Please, don't say that again!

 

Recently heard on my radio 

(What not to say)

Best practices for radio announcers eliminates barriers between the audience and the person behind the mic. There should also be a sincere effort to promote an increase in time listening. Seems basic, yet I still hear:

"We'll be right back after this"  

First: You're not going anywhere.

Second: This is really lame forward promotion. Promote to something specific coming up in less than 20 minutes.

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"More on that story at 5:44." 

You don't need a specific time. Say something like this, "Senators react to the resignation of Ted Cruz, in 15 minutes on Baltic Public Media's  All Things Considered." Don't expect me to make an appointment for listening, but if it's only 15 minutes away, I'll probably stick around. The goal is to increase Time Spent Listening.

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"Wow, it's really cold out there! Windchills are expected to be minus 32 outside tonight."

You don't need to say 'out there' or 'outside.' We'll get it. Instead say, "Stay safe and bundle up. Windchills are expected be 32 below tonight." Saying 'out there' puts up an unconscious barrier between you and your listener.

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"All of you out there." (Often heard during fundraisers.) "We need all of you out there to step up to the plate and make a donation so we can raise 20 thousand dollars." 

Where do I even begin with this? Radio is a personal medium. Most listening is done alone. Throwing up the barrier of "all of you out there" is so wrong on so many levels. Most importantly you've destroyed the intimate relationship you're trying to build with the listener.

What is special about radio?

Based on the human voice, radio is a uniquely personal medium, invoking a listener's imagination to fill in mental images around the broadcast sounds. Radio also can employ a boundless plethora of sound and music effects to entertain and enthrall listeners. -britannica

Why do people love listening to radio?

People love listening to radio according to a recent survey by Edison research - It's ability to connect listeners with new music, both local and global news, and the added benefit of going mobile are the main driving factors why audiences keep coming back for more.  -radio.com

Truth be Told

 

Is the truth important? 

As journalists, the facts we uncover leads to the truth. The telling of the facts does not begin and end with a statement like, "There was an apartment fire last night in Anywhere, USA. 14 people died." Uncovering the many facets of a story, the unpeeling of the layers of the onion that makes up the story, leads to insights. Public media listeners understand that these stories are multilayered. As citizens of the world, they want to know more. They want context.

Depth, depth, and more depth

What we cover and how we cover it matters. Disappoint our audience, and they will go elsewhere. Peeling away the layers to uncover the facts helps our listeners connect the dots and arrive at the truth.

The Importance of Truth 

Truth matters, both to us as individuals and to society as a whole. As individuals, being truthful means that we can grow and mature, learning from our mistakes. For society, truthfulness makes social bonds, and lying and hypocrisy break them.

https://www.skillsyouneed.com ›  

Truth matters as the foundation for interpersonal trust. It matters because we cannot talk to one another, much less conduct a serious debate, until we share some principles and facts about the world at large, not to mention a consensus on how to generate them. Nov 2, 2020

https://www.abc.net.au › religion › s... 

Truth-telling makes possible freedom and trust between people, and, in the life of faith, it makes possible closeness to God. People of good will must always be willing to demand truth-telling because no one should be treated as if they were not worthy of being told the truth.  Mar 11, 2017

https://www.mcall.com › opinion 

Why is it so difficult to be honest?

The reality is that honesty and transparency require very high levels of emotional intelligence. True intimacy requires comfort with emotional vulnerability and our culture is very far from comfortable with emotions. Further, dishonesty drives fear and fear drives sexual desire.  Nov 4, 2019 medium.com

And once the truth is revealed the story isn’t over. “The truth is rarely pure and never simple.” Oscar Wilde.  

In an interview with our former president, Trump was questioned by Steve Inskeep about his lies about the 2020 election, and asked about his pronouncements about the insurrection. It was clear Inskeep was prepared for the responses he would get from Trump. When presented with the facts, he walked out. 

Here's a sampling from the interview:

NPR'S STEVE INSKEEP: Let me read you some short quotes. The first is by one of the judges, one of the 10 judges you appointed, who ruled on this. And there were many judges, but 10 who you appointed. Brett Ludwig, U.S. District Court in Wisconsin, who was nominated by you in 2020. He's on the bench and he says, quote, "This court allowed the plaintiff the chance to make his case, and he has lost on the merits."

