I'd like to preface this post by saying I love my job. It's not very often where you find a career where no two days are exactly the same. In the midst of a single day, I can go from covering court and crime to city council and education meetings to covering a sporting event. And the range of people I get to meet and interview is sort of surreal sometimes. That all said, every so often I get what I call my "radio life identity crisis". And this "crisis" is two-fold.
The first fold has to do with being unbiased. As I've said in this blog before, we reporters aren't supposed to show our true colours. We're supposed to be able to interview anyone without perceived bias. Which can be tough, as I happen to be pretty opinionated (obviously). That's not to say I'm not open to hearing anyone else's arguments. Most of the time I just try to give people something else to think about (also known as being the devil's advocate). That might come from my years of listening and then working for a news-talk station. But isn't it my job to get people talking about a certain topic? I'm not a fan of being an extension of a PR machine. I know it sometimes comes across as being confrontational, but reporters are constantly questioned about whether we're asking "the tough questions". So isn't it in our best interest to be the devil's advocate more often than not? Just some food for thought.
Now, the other fold of my "crisis" is a little more complex. It has to do with being "entertaining". I was asked to do the news for our classic rock station a couple of weeks back and, while it wasn't overly intensive work, it had me thinking back to my days as a "co-host/newsie". It's where my first two jobs in this industry were, getting to be not only the guy that brought you the news but also brought you some fun.
Being "entertaining" had a lot of facets to it. It was more than just going on the radio and talking about things that made you (the listener) listen every day. Some of my favorite memories in radio happened off the air, hosting different events and being part of different functions, whether they be parades, barbeques or "patio parties". I've been lucky in hosting Flames/Hitmen games for the last couple of years, which have eased that "crisis" a bit. The summer is always a little tougher with no hockey as there's always that part of me that wants to have fun.
It's an interesting combination. Is there a healthy balance for a news person to be both informative AND entertaining? Does a news person lose any credibility by having a little bias or having an "entertaining" side? Is there room in this world for an "entertainer" to have an informative side? Here's an example: I post a little bit of everything on Twitter (@joemcfarland for those interested). Most of it is "news-related" stuff. But I'll also tweet stuff about my slo-pitch team, the concerts I go to, and just random thoughts I have through the course of the day. Do you think the non-news stuff has hurt my credibility as a news reporter? Am I taken less seriously? Or on the flipside, am I taken more seriously because it shows I am "human"?
I have a hunger. It's a hunger to be informative and entertaining. It's what gets people talking. When I go on the air, I want to be talking about what everyone is talking about around the water cooler. On the flipside, I want to be the one people are talking about ("did you hear what Joe said on the radio today about what happened in court?"). That might sound egotistical. But if people are talking about a certain topic because I was the one that they heard it from, then I've done my job. It's how I judge my news stories. If I look at it and say "no one's going to be talking about this", then time to go back to the drawing board. But if my gut tells me "this will get people talking", then away we go.
My on-air mantra is: don't be background noise. Be the reason people turn UP the radio.
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