The following text and audio are detailed coverage of the 2008 New Media Seminar:

News/Talk Radio and Politics

The seminar began on Friday afternoon with TALKERS magazine publisher Michael Harrison introducing Salem Radio Network talk show host Bill Bennett, who spoke on the topic of news/talk radio and politics. Bennett stated that talk radio is a perfect profession for him because, “All I ever wanted to do was teach and have conversations with the American people. Now I’m able to do that every morning on the radio.”

Bennett said the fact that people can’t see you on the radio makes it that much more effective as a medium. “It is a very cerebral medium. I’ve done a lot of TV and most of the comments I get are on my physical appearance. On radio, people hear you and can’t see you so the only thing they can do is weigh your words. If you can cash in on that, it’s a terribly cerebral medium.” But Bennett also said that the political divide seen in the current state of the news/talk genre concerns him. “The worry about talk radio is that we’ve become so segmented that we only talk to people who share our point of view. I think it would be better if more talk radio tried to reach beyond those who already agree. But still, radio is profoundly democratic and among one of the most democratic media there is.”

TALKERS publisher Michael Harrison delivered the welcoming address accompanied by Clear Channel senior vice president of news, talk and sports, Gabe Hobbs, who addressed the seminar from his office in Tampa via Paltalk. The attendees were able to see Hobbs on the screen in the theater and hear him as he conversed in real time with Harrison. Harrison noted, “If Gabe and I say nothing of substance today, the mere fact that he’s there and I’m here, he’s looking at us, we’re looking at him is quite a message unto itself.” Hobbs spoke on the current state of talk radio, stating that at one time people were in the business of creating great radio content. “Now, it’s creating great content. But number two is figuring out how to distribute that content to where the people are living – where they are consuming information or entertainment. As John Hogan always likes to say, ‘We have to be platform agnostic.’ It doesn’t matter whether it’s coming through your laptop or through an AM radio or your toaster, we have to figure out how to get this content to the public.” But Hobbs conceded that budgets in the corporate entertainment world are tight right now and that can make it challenging to broaden the reach of your content. I think we have to figure out how to monetize it as quickly as we can. Corporate patience is not as long as it once was – we all know that.” He said that talk radio people are the best at two-way radio so they should be better than the FM music people and non-radio people at two-way content but usually they are not. “Now we have to be experts at two-way content, two-way interaction, two-way town hall meetings, two-way community and localism. We have to find new ways to do all of this.”

What You Need to Know About Sports Talk Radio

The next presentation was delivered by WFAN, New York’s Boomer Esiason and Craig Carton. The duo was introduced by fellow WFAN talk show host and New York City radio pro Richard Neer. He summarized the station’s search for a replacement show for Don Imus and how the pairing of Boomer & Carton was something few thought it would be: an instant ratings hit. Neer said, “They are up in every demographic, the station is healthier than ever and in a lot of ways it was a surprise because we didn’t know sports would work in the morning.” Boomer Esiason and Craig Carton told the attendees the behind-the-scenes story of how they came to be chosen to work together as the team to replace Don Imus. Esiason said as soon as he began working with Craig Carton he knew it was going to work. “The fact of the matter is radio should be entertaining and informative and most importantly, the two people who are working together really have to sound like they like each other.” Craig Carton said he felt uncomfortable talking about “how to do sports talk radio” because he believes there is no answer to that. “We don’t know how to do sports talk radio. There is no one way to do sports talk radio. What I do know is that what we have together works. I worked for Tom Bigby at WIP, Philadelphia and although I didn’t see eye-to-eye with everything Tom did, he gave me the foundation for what we do successfully today. We’re not going to bore you with x’s and o’s sports. We’re two regular guys talking about sports.”