Another quote, Kory Langhofer, your own campaign attorney in Arizona, Nov. 12, 2020, quote, "We are not alleging fraud in this lawsuit. We are not alleging anyone stealing the election." And also Rudy Giuliani, your lawyer, Nov. 18, 2020, in Pennsylvania, quote, "This is not a fraud case." Your own lawyers had no evidence of fraud. They said in court they had no evidence of fraud. And the judges ruled against you every time on the merits.

TRUMP: It was too early to ask for fraud and to talk about fraud. Rudy said that, because of the fact it was very early with the — because that was obviously at a very, very — that was a long time ago. The things that have found out have more than bore out what people thought and what people felt and what people found.

When you look at Langhofer, I disagree with him as an attorney. I did not think he was a good attorney to hire. I don't know what his game is, but I will just say this: You look at the findings. You look at the number of votes. Go into Detroit and just ask yourself, is it true that there are more votes than there are voters? Look at Pennsylvania. Look at Philadelphia. Is it true that there were far more votes than there were voters?

INSKEEP: It is not true that there were far more votes than voters. There was an early count. I've noticed you've talked about this in rallies and you've said, reportedly, this is true. I think even you know that that was an early report that was corrected later.

TRUMP: Well, you take a look at it. You take a look at Detroit. In fact, they even had a hard time getting people to sign off on it because it was so out of balance. They called it out of balance. So you take a look at it. You know the real truth, Steve, and this election was a rigged election.

When pressed, it was excuse after excuse — it was "too early" to claim fraud, his attorney was no good, things just seem suspicious.

The truth can be hard. It is hardest on those who lie, or is it? Research shows that once people go down that path, the easier it is to continue lying. Don't expect to reform the liar. Instead, lay bare the lies. Reveal the lair for who he is. Repeat the facts, because the liars will continue to lie. 

To find out more about The Fascinating Reason Why Liars Keep On Lying click on this link from Time.

Public Broadcasting Truths

 The Top Ten Truths 

Hey Pubsters. Remember this! 

The Top Ten Truths were discoveries made by ARA during Audience 98.

Perhaps you don't remember Audience 98, or are not aware of the efforts being made by ARA on behalf of CPB and PRPD to find out more about the Public Radio Audience. It came a decade after the discoveries of Audience 88. 

Audience 98 was a major study that aimed to extend programmers' understanding of listener behavior developed in the widely influential Audience 88.

Audience 98 is based in part on a rare re-contact survey of 8,000 Arbitron diary-keepers who indicated in fall 1996 that they listened to public radio. The survey was designed to elicit their pledging behaviors, personal beliefs, and attitudes toward public radio.

Besides nostalgia, what other feelings does the Top Ten Truths elicit from you? To be sure, this should not be confused with The Ten Commandments, but how much has changed from the listener's perspective. These ten points helped us build a loyal and engaged audience that still values our service today.

We Are the Drowning Man

 

The Numbers Are Staggering

There’s an essay in Sojourners by Suzanne Brennan Firstenberg where she observes reactions to “In America: Remember.” She’s the social practice artist who created the vast field of flags: one for each person who died from COVID-19. 

We’ve become numb to the statistics.

In the United States:

• ·        825 thousand deaths
• ·        55 million cases.

Worldwide:

• ·       5.4 million deaths
• ·        2 88 million cases

When Brennan Firstenberg completed the installation in mid September there were over 666 thousand deaths. By the time installation closed in early October there just over 701 thousand deaths.

“Watching Strangers Console Strangers – Was the Magic of the Place.”

Brennan Firstenberg, who is a hospice volunteer, brings a willingness to witness grief to this art. “We treat the one sure thing in all our lives as if it is never going to happen.” “There is a flag dedicated to a woman named Kitty: ‘I asked you to get vaccinated, but you said, God will protect me.  The vaccine is from God. You passed the end of July.’ I love the flag dedicator’s more wholistic understanding of God – That God works through people, and science, and society."

Waiting for the Miracle

For those of us holding out for God to save us, look up the parable of the drowning man. There are several versions of the story in Christianity, the Jewish Faith and Buddhism. In all of them a pious person declines the help of those who offer to save him. He is waiting instead for God to intercede on his behalf. When he dies, he asks why God did not try to save him? The reply is, God sent the rescuers to save him on the expectation he would accept the help. 

