of Trump supporters. “They aren’t interested in talking to half the country,” he posited.

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