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The Recipe for Success: Work Really Hard

The mantra ‘nobody in life gets exactly what they thought they were going to get’ is one that is particularly resonant in the wake of a pandemic, furloughs and job losses.

Chrissy Paradis

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Photo by Crowd Expedition CC BY-ND 2.0.

One of the most memorable moments and lessons that I have learned during my career came from the great Conan O’Brien’s farewell from The Tonight Show.

I was lucky enough to have the opportunity to be a part of the team that worked on the first show, watching Conan’s cold open to the show, seeing Pearl Jam rehearse “Got Some” to perfection from the control room before the first show aired, listen to William Shatner practice voicing special elements for segments, watch Tom Hanks humbly arriving early to practice the blocking for a stunt that would take place during the second show, meet Snoop Dogg as he brought his custom Lakers themed car “Magic” named after Magic Johnson to the set and so many more.

Ultimately, it was a pretty sad day when Conan’s final show aired months later. His advice is something I carried with me and still to this day try to apply to my life, both on a personal and professional basis. Filled with humility and gratitude, Conan shared his recipe for success with his audience and particularly asking something of his young viewers:

“You’ve made a sad situation joyous and inspirational. So to all the people watching, I can never, ever thank you enough for your kindness to me—I’ll think about it for the rest of my life and all I ask is one thing. I’m asking this particularly of young people. Please do not be cynical. I hate cynicism, for the record it’s my least favorite quality, it doesn’t lead anywhere. Nobody in life gets exactly what they thought they were going to get, but if you work really hard and you’re kind, amazing things will happen—I’m telling you amazing things will happen. I’m telling you. It’s just true.”

The mantra ‘nobody in life gets exactly what they thought they were going to get’ is one that is particularly resonant in the wake of a pandemic, furloughs and job losses, and I thought I would take a page out of Conan’s playbook by highlighting the stories of the authors on the BSM team—noting what happens when you indeed work really hard and are kind, even in the face of challenging circumstances.

Brandon Contes, spending years with the Barrett Sports Media family recently wrote an article about his career and reflected on his experience, as he embarks on his new job with Mediaite—I highly recommend giving it a read. Here’s what some of the other talented writers from the Barrett Sports Media team have to say about their experiences and the impact working with BSM has had on their careers.

I asked Vik Chokshi, Content Producer at Audacy Sports, about his experience in working with BSM and the role it played in the development of his career.

CP: How did the opportunity to work with Jason and Barrett Sports Media manifest itself?

VC: I was freelancing for a couple of websites and was looking to land a full-time opportunity in sports. I decided to reach out to contacts that I admired in the industry like Jason for some advice. After listening to my situation, he gave me excellent tips and told me to give him a ring if I was interested in writing for Barrett Sports Media. I wanted to further my footprint in the sports gambling world and Jason was there to help.

CP: How did writing for Barrett Sports Media impact your career trajectory?

VC: Writing for BSM was great and it positively impacted my career trajectory. Jason opened up his network to me and gave me advice on topics to write about. He also mentored me on how to stick out in the industry. All things I needed at the time.

I started writing gambling industry related posts for BSM, which led me to making some great connections in the space. BSM also allowed my work to be seen by a bigger audience and decision makers, which helped my career as a whole.

CP: Which piece are you most proud of or would you consider as one of your favorites?

VC: Picking just one piece as my favorite is tough to do, because each individual that I connected with for my articles and profiles were amazing in their own right. To be able to chat with and learn from the giants in the gambling world like Dave Sharapan, Alan Berg, Chris Andrews, Tim Murray, Joe Fortenbaugh, Dough Kezirian, Ben Fawkes and Mitch Moss was like a dream come true.

If I had to choose one article though, I’d love to point out the piece I wrote titled Six Sports Betting Content Creators You Need to Know Now. I pride myself on identifying trends and talent in sports early, so it was pretty cool to see all six of the highlighted figures take major steps in the gambling industry after the article came out.

Follow Vik Chokshi on Twitter by clicking here.

