Handling Big News Stories

Thanks for the feedback on social media concerning our note last week on handling the Capitol Hill riots. Some music stations avoided the topic completely. Others were unsure of how much and how often to talk about it. The fact is we are living in a climate of fast-breaking news that affects your listeners. In the future when universal stories happen, here are guidelines for treating the story on music station shows:

If you are the “feel good” and no-conflict show:

• Briefly report the up-to-date facts in one to three sentences in your trending or news segment, or just quickly hit the story and move on without commentary.
• Play headline audio clips to tell the essence of the story.
• Have your sister News/Talk station or TV partner deliver the headlines.
• Hit the story at least every half-hour to accommodate short TSL in the morning.

If your show expresses a wide range of emotions:

Use these same guidelines, AND express how you feel about the story minus any political commentary. Either way, your audience will appreciate your genuineness. The second worst thing (to being inauthentic) you can do is to broadcast rumors or any misinformation in this so-called “post-truth era.” To repeat an important point from our blast:

• Be real
• Be relevant
• Be accurate