News, talk and information.
Those three words are a summation of my entire career. I remember the day — November 28, 1980 (the day after Thanksgiving) — when I received a phone call from a college classmate who told me of a job opening at the local news/talk station that he was working at. I told him that I didn’t want to work in news; that I was chasing a dream of being a morning show DJ. Then, I got a little talking to.
“This is the number-one rated station in San Diego and we need you. Get your butt down here on Monday,” I was told. I applied for the job and started a few days later only to find out that I would happily maintain a 40-year love affair with news, talk and information.
Sidebar: a 32-plus year love affair also grew out of news, talk and information: I met my wife while working in news radio in San Diego. She was a reporter while I was a talk show director. But I digress...
Over the years working in San Diego I had roles such as: director* of the morning and afternoon drive news blocks, in-studio coordinator for the San Diego Chargers Radio Network, director of several talk shows, producer** of two talk shows, talk show production coordinator*** and talk show host. There’s nothing like the feeling of working in a newsroom when a major story breaks. Adrenaline hits and an eight-hour shift seems to pass in just a matter of minutes.
In September 2001 I left the radio industry (a week before 9/11) to start my own ad agency — I Buy Time — that helps small businesses place radio advertising from coast to coast. I have placed ads in almost every major market in the country (New York City has eluded me) and a ton of small markets. And, as a rule, I only place advertising on news/talk radio stations (unless the client insists otherwise).
As the Internet grew, newspapers dwindled and, when I received word that the Mansfield News-Mirror was closing their doors at the end of December, there left a void in town for news, talk and information. A podcast was born.
ABOUT MANSFIELD
January 2, 2020 will be the launch of About Mansfield, a 30-minute (+/-) package of news, sports and weather, (submit your news tips to [email protected]), an in-studio interview, a weekly events calendar (submit your events to [email protected]), listener comments (email your comments to [email protected] or leave a voicemail at 817-435-2938) and concludes with the trivia question of the week.
I look forward to putting my lifelong career experience to work and hope that you will subscribe (it’s free), listen and participate. I’ll see you on the digital airwaves!
Incidentally, I never fulfilled the dream of being a DJ on the radio. I never dreamed that news/talk would be so exciting.
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* A director controls the timing of the news or talk show; tells the announcers when to take a commercial break and when they’re back on-the-air. Directors are also responsible for the total sound of the show by running the audio board.
** A producer is responsible for show content such as coming up with ideas, booking the guests and research.
*** A production coordinator specializes in audio production, creating promos, news features that may require a lot of editing and/or mixing of sounds, bumper music, etc.