Check out the articles Vik has written with BSM by clicking here.

Rob “Stats” Guerrera, has been working as a podcast host/producer with SB Nation and additionally, doing some consultant work with FOX Sports Radio, joined me to discuss his journey with BSM.

CP: How did you first connect with Jason and what role did that relationship play in your career development over time?

RG: I first worked with Jason when he was the PD at ESPN St. Louis and I was working on Mike & Mike.

After that we stayed in touch over the years. Jason has always been good to me, and kept me in mind when the right opportunity crossed his desk.

When I was laid off in March, Jason had a columnist opening that I applied for and was hired.

CP: How did writing for BSM impact your career trajectory?

RG: Jason has always been great to me working with BSM was invaluable to me as a way to keep my name top of mind in the industry while I was otherwise unemployed. I can’t tell you how many people reached out to me about something I had written.

Follow Rob “Stats” Guerrera on Twitter by clicking here.

Check out Guerrera’s articles on BSM by clicking here.

Brian Noe, host of The Noe Show weekdays on NBCSouthwest and weekends on FOX Sports Radio, shared his journey with Barrett Sports Media and the impact his relationship with Jason has had on his career trajectory.

BN: JB mentioned on one of his podcasts years ago that he was looking to add a few writers. It immediately appealed to me. I saw the potential to network and liked the challenge of cranking out creative pieces. JB and I met up at the Omni in Nashville back in 2017 while he was in town for a sports radio convention. We worked out a multi-year contract with a heavy signing bonus and no-trade clause. (That’s how I remember it.)

JB has vouched for me with various people in the business, which really means a lot to me. The guy knows everybody. Not just the Sunday morning host in market 189, but practically the guy who hung the drywall in their new studio. I’ve also been able to connect with a lot of great people in the industry that I wouldn’t have crossed paths with if not for writing. It’s really been a positive experience for me.

Follow Brian Noe on Twitter by clicking here.

Check out Brian Noe’s articles on BSM by clicking here.

Stan Norfleet, afternoon host working with Nick Wilson on WFNZ in Charlotte, shared his experience and introduction to the Barrett Sports Media family.

SN: Not even a year ago, I was a relatively experienced young broadcaster exploring all avenues to reignite my career. I knew of Jason and the BSM site, but had yet to communicate with him directly. Therefore, I took it upon myself to make the investment in the 2020 Barrett Sports Media Summit, in hopes of networking my way into a better space. Although JB and staff were ridiculously busy with the event, he did make time for a proper introduction. That brief encounter, coupled with a freelance column I would write later, spawned a relationship with BSM that has forever changed my career! JB’s guidance, encouragement, and influence eventually landed me a spot-on afternoon drive. Who knew things could happen so quickly? A lot people talk about diversity, equity, and inclusion; I’m living proof Jason and his staff sincerely believe it. I am forever grateful, Jason Barrett!

Check out Stan’s pieces on BSM by clicking here.

Follow Stan Norfleet on Twitter by clicking here.

Seth Everett, broadcaster at iHeartMedia, host and owner of three really successful podcasts and an adjunct professor at Syracuse, spoke on the path that led to him working with Jason and the BSM team.

SE: I was a big reader of Jason’s site, and I had just left a writing gig at Sports Illustrated and writing about sports media was something that always appealed to me. Jason and I stayed in touch—I had the writing bug and I wanted to do more. Jason, column First of all, it’s a good idea.

CP: How did writing for Barrett Sports Media impact your career?

SE: One of the best things that has come with this opportunity is that I’ve reconnected with old colleagues. People who either read the stories and reached out to me, or I was doing a story about someone from my past and it gave me a reason to reach out.

You can find Seth’s most recent piece on BSM by clicking here.

You can follow Seth Everett on Twitter by clicking here.

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BNM Writers

It’s Time for News Radio to Clean Its Clock

With radio, the top of the hour always begins with a self-aggrandizing, overly-produced introduction to a program I may have been listening to for half an hour already.