When I read that, I am not overwhelmed by a sense of self-righteousness. Instead, I feel a sense of sadness. I understand and am reminded that I'm being called to do something about our perilous situation. Listening to the preacher extoll, “God is always with you.” His declaration is not our armor against the pandemic. According to reporter Andrew Quintana, On Dec. 19, New York City's average hospitalization rate was 15.78 for every 100,000 people, those that were vaccinated accounted for 3 per 100,000 people. Unvaccinated people had a hospitalization rate more than 32 times higher than that, accounting for 97.46 per 100,000 people.

More is expected. God works through us. That is our calling. We better answer the call soon.

Is your station worthy?

Applying Audience Research to Your Fund Drive

I used to do it all the time. 

I was always looking for ways to connect my on-air appeals to my listeners. Since there was a listener focus to the research, I shared it with the talent at the station and the development staff in the hope they would do the same. Did they always share that information on the air. No, not always.

I still listen to fund drives locally. Some of the talent  makes the effort to connect, but some do not. I still hear a lot of "we need," "our budget." "our reporters." The focus is on the station, not the audience. Ask yourself, how is what you're doing benefiting your audience? Then try to answer that in your communications with your audience.

Coming up with pitches that focus on listener need can be difficult, but with some work, not impossible. It just takes some work ahead of the drive.

I was reading David Giovannoni's artcle in Current from March of this year, "For their listeners, NPR News stations are the last thing worth listening to on the radio." Right there, the title pops out and screams relevancy for the listener. The gist of the article is, Public Media Listeners are back and they are more loyal than ever. More nugget come from David's commentary at the end of the article. 

The headline isn’t that listeners to NPR News stations are back. It’s that listeners are finding the programming on NPR News stations more important in their lives than ever, and by extension, more worthy of support.

They're listening less in the car and at work, but now they have returned to at home listening.

Listeners use of competitors has dropped 30% from the same period a year ago.

If loyalty to terrestrial broadcast sources can thrive in this most competitive environment, would it not be equally sturdy on other platforms? Wouldn’t the last thing worth listening to on the radio be the first thing worth finding on any new platform?

The intensifying loyalty of listeners — their desertion of competing stations and ever-increasing dependence on, even devotion to NPR News stations — cannot be denied.

Your loyal listeners, the ones that listen to you more than any other station, are the listeners that are most likely to give. Understanding what makes them loyal should inform what you say during your fund raisers. 

Feeling motivated? Give it a try. 

• Hit your key points consistently. 
• Make your point and move on. 
• Don't ramble.
• No hand wringing

Facts Matter: Three Myths About Pearl Harbor

Misinformation and Distortion

A Time Magazine article by Olivia Waxman punches holes in three myths about Pearl Harbor.

#1 The war did not start World War Two. Japan invaded China in the early 1930s, and Germany invaded Poland in 1939, drawing much of Europe into the conflict.

#2 The attack started a huge volunteer movement in the US to fight Japan. In fact, most combatants were drafted.

#3 The attack woke a sleeping giant. The fact is the giant was already awake with a draft in place, Lend-Lease and sanctions against Japan.

Deja-Vu?

"The U.S. was certainly not “sleeping” at the time of Pearl Harbor. The Roosevelt administration had been playing hardball with the Japanese for years, trying to get Japan to lay off its war of conquest in China. The U.S. had embargoed all sorts of strategic goods and raw materials to Japan: weapons, aviation fuel, scrap iron. And in the the summer of 1941, Washington had actually placed a freeze on all Japanese assets in the U.S. and made it impossible for Japan to purchase oil."

"The country was deep into the process of converting the economy from consumer goods to wartime production. So the giant wasn’t really “sleeping”, even if the fleet at Pearl Harbor was surprised by the initial blow."

"As to that Yamamoto quote? Well, it’s been impossible to find the actual source. Most of us first heard it in the blockbuster film Tora! Tora! Tora! in 1970, so it’s more Hollywood than history. The producer said the screenwriter found [the quote] in a letter, but no one has really been able to produce the letter or confirm who the recipient was."

