The tragic assassination of Salem Media’s Charlie Kirk heightens the awareness we all should have about the fragility of life. The shockwaves that a media figure was struck down while doing his job are great and continue to reverberate.
This violent act also magnifies the weight of our words. The realization that we never know who is hearing us, and what they’re thinking as they listen, should be a concern. Even if in the back of our minds. It cries out for the need to provide protection for our talent, regardless of format.
Personalities have always been somewhat at risk. We hear the stories on an all too frequent basis of an on-air talent whose life has been lost, a stalker who penetrated the safe space of a public media figure, a personality at an appearance who is attacked, the intimidation that can come from an unidentified voice on a call. The safety of a talent is often overlooked when planning the public appearances of personalities.
It’s not about politics. It’s not about controversy. The message here isn’t to enter into the debates that are filling the airwaves following this murder. Providing at least minimal protection should be about safety. That’s the bottom line. And it doesn’t take a lot of intelligence, research, human resources, or historical data. It takes common sense. Some individuals believe that stealing the light of a high-profile personality somehow lifts their presence. Makes them important.
Some reading this will have had the all too familiar conversation with a member of law enforcement about taking precautions, rides home in different directions to keep others from finding the location of your home or family. Many of us have had threats on our lives. I’ve authorized payment for transportation to and from studios, events, and underwriting security details for talent of the highest profile. Companies I’ve worked for have invested in better outdoor lighting, gated parking lots, security at entryways, and private entry.
Safety should cost what? At least it should cost “time.” Time to discuss and explore situations that warrant safety, and then provide it. Time to think about this tragic situation.
Which should lead to a question: are our talent, our management and leadership, our employees safe?
Mike,
You never know when and where an attack may occur. Unfortunately, the best way to prevent them is to be apolitical, unopinionated and bland. Fortunately, my experience was with a listener seeking to silence an air personality, not by bodily injury but by taking the radio station off the air just as his show began. Someone who was technically knowledgeable, likely a former phone company employee, went out into the swamp and cut the program loop as it came out of the ground and up onto a pole, but did so in a way that hid the break! It took the phone company a few hours to find the fault and make the repair. Lost revenue for the radio station.
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