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A photo of clocks

News radio is an interruptive format that swiftly moves listeners from one informative topic to
the next but over the years we’ve gotten bogged down with an insufferable amount of clutter: too many commercials, endless promos and teases, and pointless production pieces. All of it
interrupts the flow and cuts into the interesting information you promise to provide.

Let’s clean the clutter, starting with the anachronistic basis for it all: your hourly format clock.

I’ve never understood why radio stations root themselves to the clock. The show starts at the top of the hour and you bury your boring features at the end. Why? Why should the top of the hour be considered the beginning of anything? It’s not how people live their lives. Radio isn’t like TV where shows start at specific times. Hell, TV isn’t that way anymore.

But with news radio, the top of the hour always begins with a self-aggrandizing, overly-produced introduction to a program I may have been listening to for half an hour already. This is especially true with morning shows, where simple logic would suggest that people trying to get to work by the top of an hour begin listening at various times before then.

Who even owns a clock radio anymore?

The 21st century is nonstop. There is no daily news cycle, no beginning or end to anything but
news radio programmers still think of time in divisions of hours, minutes, and seconds. We still draw empty circles depicting analog clocks to plot hourly radio formats.

On news and talk stations, the top of the hour almost always begins with the hourly network
report. It’s the biggest of big-time radio, steeped in tradition, professionally detached, global. In other words, it sounds nothing like your radio station in your unique market and it contains the least interesting content you have to offer.

We cling to the networks at the top of the hour for their prestige, because that’s just how we’ve always done it. Any national or international stories of real interest to Americans, the latest Trump-Biden court decisions, for example, will be well covered in talk shows and you’ll probably want to drop it into your local programming, too. How about a one-minute segment twice an hour, 60 seconds of just the big national and world stuff, in 10-15-second boil-in-the-bag headline segments? I’m just spitballing here. You’re the programmer.

In my heretical news radio mind, the networks do great journalism but they still sound flat,
stuffy, and old-fashioned. They don’t sound like anything else on my station. I’ll dump the top-of-the-hour five minutes and cherry-pick the network sound bites. We’ll deliver them ourselves.

While I’m carving up your format and trying to get you thinking outside the box, do you need
traffic reports every ten minutes? Or, at all? Heresy, I know. Catch your breath and read on.

When we had real-time airborne local reporters telling us what they were looking at it had a gee-whiz factor and the information mattered because it was live, local first-hand reporting. I could imagine the scene as it was being described. Now we have reporters in booths looking at
computer feeds and doing shotgun-style traffic reports for multiple cities. Words without
pictures.

I knew an L.A.-based traffic reporter who did reports for Salt Lake City though she had never even been there. These so-called “real-time traffic” reports are nearly always recorded and delayed for playback. Does this practice serve any purpose at all except to deceive listeners?

Not incidentally, traffic reports are a prime target for AI exploitation. How difficult can it be to
attach state and local transportation agency traffic data to AI voice-to-speech generators? For all I know this is already being done. You can argue it’s cost-efficient but as a longtime morning news host/anchor/personality, I despise it. One of the greatest assets to any morning news team is the interaction between news and traffic people.

When Amy Chodroff and I started working together at KLIF a dozen years ago we had that human contact with remarkable radio veteran Bill Jackson doing traffic from an adjoining studio. Bill wasn’t just a voice, he was a talented news radio veteran and a valued part of our show. He was so good the company, Cumulus, put two more stations on his plate, ripping a valued team member away from us.

As hosts, Amy and I had to assume Bill wasn’t able to listen to the show anymore because he
was too busy gathering and preparing his reports for the other stations. Then he was shipped out of the building to do his work from home which made his insights and witty exchanges
impossible. We couldn’t talk to each other off the air. We couldn’t exchange glances, smiles, and hand signals or bump into each other in the hall. Our show suffered and our audience became a bit more detached.

Bill Jackson, real name Dale Kuckelburg, was also significantly detached from his career.

