When my dad asked what my college major was going to be I said, "Dad, I want to be a Radio Disc Jockey." He said, "Math, science, business, math, science, business." And he was probably right. But I had a fun time learning about the world of radio, and then television, film, and photography.
Radio is unique in the media world because it is live. Sure, TV is live and so is the Internet but those sources mostly run pre-recorded material, as do some conglomerate radio stations. TV news broadcasts are live but they are heavily scripted and always look the same. Sports broadcasts on television are live, and I love watching them for exactly that reason. No tape-recordings or Tivo for me. I don't want to learn the world has ended from a message posted on my Facebook page.
I want to be there. I want to be listening to a radio and hear a living human being with an unscripted speech and a chatter like Garrison Keiller's that says, "All is well, though the world will be ending this evening, those of us in Lake Wobegon will carry on as we always have, the only way we know how…"
Radio happens right now. It's like the difference between a movie and a stage play. The movie is more realistic but the stage play IS real, with real people telling a story in real time. No one flubs a line or slips up in a movie. When a radio microphone accidentally gets left on the disc-jockey is just naked in the breeze. No do-overs in radio, just keep moving forward. It's alive, being experienced right now. No rewind.
Vincent van Gogh would have been smart to do some radio interviews. If people just heard him speak, without having to look at or smell him, they might have understood his genius a little and gained an interest in his art. Our voice alone is an excellent first impression. The audience fills in the rest and makes us look good. Every time the show's host, Lyons, said, "We're speaking with consultant Michael Saint James" I was impressed, then I remembered it was me and it made me laugh.
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