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KOA’s Ross Kaminsky Protects Liberty as a True Function of Politics

Kaminsky said the nation is in trouble if people don’t renounce their loyalty to a tribe rather than act on things that are best for the country.

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If Ross Kaminsky’s radio career ended tomorrow, we’d have a new Bob Vila or Bob the Builder on our hands. When we spoke, Kaminsky was in the car on his way to Home Depot, elbows deep into a bathroom project.

“I’m putting in a new sink,” he said. “I’ve got to get the PVC and caulk. I’ve already purchased the drain. I’m reasonably confident I’ll do a good job, and I’ve had a lot of practice over the years.”

Kaminsky thought about hiring someone to do it. Then he got the idea it was within his talent zone.

“My wife is an artist and very good at seeing aesthetic problems, and I get more work to do…though she does all the painting.”

“There were a lot of brown and pea-green colors in the bathroom. It was gross. We replaced the sink, faucet, and countertop, shower walls, and floors…but I hired experts for the last three things.”

His undergraduate degree from Columbia University is in foreign policy with an emphasis in economics, and he ended up a futures and options trader. Kaminsky used to work on the floor of the Chicago Board Options Exchange, one of those guys that frantically waves his arms around like they’re in a big game of charades.

“Once you know how to read hand signals, it makes perfect sense,” Kaminsky explained. “That’s the part that’s famous. That happens in the larger pits, but most pits are smaller areas where you can communicate just by voice.”

He said in the larger pits; you could be 50 or 100 feet away from the people you’re trading with.

“The deals are made on 100% trust,” Kaminsky said. “As a trader, in the days before handheld computers, you’d write on a card what you’re trading and the price of the trade. You have a clerk who works for your company take the cards to the person you traded with.”

The clerk would tell the other person, “Checking…RGK purchased ten of such and such from you.”

“He’s just checking to make sure the other person remembered the trade,” he said. “You rarely have a deal go bad from something a trader didn’t remember. If somebody jerked you over, it’d be over for them fast as nobody would trade with them.”

Of course, there are times when there is confusion or somebody didn’t mean something the way it came across.

“It’s usually a legitimate mistake,” Kaminsky said. “Some things might not match up. You can work those out, even though sometimes it means a significant loss for both traders. If it happens more than once, you might have a problem, though, with the other guy’s honesty.”

Kaminsky met his wife, Kristen, in Australia. The woman from down under is a successful artist, and they met while Kaminsky was visiting on vacation.

“I saw some of her ceramics and thought they were cool,” he said. “I wanted to get some custom dinner plates and asked to talk with the owner. It turned out to be Kristen.”

Kaminsky said many people call themselves working artists but make things nobody else would want. “Kristen is smart, funny, insightful. Her brain works differently than mine. She loves Colorado, and we’re very happy here.”

The couple lives near Denver and enjoys mountain life. Kaminsky said he chose to live in Colorado because, as an independent trader, he could live wherever he chose.

While living in Colorado, Kaminsky started doing some political blogging in the early days of blogging. If someone started blogging today, Kaminsky said it would be harder for them to break through as it has gotten so crowded.

“I wonder if that’s going to happen with podcasts.”

Kaminsky became moderately well known as a political blogger on state and local issues, and local hosts began asking him to be a guest.

“I had a friend at KFKA and did a guest spot,” he said. “When I was there I asked if I could fill in for my friend when she was on vacation. It seemed like fun. So, they let me do a show.”

A bold move for a blogger. Kaminsky said the station wasn’t corporate-owned, so there was nobody they had to get permission from.

“After my first show, iI was reminded of how people say you can get hooked on heroin if you use it just once. I just loved it.”

 “I don’t recall my first show on KFKA, but I’m sure I talked about whatever was going on in local politics. I just immediately fell in love with doing radio. I was also losing interest in trading. I didn’t want to keep doing that.”

