(By Mike McVay) Choosing your news has been the topic of previous columns I’ve authored about the News and News/Talk formats. The focus of those articles was to highlight the way that listeners select where and how they get their news.
They listen to those stations whose opinions and news content align with their political beliefs. The English proverb “Birds of a feather flock together” has been proven accurate many times over in many things in life, and is particularly true in today’s media, which encourages the audience to live in an echo chamber.
The number of choices for news has been greatly enlarged by technological advancements. The line between news and commentary has blurred. All in the name of growing an audience. A lack of concern for creating credible content has been diminished in favor of delivering that information, or commentary, which satisfies the audience’s desire. Therein lies the conundrum for the news/talk format.
Politics being as divided as they are, and most commercial stations leaning conservative while public or university stations lean liberal, there is little advantage to being down the middle. It’s apparent that is not what attracts an audience.
We see the same thing across multiple platforms. Radio, Television, Social Media, Cable/Satellite, Smart Speakers, and Podcasting all seem to pander to the opinion of a select audience and eschew credibility. Although podcasting is a narrowcast medium that is generally a one-on-one delivery system, so it’s expected that it would be very targeted. What isn’t expected is that news, actual news content, would be written and delivered to include opinion. I realize it will be an unpopular opinion, but I believe that this is one of the reasons why we’ve been seeing the decades-long erosion of ratings for news/talk radio.
There should be a clear delineation between what is News and what is Opinion. Content should be focused on the priorities of the majority of the available audience. The average listener cares about more than politics. They’re more concerned with anything that will disrupt their lives or change their plans for the day. They are interested in content that pertains to their families, their community, and their pocketbooks. Those are topics that should be on your radar as being of interest to your audience.
If you do present politics in your news, be factual. Explain what a policy or action means to your target listener.
If you do have local non-network/non-syndication talent on your Talk station, the same policy should apply. Make what’s most important to your community the “Big Event” as you prep your program. If your talent echo the same opinion and information as your national talent, and too many do, then why should a station air your show versus one of the many available network talk programs? Be special and unique by tying national topics to your community as well as being the voice of the community.
Brace for a sharp drop in ratings as we move beyond the election, the Congressional vote count on January 6, and the Inauguration on January 20. The spike that many News/Talk stations enjoyed will continue to evaporate the further we get from November 5.
The economy, safety, health, family and survival information are those things that are the secret weapon of radio stations committed to their local community. The slide seen by spoken word information stations doesn’t have to be precipitous, but it probably will be. That’s what’s most sad about the state of news radio.
Mike McVay is President of McVay Media and can be reached at [email protected]. Read Mike’s Radio Ink archives here.
Mike echoes much of what my thought process has been for some time now.
The real problem is not “can you go down the middle” (because no, you can’t anymore) but credibility. As the line has blurred between journalism and commentary, it has become far too easy for listeners to equate them … especially if what they are hearing resonates with their own POVs.
This is only going to get worse until we wise up and start levying consequences against those who would spread lies as fact. “Fake news”, ironically, comes more often from the party of the guy — whose name I cannot bear to say — who disclaims it. I’m not saying the other party is completely innocent in that regard but my own observations when performing my own fact checking shows the imbalance.
For my part, I don’t have news on my KRKE, even in morning drive. Just the weather forecast.
As usual Mike is correct. The audience wants to hear things that make them feel good. The lines between Reporters and Commentators, Journalists and Advocates have blurred and credibility has suffered because of it. What’s more important? The form or the substance? Can a Radio News/Talk format be crafted to provide both?
The audience decides credibility, not some guy on a conference call. Podcasters and social media creators know what their audience wants and doesn’t have to play 20 spots an hour and keep repeating the worthless call letters. Radio’s decline is in hyper-drive. Layoffs and budget cuts are the new norm. Media agencies slashing “radio spots” because the attention has been toileted. The new expectation is talk to me so I feel valued and heard… facts and stats killed legacy media. Turns out the over-weight, social media-deficient old broadcasters are poor storytellers, even if accuracy was on their side….
Markets have only 1 -2 news stations. 2024 was a paramount year as sooooo many young people consumed podcasts in regards to politics. Why? Age. Old news broadcasters don’t connect. If Radio was serious about really “re-energizing”, it starts with a youth movement.