Friday, March 4, 2011

Getting Up to Snuff

An elderly broadcaster passed away recently at the age of 93.  In discussing his passing with a friend and fellow broadcaster, we discussed the many incredible changes to the business the deceased encountered in his 70-year career.  We also examined our careers and the things we've seen.  When one is in the middle (hopefully) of one's career, it's difficult to gain a sense of perspective regarding an idea of one's place in history.  Here's what we determined:
There are "pioneers" and there are those who "catch the last seat on the bus" in the business.  It is possible one can straddle both.  Stan Freberg was the "last on the bus" in the golden age of radio.  George Burns was a "pioneer" of both radio and TV.  Milton Berle and Bob Hope straddled.  In our case, we're straddling the end of the "live, local" era of radio and the beginning of the digital age.  When I started professionally in 1987, I was splicing 1/4 audio tape with a razor blade and cutting carts.  At each advancement into the digital age--DAT's into minidiscs into CD's into "Cool Edit Pro" into Adobe Audition, I resisted.  Strongly.  Yet I'd force myself to learn the "new" technology and within months, literally, I could not be FORCED to go back.  I cannot live without Audition, for example, and can barely remember what life was like beforehand.
And yet I often wax nostalgic about the "good old days" when there were dozens of independent radio stations with hundreds of jobs in this market.  I am glad I was there to experience those days and feel terrible about the prospects of the next generation of broadcasters studying hard in school right now and hoping to break into the business.  I'm glad I'm not them.
So I guess I'm a "straddler" and, perhaps, thirty years from now there will be some young kid doing a report in school who will ask to interview me (as I interview old-timers now for oral histories) asking me to reflect on that crazy period of 1995-2015 when broadcasting changed, transitioned and reinvented itself.

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