But I digress. The biggest problem with traffic reports is the shotgun approach I mentioned,
telling everybody in our listening area driving to their unique destinations how traffic is snarled thirty miles away. Good god, we have apps in our cars that do a much better job in real time.

How about the weather? What the hell, we’re swinging the ax here. Let’s be realistic.

There isn’t a day in my life that I don’t wake up with a fair idea of what weather I should expect. I don’t need someone on the radio telling me to carry an umbrella. If it’s iffy the immediate and highly local details are now available at the touch of an app. When the weather becomes of critical and life-threatening importance it’s a major news story and that’s when local radio news shines, making it the center of our continuous attention, not just a regular feature at scheduled times.

It’s your radio station, do what you think is best. I’m only suggesting that you might want to
reevaluate all the things we’ve all taken for granted for far too long.

News radio has always been an interruptive format. We promise listeners “the news you need” in the time it takes them to drive to work. They understand that they’ll receive useful and
interesting content in exchange for frequent subject switching and sponsorships. The great news stations know how to capitalize on that agreement but too many have sold their souls to
commercial clutter that chokes a news team’s ability to serve the promised meal.

As if 22 minutes of inane and repetitive commercials per hour aren’t bad enough programmers, struggling to do their work in a hurricane of increasing spotloads, add to the clutter with recorded promos that simply beseech listeners to keep listening while offering nothing of substance. Meanwhile, the same programmers tell talent to tease, tease, tease the subjects they’ll talk about six, twelve, and twenty minutes from now.

I know the business reality. Radio — especially news radio — is struggling to meet the profit insistence of corporate boards and the overhead needs of staying afloat locally. But at some point, we must answer the question, who do we have to serve first, our clients or our audience?

Station managers and their corporate masters have to stop issuing profit mandates without
offering programmers the opportunity to do their jobs, to provide more valuable content while
limiting commercial minutes, sponsorship rhetoric, and eliminating distracting bells and
whistles.

Clean your clock. Stop filling empty circles with stuff that made sense 50 years ago but is merely clutter today.

The only way to think outside the box is to get rid of the box.

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BNM Writers

AM 680 WCBM Leapt Into Action As the Francis Scott Key Bridge Collapsed

Our employees live and work here and know what’s important to our listeners.

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As Americans woke up to a cargo ship hitting Baltimore’s Francis Scott Key Bridge Tuesday morning, the crew at AM 680 WCBM was already hard at work gathering the facts.

Just before 1:30 AM, a cargo ship lost power exiting the Baltimore harbor, striking a support beam that toppled the 47-year-old structure. In the wreckage, six people working on the bridge died, while drivers were rescued from the rubble in the chilly waters of the Curtis Bay.

The AM news/talk station — which celebrated its 100th anniversary Thursday — went wall-to-wall breaking coverage, something most outlets now avoid because of budget concerns. 680 WCBM morning host and Program Director Sean Casey told BNM in an email exchange how his crews handled the breaking news.


BNM: When did you guys hit the air with breaking news coverage?

Sean Casey: We first broke in with updates at 3:30 AM, approximately two hours after the bridge collapsed. Breaking news updates continued every half hour until 6 AM.”

BNM: How did you coordinate coverage in those moments?

SC: Full wall-to-wall coverage started at 6 AM and included full newscasts as well as interviews with state and local law enforcement agencies, eyewitness call-ins, and our national news partners. Our producer made call-outs and our news department shifted to full-blown local coverage.

BNM: How much experience did you have in putting together coverage of an event like that on the fly?

SC: Having been on the air during 9/11, I used the same formula that listeners want to know: Who, What, When, and Where? The why will come later.

BNM: How does your coverage show the importance of both local radio and AM radio?

SC: In times of breaking news events that impact our listeners, local AM radio stations are more in tune with the local listening audience. Our employees live and work here and know what’s important to our listeners. We also know the local players and officials and can get immediate reaction.