Kaminsky said he pursued radio because it looked tremendous, very seductive. He kept making himself available for shifts, and they kept saying yes. He will work for free if that’s what it takes. It wasn’t about money at that point; he wanted to get good enough to go further in the business.

“I started doing fill-in shifts at KNUS on a Sunday evening show called Backbone Radio. Eventually, the host, former State Senate President John Andrews, decided he wanted to spend more time writing a book And hanging out with his grandchildren. They offered me the show.”

Kaminsky met a talker named Mike Rosen, and they became good friends. Rosen was on KOA for more than 25 years, most of that in the 9 AM to noon time slot.

“We didn’t see each other often, but we were friends,” Kaminsky explained. “I asked him if I could fill in for him at the station. I thought he forgot about it. As a Bulls fan, I felt like I was asking to sub in for Michael Jordan.”

The guy is not only handy with a hammer; he’s got guts.

The PD at the time didn’t really like extremely political shows. KOA is a station with the Denver Broncos and did a lot of news and traffic.

“While we do some political talk, I’m not aiming to just be a conservative or political show.”

Kaminsky is now heard weekdays on KOA in Rosen’s old time slot. As one of his topics, he recalls talking about the legacy of Joe Paterno. This was just after the legendary coach died after the scandal.

“He wasn’t responsible for what happened, but he was there. It all went down while he was the boss. If you’re doing a topic driven by callers, it’s important to remember it’s not the intensity of the topic but the range of opinion among listeners.”

After the Aurora theater shooting in Colorado, which happened just a few miles from the radio station, Kaminsky said nearly all the listeners would have felt the shooter should get the death penalty, an open and shut case.

“I realized at that time if I’d asked that question on the radio, it would have been intense, but it may not have gone anywhere. It could have been a topic that was one-dimensional, despite it being a horrible tragedy.”

Kaminsky is a libertarian in that he sees liberty as a value in itself and protects liberty as the only proper function of government, especially the federal government.

“I’m libertarian by philosophy with a lowercase ‘L,’ not a party member upper case ‘L.’ I’ve been Libertarian, and I’ve been Republican. Some years ago, I became unaffiliated. Partly because Republicans are constantly letting me down, and partly because being in media, not having to cheer for a team is liberating.”

He said he respects people who tell the truth. Being a libertarian is not really about supporting a political party; it allows Kaminsky to be critical of Democrats and Republicans.

“You can generally predict my positions on political issues based on which position maximizes individual liberty,” he said. “Whether or not the side effects of an issue affect me. For instance, I support drug legalization even though I’ve never touched an illegal drug or even a cigarette. I’m pro-choice, but I also know living in the real world, there are some restrictions I can live with. As for the hard-core anti-abortion folks, I may disagree with them, but at least I understand how they think about something; in this case, that they deeply believe abortion is murder. Pro-choice folks will never understand pro-life folks unless they keep that in mind…which doesn’t mean you have to accept the same perspective.”

 “If something is part of someone’s belief system, it’s helpful to understand that for a conversation. When you recognize that, people you disagree with can seem less tyrannical.”

At this point in our discussion, he was busy picking out the PVC at Home Depot.

“When you’re a trader, you’re forced to multitask,” he jokes.

Kaminsky said, like other talkers, he had considered his future might include syndication.

“I’m not so sure it’s the brass ring anymore,” he said. “Maybe podcasting is. I don’t know if I’ve spent enough time thinking about this. I think creativity is very important to what we do. There is a smaller group of talkers who just preach to the choir with no creativity.”

Kaminsky said the nation is in trouble if people don’t renounce their loyalty to a tribe rather than act on things that are best for the country.

“The tribe could be Trump-loyal, cultish, or the other side, the Trump Derangement Syndrome people,” he explained. “I think it’s interesting that on the Right, more people are more loyal to Trump than to the party. If enough voters refuse to vote for Trumpy candidates, the party may come back together. They’re at the precipice of falling; we’re close. The Republican party has become a populist party. I don’t think that has to change very soon for the GOP to do well because the Democrats have moved so far Left.”

