The news that “Mayhem In The Morning” was given the ax by Lincoln Financial’s 790 The Zone/Atlanta wasn’t really news. And the story really isn’t about whether they should have been suspended, fired, or disciplined.
What makes this disaster “news” is that it keeps happening. Again and again.
In case you missed it, this morning team decided it would be funny to mock former NFL player Steve Gleason, who is battling ALS – or Lou Gehrig’s disease (pictured). And somehow, no one associated with the show apparently waved a red flag in advance of it going on the air.
Now we’ve all been there – a morning show, DJ, or talk host goes off, does something embarrassing – and management is left to clean up the mess, apologize, or give out the old wink and a slap on the wrist. And because so many stations push talent to be more outrageous, crossing the line is always a possibility that many PDs and managers accept and face.
But in the case of this latest incident, you have to wonder why radio programmers cannot get out in front of these problems before they go nuclear. In this case, you have a former NFL player (and his family) that have been terribly offended, the New Orleans community (where he played) up in arms, a station in turmoil, and a morning show suddenly out of work.
And beyond that, another black mark on an industry that has become too famous for tasteless, moronic, offensive humor. That’s the part that you don’t see – the pervasive agency and advertiser perceptions that quietly become stronger and corrosive to an industry that is already struggling to make its case.
If you think I’m exaggerating, consider the front page of ESPN’s website yesterday:
Clearly, busy programmers in charge of multiple brands are going to be challenged to stay plugged into the everyday antics of their personality shows. But by now, there have been enough of these disasters that everyone’s radar ought to be working harder and smarter.
Every controversial team in America should be forced to listen to, review and discuss this newest incident. While the lines are often gray or even blurry, there are certain situations that are fundamentally clear. Humor may always come at someone else’s expense, but there’s nothing funny about this stuff. Shows and personalities should be sensitized to where the boundaries are so they can – at worst – ask permission.
This has to stop – for the good of the victims and for the continued health of the radio business.
It impacts all of us, because while managers and programmers outside of Atlanta may have shaken their heads when they read the Mayhem story, many of them also reluctantly acknowledged that on another morning in another year, the same fate might befall them, too. Especially if they aren’t proactively getting out in front of these train wrecks before they happen.
These accidents are preventable. And every successive one erodes radio’s reputation and does great harm to many people.
A primary focus of being a program director is to manage talent.
So start managing them.
Jacobs Media has consistently walked the walk in the digital space, providing insights and guidance through its well-read national Techsurveys.
In 2008, jacapps was launched - a mobile apps company that has designed and built more than 1,300 apps for both the Apple and Android platforms. In 2013, the DASH Conference was created - a mashup of radio and automotive, designed to foster better understanding of the "connected car" and its impact.
Along with providing the creative and intellectual direction for the company, Fred consults many of Jacobs Media's commercial and public radio clients, in addition to media brands looking to thrive in the rapidly changing tech environment.
Fred was inducted into the Radio Hall of Fame in 2018.
- Radio + Thanksgiving = Gratitude - November 27, 2024
- Is It Quittin’ Time For SiriusXM? - November 26, 2024
- Radio, It Oughta Be A Crime - November 25, 2024
How do you manage insensitivity? How do you pre-warn talent not to do something like this? I guess you get to know them and realize they have little touch with reality and can them before this happens? I mean, seriously, I cannot imagine writing the memo that says: “As a part of station policy we do not make fun of people who have deadly diseases…”.
You can establish standards and trust with shows and DJs. It is about a basic understanding of where the line is. I will make the “kids” analogy – after a certain point of sharing standards and the company’s policy, you hope you’ve imbued them with the proper values. But I think that great managers know when they have a problem.
I consulted a station many years ago, and it was obvious to me that the morning guy had NO idea of the boundaries and the limits. And I subsequently warned the PD about it. There was no shortage of embarrassing moments for the station and the GM.
Yes, Fred you should establish guidelines. And if you have talent that is clearly and consistently off the rails you need to prepare for a situation like this. We do not know if that is the case here but I know their GM and if he had a show that exhibited these proclivities he would have taken steps to prevent it. sometimes, people are stupid. sometimes, talent thinks it is invincible. We see this almost every day in social media.If I were the PD there this gaffe would ultimately be my responsibility. But in the end 100% of the blame goes on the talent. I guess I reacted to the last line of your blog. Managing truly great talent is like herding cats. you can only control them so much.
Steve, totally get it. It’s an imperfect world with talent. You love them when they stretch the boundaries and make noise. And you end up in situations like this one where they push too far. Whether it’s Chad Ochocinco Johnson or Anthony Weiner, celebrities will do crazy things that may later regret. Still, it’s about establishing trust, communicating with talent regularly, and even using these incidents as teaching moments. And in can still go wrong. Thanks for continuing the conversation.