The talk component of our news/talk format offers listeners a chance to vent, share, and communicate with each other in good and bad times. This is why AM radio is still relevant. In some emergencies you can lose your cell service or have too weak of a signal, AM radio remains viable for in-car listening and at home with battery backup.

The AM 680 WCBM morning host and Program Director concluded his thoughts by noting the importance of a team effort, not only in coverage of breaking news events but also in operating a successful station and business as a whole.

“One of the biggest concerns we have is budgetary. More and more AM stations are abandoning the format because of its expense. Very few can afford a live and local news staff and show hosts,” Casey told Barrett News Media.

“Now more than ever, it’s vital that there be synergy between ownership, sales, and programming to maximize ratings and revenue so that we can continue to deliver vital information to listeners in our market.”

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BNM Writers

News is the Only Thing Missing From Election Coverage

Coverage of the election is, as we’ve discussed, still very horse-race-centric, and there’s been, of course, coverage of the various Trump court cases, but where is the coverage of exactly what the candidates plan to do if elected?

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A photo featuring I voted stickers

The first thought I had when I heard NBC had hired Ronna McDaniel as a commentator for $300,000 a year was to wonder how many actual journalists they could have hired for that money. Then, I recalled that NBC had laid off dozens of news staffers just a few months ago. Then, I remembered that I had just recently written a column decrying news organizations throwing pretty much anybody on the air as a “pundit” and this….

This was worse. It’s one thing to grab some rando who happened to be a minor functionary for the Executive Branch. It’s another to hire someone whose job was to promote election denialism and pretend that her opinion is something valuable for viewers. And, yes, it’s just as ridiculous when news organizations hire former presidential press secretaries (that’s you, Jen Psaki and Sean Spicer), their very jobs were to spin everything in their bosses’ favor and now you’re going to pay them big salaries for, um, what? Because they “have a name” or you’re afraid someone else will snap them up? Why them?

The McDaniel deal lasted five days, one completely unilluminating interview, and one unexpected Chuck Todd spine-growing outburst, so it’ll all blow over soon enough. The problem is, though, the part about having fired several news staffers, and what it means in an election year on both the national and local levels. If you have the money to hire an alleged pundit – any alleged pundit – you have the money to hire reporters, and I don’t mean anchors or opinion show hosts.

Coverage of the election is, as we’ve discussed, still very horse-race-centric, and there’s been, of course, coverage of the various Trump court cases, but where is the coverage of exactly what the candidates plan to do if elected? Who’s probing Project 2025 and why isn’t it front-page, first-segment news? Who’s pressing the Biden administration on Gaza? Is anyone reporting on the candidates’ record on climate change?

Beyond prescription drug prices, is anyone digging into the broken healthcare system and demanding answers from the candidates about what they’ll do to fix it (and not letting Trump get away with “I’ll have a better plan, a beautiful plan” without a single specific detail, like they did in 2016)? Why didn’t anyone focus on, for example, the GOP candidate for governor of North Carolina and his incendiary past comments well before the primary?

Pundits are not going to do the legwork on the issues; they’ll just talk about swing states while John King and Steve Kornacki point at their touchscreen maps. We need reporting on the things that matter (and can affect that horse race, even if most people have made up their minds). It shouldn’t just be Pro Publica and scattered independent journalists doing the dirty work.

Honestly, I don’t want to hear the complaints about the quality of the candidates or how this is a rerun or any of that. (We’ll leave that to The New York Times.) We are a horribly underinformed electorate and we got the horse race we deserve. It might just be idealists like me who think that, just maybe, the news media can play a role in educating the public and bursting the bubbles and echo chambers. This country has survived and prospered for a few centuries with the press shining a light on injustice and corruption.

Now, when we need that most, they’re more concerned with what they think will bring them ratings and money (although someone will have to explain to me who thought having Ronna McDaniel as a paid commentator would draw a single viewer to NBC).

Here’s a thought: Don’t lay off reporters, especially in an election year.  Assign them to dig deep on issues that matter to the voters.

Let the pundits talk about that.

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