When War Happens

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(By Mike McVay) The war in the Ukraine is terrifying on so many levels. There’s the humanitarian side of the story. The unbelievable loss of life. So needlessly. People that dress like we do, carrying children wrapped in blankets, fleeing their homes, seeing their possessions and homes destroyed and gone forever. The likelihood is very slim for the refugees from Ukraine to ever again have the life that they once knew. Their jobs and careers are a distant memory.

We’ve seen this before. Depending on where you live in North America, it’s highly likely that you know someone whose family fled Poland, Czechoslovakia, Croatia, Syria, Hungry or other nations that were once a part of the Soviet Union. Living where I live, in Northeast Ohio, there are many who have their roots, and still have family, in Eastern Europe. One of my neighbors, from Czechoslovakia, was a surgeon in his homeland. Today he’s a dentist. He had to start over when he arrived in America. His story is much better than most people who find themselves displaced.

The tragedy that we’re all watching unfold on a global media stage cannot be ignored. The approach you take to telling the story will depend on your stations brand, your format and the credibility of your talent. Covering the story, and its’ updates in your news reporting is an obvious, but do you have on-air talent whose connection to the community can credibly share the human side of the conflict. If so, then you’ll want to encourage them to be the face of your charity efforts.

While it may be uncomfortable to discuss and describe the continuing story of war, especially on a music station, it is a story that you cannot ignore. To say nothing would show that your station is clearly absent of a view of news and not dependable as a source for critical information. Admittedly, sharing breaking news can drive some listeners to leave your station in search of more information and details. To say nothing sends a signal that you’re not a listening location when any major news story is active. I’m not suggesting that you should interrupt songs with a hard news approach. I am saying that you cannot ignore a war.

The audience wants to hear the heart stories. The stories of heroes. The stories of everyday normal people. They also want to know of the tragedies. They will try to grasp the unimaginable. Parents are faced with explaining to their children what war means. It’s difficult to explain the unexplainable. Great communicators can tell these stories. The audience wants to hear them, but not to the exclusion of stories that are closer to home.

When Desert Storm, the first Gulf War hit on August 2, 1990, McVay Media received flak from some national news outlets because we encouraged radio stations to show support for our Men and Women of the Armed Forces by playing The National Anthem. We suggested they play it at either 6:00am or 12:00pm daily. It’s a position that we didn’t backoff from as to do so would have been disrespectful to those who were making sacrifices by serving our country.

You cannot say that playing the National Anthem isn’t a political statement. It is, but it is so because it is about the nation and not a political party. Your approach to this war, unless you’re a News/Talk station, should not be political. If you are a News/Talk station, then of course most things you discuss have a political overtone. Not so on music stations. Sports stations fall into the one format that should stay away from polarizing topics that aren’t about sports. The sports fan is there for sports and guy talk. Not politics.

When war happens, be prepared to air updates, share stories, support a credible charity and look for the stories of hope, encouragement and recovery. Look for that song that will connect with the audience and reinforce hope. There are at least two songs that have been recorded to generate donations to charity and there will be more. “Tears for Ukraine” was written and sung by Billy Craig. It was co-written by B. Eric Rhoads, CEO, Streamline Publishing and Matt Jacobs. The Lost Trailers f/Chandler Flint, have released “Let Freedom Sing.” Written by award winning songwriter/producers Desmond Child and Stokes Nielson. Nielson fronts The Lost Trailers. The song is a charity project benefiting the International Red Cross for Ukraine.

 

Mike McVay is President of McVay Media and can be reached at [email protected]

5 COMMENTS

  1. Lori Beckstead, do you have any actual experience in commercial radio? or are you just another “woke” professor?. The less you say, especially your disregard for the victims in Ukraine, perhaps the better. I will be contacting your university to questions your qualifications.

  2. Lori Beckstead, do you have any actual experience in commercial radio? or are you just another “woke” professor?. The less you say, especially your disregard for the victim in Ukraine, perhaps the better. I will be contacting your university to questions your qualifications.

  3. What Lori said.

    As president of a consultancy, you probably want to polish your writing style. In the very first line you refer to “the Ukraine.” Please. And don’t make me pick apart your comma and apostrophe issues.* Potential clients may notice these things and flee to the next has-been consultant who might have better command of the English language.

    * – although I will, for a fee!

  4. Very well said, good advice/direction. Bringing the human aspect to the forefront; a human interest story, a song, a way to help or donate –no matter what format you run, is going to connect you to your listeners.

  5. “People that dress like we do”?? I’m not sure what you’re getting at with that but it sounds dangerously like you’re implying that when war happens to white westerners it’s more important than when it happens to people who “don’t dress like we do”. Ugh. I also think it’s hypocritical to give Sports Talk Radio a pass on addressing the topic because “the sports fan is there for sports and guy talk.” You could equally say that the music fan who tunes into music formats is there for music and nothing else. And that sports stations, just like music stations, demonstrate a lack of critical information if they ignore the war. There’s no reason at all why sports stations should get a pass on this. Furthermore, you conveniently forget the women who tune into sports radio for sports but certainly not for the guy talk. Women who want sports on the radio have to put up with the fact that they are not even considered a true part of the audience. Radio programmers and managers who assume that sports is only for men are perpetuating the dinosaur-aged approach to sports radio that ignores a strong audience that is not being served.

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