Saving money is hurting the wrong areas. PDs with multiple station responsibilities have too much ground to cover. Too many are playing catch up and defense rather than building content and brand. Our product is everything – including service, information and style. Funny doesn’t mean derogatory. Talent needs supervision, coaching and direction, just like players in all the good sports. You’re only as good as your last show – folks on the air need to pay attention and consider their good fortune vs. blowing it with cocky, insensitive stupidity.
I believe that budget cuts have had a subtle, but long-term effect on management, training, and simply the time that should be spent between PDs and talent. You don’t need a jock meeting every week, but a moment, a “hall bump,” a cup of coffee every day is always a good reminder that there’s a manager in the building – and they’re listening. Thanks, Clark.
Clearly, the brand is broken: https://bit.ly/19A5BDF
Tom, clearly it’s another broken window. Thanks for the confirmation and checking in with us.
If a Program Director has ever said to themselves (in regards to their on air talent) “There’s no telling what he/she might say on any given day” then they have the wrong air talent. If they can’t trust the person selling their brand, they shouldn’t have that talent selling it. Basically, it all comes down to trust, if you can’t trust the person leading the pack, you’ll end up fending for yourself.
Nikki, thanks for the comment & couldn’t agree more. In this case, among 3 hosts and a producer, no one (apparently) stood up and called a time-out. None of us was there, and I’ve learned (the hard way) that there’s often an explanation for what you hear on the air that you might not have considered. Still, it is a matter of trust and communicating the station’s, the company’s, and the community’s values to talent. There will always be gray areas, but there’s very little unclear about this incident.
Thank you for writing about this in the way that you did, Fred.
To hear these hosts laugh – even as the bit mocking Steve Gleason was airing – displays a lack basic decency.
Gleason has become increasingly debilitated due to the effects of ALS and there is no humor in a man clinging to his dignity as he battles such a horrible disease.
Edgy humor is one thing – gross neglect of human kindness is another.
Lori, thanks. A line was most certainly crossed here and it should be a reminder to every company, manager, programmer, and jock. Appreciate it.
Think it’s common sense. And when you read Steak Shipiro tell how this “bit” came about…during a stop set as he said on CNN, that’s your answer right there. We all know where the line is. Those that don’t are just feigning an “I don’t know”. To cover their respective behinds. Lesson learned all around.
Tim, thanks for those insights. Says a lot about prep, focus, and common sense.
At the risk of sounding like an old man (which I am) yelling at the kids to get off his lawn…this is partly why the industry is in the dumpster. Kids (yes, I said kids) who don’t get that it’s not an inherited right to get behind a microphone and entertain, but rather a privilege. People whose biggest concern is where their next beer or six is coming from. And idiots like these guys and the people in California (if memory serves) who thought it made great radio to see how much water people could drink in exchange for a Wii. How does having somebody eat bugs in the control room possibly entertain someone in their car listening? Maybe if these wet-behind-the-ears types weren’t thrust into a major market because of the size of the corporate derriere they kissed and had to pay their dues in small markets like 99% of everybody else on the radio they’d realize that being genuinely funny is a lot harder to do, but a hell of a lot more satisfying, than shaving the producer’s nuts on the air.
Greg, thanks for the tough words and observations. Much of this newest controversy goes right to heart of why consumers “hire” morning radio – something that has changed since those glory days of Howard Stern and Mancow. Appreciate that comments and reading our blog.
It’s never taken an ounce of talent to say a verboten curse word, racial slur, or shocking statement on air. If that were the case, every
Joe at the local bar would be rich radio stars.
The talent is in the Letterman, Stewart, Colbert-esqe school of funny.
Childish? Yep. Moronic?
Yes, in a very intelligent way. Clever? Always.
“Shocking”? Never. Controversial?
Nope. Entertaining? Always.
Yes, a team of writers. But if you’re gonna be a great personality you’re gonna have to be a “wrtiter-on-the-fly”. A damn good one.
But if you want to just shoot from the hip
hoping something funny happens.
You’re gonna shoot yourself in the foot.
Chuck, on in this case, the head. Thanks for reminding us of the differences.
As former morning talent for 15 years I found it extremely frustrating having extreme pressure to come up with fresh ideas on a daily basis and to be “edgy” without crossing the line of community standards. With discouragement from management, we ended up playing by the idea to ask forgiveness instead of permission. Asking permission for every single idea is too burdensome for everyone involved. #micromanagemuch There needed to be trust and honest communication. The creative process will quite often produce great rewards in the heat of the moment, virtually on-the-air changes would take place. The way that pop news unfolds every second of the day, these days, the Djs need to have freedom to go with ideas and “make it funny” or die. (See what I did there?)
We ended up apologizing, on air, for every action at the close of our week. Even apologizing for stuff we didn’t do.