He cited an interview with Ron Johnson and found the Wisconsin Senator to be pushing the limits a little more than Kaminsky would like. “He hasn’t always been this flamboyant. Politics will change people, make them do unexpected things. I think he really believes today’s Democratic party poses risks to important things and is trying to stop them. And again, once you realize that, it helps you make sense of a lot of the other stuff. And I do appreciate Ron’s courage to say things others won’t say, but I’d hope that he goes out of his way to make sure those things are true and not just inflammatory.”

The last polls show Johnson down, at 38 percent in Wisconsin against challenger Mandela Barnes.

“It’s a sport among MAGA Republicans to either not answer pollsters or skew the results where they can,” Kaminsky said. “It’s a matter of how much.”

Kaminsky also noted that Johnson was behind in polling in at least his last two election victories.

Kaminsky said his audiences are human and understand and appreciate when he admits he was wrong about a topic.

“I go out of my way to say on the air when I get something wrong. I’ll do it the same day when I can. With the raid on Mar-a-Lago, I was wrong about some document classifications. I had no problem telling listeners I got it wrong.”

After we spoke, Kaminsky sent me a photo of his finished sink. I’ll be darned if he doesn’t get it right.

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News is the Only Thing Missing From Election Coverage

Coverage of the election is, as we’ve discussed, still very horse-race-centric, and there’s been, of course, coverage of the various Trump court cases, but where is the coverage of exactly what the candidates plan to do if elected?

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The first thought I had when I heard NBC had hired Ronna McDaniel as a commentator for $300,000 a year was to wonder how many actual journalists they could have hired for that money. Then, I recalled that NBC had laid off dozens of news staffers just a few months ago. Then, I remembered that I had just recently written a column decrying news organizations throwing pretty much anybody on the air as a “pundit” and this….

This was worse. It’s one thing to grab some rando who happened to be a minor functionary for the Executive Branch. It’s another to hire someone whose job was to promote election denialism and pretend that her opinion is something valuable for viewers. And, yes, it’s just as ridiculous when news organizations hire former presidential press secretaries (that’s you, Jen Psaki and Sean Spicer), their very jobs were to spin everything in their bosses’ favor and now you’re going to pay them big salaries for, um, what? Because they “have a name” or you’re afraid someone else will snap them up? Why them?

The McDaniel deal lasted five days, one completely unilluminating interview, and one unexpected Chuck Todd spine-growing outburst, so it’ll all blow over soon enough. The problem is, though, the part about having fired several news staffers, and what it means in an election year on both the national and local levels. If you have the money to hire an alleged pundit – any alleged pundit – you have the money to hire reporters, and I don’t mean anchors or opinion show hosts.

Coverage of the election is, as we’ve discussed, still very horse-race-centric, and there’s been, of course, coverage of the various Trump court cases, but where is the coverage of exactly what the candidates plan to do if elected? Who’s probing Project 2025 and why isn’t it front-page, first-segment news? Who’s pressing the Biden administration on Gaza? Is anyone reporting on the candidates’ record on climate change?

Beyond prescription drug prices, is anyone digging into the broken healthcare system and demanding answers from the candidates about what they’ll do to fix it (and not letting Trump get away with “I’ll have a better plan, a beautiful plan” without a single specific detail, like they did in 2016)? Why didn’t anyone focus on, for example, the GOP candidate for governor of North Carolina and his incendiary past comments well before the primary?

Pundits are not going to do the legwork on the issues; they’ll just talk about swing states while John King and Steve Kornacki point at their touchscreen maps. We need reporting on the things that matter (and can affect that horse race, even if most people have made up their minds). It shouldn’t just be Pro Publica and scattered independent journalists doing the dirty work.