Getting It Right Matters

Over time, as stories are told and retold, they change. That may be because of our inability to remember narratives exactly as they were told to us. This is innocent enough. It could also be intentional like the reframing of the narrative of the Civil War by Southern historians to The Lost Cause. The Lost Cause offers justification to the cruelties of slavery and Jim Crow laws that denied human dignity. They even used the Christian Bible to reinforce their claims. Check out The Curse of Ham. The same thing is happening now around the false narrative of the January 6th insurrection. Trump and his enablers would have us believe their attempt to violently overthrow a lawful election is their patriotic duty.

Now What?

The sanctions against Japan sound familiar. Kind of like the threats against Russia today if they invade Ukraine. And the proposed sanctions against China as it flexes its military might. Are we headed down that path? This is unsettling, to say the least. Do we even have a choice? Jumping immediately to conflict leads to...what? What we do depends on getting the lessons of the past right. 

Churches and the Great Resignation

A Familiar Story

This is all too familiar. In my public broadcasting career, I was faced with choices between serving the audience or serving the interests of wealthy and powerful benefactors. It didn't happen all the time, but there were instances when large sums of money were offered with strings attached. My inclination was to stay true to the core values of the audience. My boss said this was the hard way to raise funds. His inclination was to grab for the shiny object, and sort out the consequences later. I guess you can see where this was headed.

When my immediate supervisor resigned he offered, "Giving up on principles wasn't worth it." I was appointed to his position. I found out he was right. 

Coming apart at the seams

Our social divide is leading people away from religion. It isn't just in the pews, although attendance is way down. Pastors are joining the great resignation. It has a lot to do with the decidedly conservative leanings of powerful congregants.

"But in the wreckage of Trumpian politics and a never-ending-pandemic, our jobs have been reduced to negotiating skirmishes over mask-wearing and vaccination status. Former and current pastors have shared with me that their denominations and powerful congregants have pushed for a false unity that tolerates homophobia, racism, and conspiracy theories. My friend Ryan, a seasoned pastor, finally gave up. He felt that he could no longer follow the work of the Holy Spirit when he was expected to make room for people who actively thwarted God's movement. When we name the need to repent of sexism and racism, powerful church members withhold their giving and muster factions to oust us. Our compassion fatigue is real." MELISSA FLORER-BIXLER

You can read more in Sojourners. 

WHY PASTORS ARE JOINING THE GREAT RESIGNATION

Florer-Bixler explains, "In the past decade, we’ve watched a trickle in the decline of church membership turn to a geyser as people woke up to the incompatibility between the teachings of Jesus Christ and the practices of many who claim to follow him. Up until recently, I was certain the death of the institutional church would come because of a mass exodus from the pews. But if the data is any indicator, the sun might set on U.S. churches as we know them because pastors refuse to aid and abet a compromise between factionalism and the good news of Jesus."

Millennials May Not Come Back

It is not a coincidence that Millennials are staying away. They cite the same reasons, homophobia, racism, and conspiracy theories. Add to that the sexual abuse scandals and the seeming hatred and intolerance coming from certain factions, churches are no longer seen as good role models. They are places where common decency seem to be in short supply. You can find out more by looking at research from the Pew Trust. 

In U.S., Decline of Christianity Continues at Rapid Pace

WHEN WE NAME THE NEED TO REPENT OF SEXISM AND RACISM, POWERFUL CHURCH MEMBERS WITHHOLD THEIR GIVING AND MUSTER FACTIONS TO OUST US. OUR COMPASSION FATIGUE IS REAL.

In an interview with FiveThirtyEight Mandie, a 32-year-old woman living in southern California and who asked that her last name not be used, grew up going to church regularly but is no longer religious. She told us she’s not convinced a religious upbringing is what she’ll choose for her one-year-old child. “My own upbringing was religious, but I’ve come to believe you can get important moral teachings outside religion,” she said. “And in some ways I think many religious organizations are not good models for those teachings.”

Undue Influence

If you let the big shiny object be your guide, you can easily diminish the value of your service. 

 

Every decision has consequences. Ignoring the core values of those you serve results is a loss of trust. They will turn away and leave you for somebody or something else. In the end you will serve no one. Just be aware, even if you stand for what is right, it may cost you your position.