Having said that, there is something obviously wrong with someone who doesn’t foresee a problem with mocking a person with a deadly disease. Not that it should matter but ESPECIALLY a celebrated, local Celeb. Eventually that bad gas will rise, so-to-speak, and the station will get “aired out.” Pun intended. But, you can’t blame the PD. However, Did the PD have “the talk”?
The PD or the OM needs to “have the talk” and remind the talent of where their “line is”. As stupid as that sounds, it will stave off a ton of headaches and save jobs. Unfortunately I was in a position where our “leader” would tell us one thing and when He, “we” got in trouble for crossing the line, he would do whatever the peeved advertiser wanted, to keep them happy and sustain the business. This created extremely bad blood in the station hallway. It’s like telling your dog to jump the fence just to see if he can and when he does, you kick the dog for doing it. But I digress.
Bottom line, are you air “talent”?, be funny and don’t be a jerk. If you’re in management, have the talk about not crossing the line AND don’t be a jerk to the talent. We used to joke in the hallway, “Huh, Don’t we work in the communications industry?” Have an open and honest dialog with the talent. Make it fun, as it’s supposed to be. After all, it’s radio, not accounting. Don’t kill your own job and local radio in the process.
Gregg, I think a lot of people can empathize with the pressure to be compelling, impactful, and cume friendly day in and day out. But that’s the job, and in sports, there’s a seemingly endless font of stories, ideas, and events that unfold everyday – apart from the action on the field.
Thanks for the observations and for taking the time to weigh in.
^^ I agree, And there is always so much more to cover than what they/anyone really, decided to “go with”. They ultimately paid the price for what appears to be a temp, lapse in judgement.
It’s weird working in the studio day in and day out. You live/work in a bubble. You become giddy, flat, desensitized in someways, even stale.
What’s the quote? “If everyone is thinking the same thing, someone is not thinking.”
Thanks for the insights about the mentality of the on-air psyche – the pressure and the isolation. And you have to wonder if at times like this, it could be a key factor in how these things take flight. Thanks, Gregg.
Interesting to note, these were not “problem” Air Personalities. They have been together for a very long time with no previous indication that they didn’t know where the line was. Steak Shapiro at one point owned a piece of the radio station. How do you see THAT coming?
Gregg, hard to explain. People do strange things and don’t always think things through. Anthony Weiner comes to mind. But again, it’s 3 people (plus a producer?). It’s impossible to explain what people are thinking, but nonetheless, unfortunate. Managers still have to manage veteran talent. Thanks for the note.
Most salient is your point on how this molds radio’s perception with media buyers, agencies and advertisers.
The trail is long: “Tyrone the Black Christmas Fairy, where WRAL’s float in the Raleigh, NC Christmas Parade is described as “The entry featured a black man dressed in a skirt with fairy wings, strapped to a harness that was suspended from the back of a tow truck.” (This story even had an employee quoted: “Ah, isn’t that kind of racially insensitive to drag a black man behind a tow truck, be it in good spirits or not?”)
Or the infamous WQHT’s “Tsunami Song.” Or the WNWS-FM host posting his thoughts on Facebook about President Obama, his wife, and daughters by using the words “…a pimp walking prez married to cheetahs daughter…” There are many more examples.
Radio is too far down the path of trading shock for notoriety. Stopping it has as much chance for success as putting toothpaste back in the tube because it’s the easy way and, despite radio industry claims, callous bits are usually done with management knowledge.
“Humor may always come at someone else’s expense…” is a mistaken premise; Chuck Jeffries comment verifies this (above), as will checking any skit from Tim Conway, Red Skelton, or Mel Brooks.
Ken, you are right, of course. This is not an isolated incident – just one in a long series. And the damage is corrosive and impacts radio on unseen ways. Thanks for chiming in.
While there are lots of tentacles when something like this happens, it’s the advertiser piece that is always bubbling below the surface. I’ve had encounters with agency people whose perceptions of radio are scary – and reinforced by these bad taste eruptions. Thanks, Ken.
This whole episode is a perfect example of Groupthink, these guys had loyalty to each other that blinded them to the moronic nature of the concept. They probably all had some doubts, but didn’t want to be the one to say “lets not do this”. These guys aren’t the first to fall trap to this phenomenon, think Bay of Pigs, but that is no excuse they deserve the punishment they received.
I worked with Nick Cellini for about 5 years at CNN, he’s a good guy who at least is showing some character by sincerely apologizing to the family. Doesn’t explain it away and I would have fired them too… but it’s a really interesting psychological study.
Brian, thanks for the comment and the perspective. Appreciate you reading the blog and weighing in.
Thanks for the read Fred. Certainly firing the hosts was appropriate, not firing the PD and GM is a mystery. Everyone signed off on this morning show strategy of Mayhem in the AM. Every firing usually points to a hiring mistake, or a strategy that failed, in this case miserably.
Thanks, Jon. There’s no question that management shares responsibility here, too. We don’t know the history of this type of thing with Mayhem, but communication with talent over time is a key to preventing these types of things.