Honestly, I don’t want to hear the complaints about the quality of the candidates or how this is a rerun or any of that. (We’ll leave that to The New York Times.) We are a horribly underinformed electorate and we got the horse race we deserve. It might just be idealists like me who think that, just maybe, the news media can play a role in educating the public and bursting the bubbles and echo chambers. This country has survived and prospered for a few centuries with the press shining a light on injustice and corruption.

Now, when we need that most, they’re more concerned with what they think will bring them ratings and money (although someone will have to explain to me who thought having Ronna McDaniel as a paid commentator would draw a single viewer to NBC).

Here’s a thought: Don’t lay off reporters, especially in an election year.  Assign them to dig deep on issues that matter to the voters.

Let the pundits talk about that.

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8 Ways to Take Your Commercials From Drab to Fab

Our main source of income is derived from commercials. There are a lot of bad commercials.

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Another reason to read this column, I often add an Easter egg. We are in the advertising business. Our main source of income is derived from commercials. There are a lot of bad commercials. Frequently, clients write these ads. You can excuse it if the spots suck. But when the commercials are written by Account Executives or the production department at the station, it is kind of unforgivable.

I am going to share the most meaningless phrases in commercials.

Locally Owned and Operated

Customers do not care. If customers cared about a business being locally owned and operated, Walmart would not exist. People want service, selection, and value. They do not want to get soaked. When you purchase something, are you willing to pay 20% for a local company? If you say yes, you are wrong. People want a deal.

The Phone Number

Doing 70 down the 405, John slammed on the brakes to write down the phone number for an amazing HVAC Company. That is not how it works people. HVAC companies rarely have or should have regular customers.

Normally, your AC is out. You call the HVAC Company that you are familiar with. Radio advertising allows people to have “TOMA”: Top of Mind Awareness. There are stats that show when a company is advertising on your radio station, their website shows an increase in traffic. When you needed a service for your home, you hit Google and choose the company that you’ve heard of. It’s that simple. I actually heard a commercial asking listeners to add a businesses phone number to their contact list. That is a moronic use of advertising real estate.

Street Addresses

“Tequilaberry’s Prime Rib is located at 106 East Governors Drive in Peoria.” 

The people listening cannot process that detail. You could say “Tequilaberry’s Prime Rib is on Governors Drive just off 10th in Peoria.” That is almost digestible. That creates a picture of where it is.

Trust me, people interested in prime rib will Google you and load the address in their navigation system. Spend that precious spot time selling the experience of the restaurant.

Always Using the Company Owner/Founder in Commercials

Sometimes, it is amazing when business owners are their spokesperson. They have passion and are natural salespeople. Some business owners are terrible at speaking about their product.

When you have a business owner who is a natural promoter, they can drag listeners into their business. I once worked with a family who owned a couple of hardware stores. They spoke about the benefits of visiting their stores. It was heartfelt and real. They promised that their employees can help solve any problem in your home. If you went to that store and had a simple or complex problem, the employees helped you out.

I once worked with a man who owned a really nice flooring company.  For whatever reason, he thought that he was funny. He had spots written by him, his wife, or a kid. The ads were dreadful. They were not funny at all. Account Executives need to talk these clients out of doing commercials like this. Nothing says wacky hijinks like flooring.

Overuse of Numbers

“We have grapes at 99 cents a pound, Chuck steak at $1.99, two-for-one zucchini.”

Trust me, no one driving in city traffic can keep track of that. “The 2025 Chevy Chevette is back with 45-mpg efficiency and amazing 18-inch tires. Prices start at $19,999…  The New Chevy Silverado starts at $32,999.”

It gets really confusing fast.

WWW.

Yes, I hear commercials saying check us on the internet at “W-W-W dot business name here dot com.”

WWW is assumed and not needed anymore unless you are running a Commadore-64 with the latest floppy disc technology.

Yellow Pages Ad

“Check out our new ad in the Yellow Pages!”

OMG, no one reads those damn things anymore. Most people born after 1960 just toss those suckers in the trash. There was a time when the Yellow Pages were the largest revenue generator in advertising. Yes, a book of ads. Like Facebook, without your buddy’s political, vacation, or food posts. It was just ads. Zero content.

