FORSETH: I’m an old curmudgeon of 63, complaining about the good ol’ days. Guess what? In terms of radio at least, I think they were!
Earlier this morning on the blog, I posted an op / ed piece from John Feldsted entitled, “ We have lost the diversity of media opinion through consolidation, and the concentration of media reporters, to a few multiple media outlets ” It got me thinking … Me in the studios of CKWL in Williams Lake (early 70s) As someone who began a 25+ year career in radio, beginning at the age of 15 working part-time while still in High School, I can personally attest to what a dismal failure the buying up of media has been – at least in the case of radio. In EVERY instance of a larger company, buying up a smaller local community station, staff were let go, automation increased, and news became more and more a centralized creation – eliminating or reducing differences of opinion and thought. I know from personal experience that you can tell when a station is automated --- all you have to do is listen for time checks (you don’t hear them when automated) ... the weath...