It’s tough being in mainstream media broadcasting. And by broadcasting, I mean speaking to a broad audience.
When you’re in a niche format, like so many online broadcasters, you can assume your audience has a certain understanding of issues and its easier to communicate on a deeper level.
Seth Godin has a piece about the dumbing down of the world in his blog today.
Think about the stuff you hear on the radio or read about in mass market publications. When they attempt to cover something you really know about, they seem pretty stupid, don’t they? Oversimplifying to the point of getting it completely wrong. They’re busy pandering to the masses, dumbing things down for the lowest common denominator.
The thing is, when you dumb stuff down, you know what you get?
Dumb customers.[link]
Strombo does a good job of not “dumbing down” the news, although that’s what he’s been accused of often times. He gives a background, a scene set for his audience, and then gets into deeper issues of the stories with his guests, now that the crowd is on the same page.
But on the radio, I have difficulty trying to break deeper topics with my audience. We’re a Top 40 radio station that’s really just background noise, I have 15-30 seconds to get in and get out. People don’t actively listen and hang on every one of my words, so I try and keep things as basic as possible.
Which is a shame. I did a bit yesterday on the HD DVD v Blu Ray battle and I tried to set the scene, but I think it went over a lot of people’s heads, or they changed the dial.
That’s the thing about mainstream radio, if people don’t understand, don’t “get it” or don’t like what you’re talking about - they’ll punch out. They’re gone. That dial is just 24 inches away from their ears, it’s an easy thing to do. So you have to be broad and encompassing in your topics.
That’s why you get a steady diet of Britney and relationships on the radio. It’s easy to understand. I mean, just listen to Battle of the Sexes with Nat and Drew and hear the type of questions that are regularly punted and butchered. (dude today called it Hollenday sauce. I’m serious)
I’m not saying I dumb things down, but I am broadcasting, so the lowest common denominator gets the focus. Imagine being in a classroom and the lecture is constantly targeted to the kids who are failing. That’s what I feel like sometime.
I don’t want to do that, but I struggle with how to do it differently.
American news is the classic example of how out of hand this mentality can get. Watch the 5p news on KOMO and then the 6p news on Global. Night. And. Day. KOMO is fluff and car chases and live hits from restaurants where someone walked out on their bill, Global tackles issues, not with the vigor I’d like, but they still present something that’s deeper, for 15 minutes before going to sattelite stories about floods in the US.
If you watch the shows from back east in prime time on the American networks, you’re hammered with “Action News! On Your Side!” type of promos for their news shows that sell nothing but sizzle.
Steak is hard to digest, sizzle is easy to get excited about. I’ll try and give you some steak today.
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I like reality tv, I do, but I think the label is spread a little too wide. Stuff like Survivor, Amazing Race, American Idol etc are more Game Show than reality tv. 
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