I had stuffed salmon tonight that I engineered myself. I would make Sydney Sweeney quite the trophy husband. Set us up. Hey, I am single. It was not that long ago that you would hear a radio ad that promoted a coupon in the Sunday paper.

Well, that copy should be deader than a doornail.

Amateur Theater

A husband and wife discussing their lawn and how she heard about Telly’s Lawn Service from her friend Stacy. 

Those commercials are obviously contrived and not interesting at all. 

______________________________________________________________________________________________________

Open every commercial must have an attention-grabbing opener. “Totally Jammed…  The floor covered with the guest towels. Fearing the horrific consequences of another flush…  I did the right thing. I called ABC Plumbing. Quick service, a great price, and peace of mind.”

The next time that the plunger is failing to get the desired results, the listener of that commercial will identify with the very realist scenario.

We are in the advertising business. Use radio as it was meant.

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The Lost Art of Using Sound as a Springboard

Use sound it wherever you can. All you need is a loyal, capable and willing board operator, to go along with a conscientious host.

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Jon Stewart was the first guy to do it — take a politician’s words from the news of the day or week. Search his or her entire past and find a sound byte saying the exact opposite.

It became an art form – and a great way to keep people accountable.

Most radio operations don’t have the resources necessary to consistently do something like that, but truth be told, that kind of journalism isn’t really the point of this week’s column.

It’s an example of the simple power of sound. We need to use it more within our shows. Use sound it wherever you can. All you need is a loyal, capable, and willing board operator, to go along with a conscientious host.

Speaking from experience, not doing it is lazy.

Doing it takes minimal effort and helps conversations tremendously – especially when it’s in real-time. I know. I’ve been there – missing opportunity after opportunity because I didn’t think of it, ask for help or just do it myself.

Put simply, good sound is a better springboard to a question than just a question.

Just the other day, I realized how well it works and how little I’ve been doing it.

Here’s what happened.

We have one particularly heated congressional race in our state. The Republican candidate is running for a second time after narrowly losing in 2022 in an election where Connecticut’s gubernatorial candidate from the same party got smoked, and the Republican presidential candidate lost the state as well.

This time around, there’s a struggling Democratic President with real doubts about the economy and the country’s standing in the world.

Put simply, the Democratic congressional incumbent has a massive task ahead to get re-elected.

On my show, I try to be consistently independent and be a place for both parties to appear with the expectation that the conversations will be fair and honest.

The Republican candidate came on the show earlier this month, and we went through a number of issues. Connecticut is a relatively strong Democratic stronghold, where the party controls the legislature, the Governor’s Mansion, and the entire congressional delegation.

Having said that, the largest voting block is unaffiliated, so appealing to independents is crucial for either side to win. I asked the Republican candidate twice about whether he will support Donald Trump, and both times, he equivocated. I asked the follow-up, we were on the record, so I moved on.

The following week, his opponent, the Democratic incumbent, was scheduled to appear on the show. Before her arrival, I realized the Trump Q&A should probably be replayed for her. Duh.

My producer found it, clipped it, and had it at the ready. I felt that I should have realized it sooner and not put some added strain on my partner’s morning routine. He was fine, but it definitely added unnecessary work within the show.

Lesson learned.

The sound byte worked well. I played it. She responded. We moved the story forward, and it was compelling – as you might imagine, the topic of Trump vs. Biden is pretty compelling these days.

By no means did it create a “wow” moment. That would be a little much. But it did make the show better, using the opponent’s own voice as opposed to my paraphrasing something. That lends credibility, not only to the topic but also to the show. He gave this important answer on our show, and she gave her response … on our show.

My final thought on this is that we (I) need to look for more places to utilize sound as a springboard to conversations, as opposed to simply raising the topic and discussing it. Maybe you’re already good at it and do it all the time, but this past week, I realized I need to push myself to do it more.

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