Words from the Wise: Legends and Pioneers

The first panel discussion of the 2008 New Media Seminar featured legendary talk hosts Barry Farber of Talk Radio Network; Joe Franklin of WBBR, New York; Bob Grant of WABC, New York; and Bruce Williams, then of Lifestyle TalkRadio Network. The panel was moderated by WOR Radio Network’s Joey Reynolds and was sponsored by The Allen Hunt Show. Talk host Greg Knapp of Radio America introduced the panel. As part of his introduction he said, “I know that in my own career I’ve learned about how to tell stories, how to engage listeners, to pull them in and make them your friends by listening to legends who helped pioneer talk like all the men sitting right here.”

Moderator Joey Reynolds opened the panel discussion by sharing personal recollections and observations about his fellow pioneering talk hosts’ careers.

Bruce Willlams told the attendees that although each person in the panel is a very different sort of talent, they have a common skill. “The thing these guys can do is sit down at a microphone and for an hour – not leaning on a guest, not doing an interview – they can talk for more than that period of time and be interesting and keep your attention. That’s a rare quality. The fact is that there are very few of you who can do a quality talk show without leaning on somebody else.”

Bob Grant said with heartfelt gratitude that he’s very lucky people have taken him so seriously over the course of his career because otherwise he would have had to get a nine-to-five job. He observed that the unique nature of the medium of radio and the way people connect with it was instrumental in his success. “What is it that makes them [the listeners] take us so seriously? With all due respect to our talents, the fact is, it’s the medium itself. This has been the most incredible medium that has ever come along – with all due respect to television – because of the intimacy that people develop. The listeners always say, ‘I feel as if I know you.’ And that’s the best thing a listener can say to me.”

Following up on what Grant said, Joe Franklin told the crowd the subtle differences between television and radio make it a special medium. “On TV you’re seen and when you walk the streets people recognize you, whereas on radio you’re this disembodied voice – people don’t recognize you.” That difference affects how people perform on the air.

Barry Farber said he envies the talk show hosts such as Rush Limbaugh, Sean Hannity and his contemporary Bob Grant who made careers out of expressing their opinions on the radio. “When I was at WOR we had the freedom to do whatever we wanted. And what did we do? We interviewed people like Erik von Daniken, the dog lady, the exercise lady – we interviewed them all. Along come Bob Grant, Rush Limbaugh and Sean Hannity talking about real things that matter to people. Why didn’t I think of that?” Farber noted the railroad executives of yore who failed to get into the airline business because they viewed themselves in the railroad business instead of being in the transportation business. “’Think outside the box’ may be the most important cliché of our day.”

If You Can’t Stand the Heat…

Consultant Walter Sabo of Sabo Media addressed the sticky contemporary issue of controversial programming, pressure from special interest groups and government regulation in his presentation. Sabo related a story about when he spoke with a woman who runs the top station in the large, competitive market of Athens, Greece. When he asked her what the rules are about content and language she didn’t know what he was talking about. Sabo said, “I asked her, ‘Do you ever have trouble with the people in the government?’ She replied, ‘We put the government into office. We don’t have trouble with the government or we’ll take them out of office.’ Right answer. How many people in this room have helped put people into office and when have you called in your marker when it comes to broadcasting and FCC regulations? I know. Never.” Sabo also addressed tactics for standing up to special interest groups citing real-life examples from stations that have fought back and won.

Digital Media Workshop

This final segment of the Friday afternoon program was a comprehensive presentation facilitated by Talk Radio News Service bureau chief Ellen Ratner and featured a number of expert speakers, each with a specific focus relative to the broader topic of utilization of digital media by talk professionals.

Ari Zoldan of Quantum Communications led off with his presentation titled, “The Future of the Internet: WiMAX Wireless.” Zoldan described WiMAX (Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access) as “WiFi on steroids. Today you have about 30 feet where you can pick up a frequency from a router. In the next couple of years we’re going to be looking at about 30 miles per base station focused on municipalities. We’re going to be looking at entire cities that are going to be considered ‘hot.’” Zoldan said obviously Internet radio is on the rise with the growing number of people with broadband access to the Internet. A future widespread availability of WiMAX access could blow that wide open. “In terms of mobility and accessibility, certainly WiMAX is going to be the technology of the future and will be delivering most of the content we have today.”

When it comes to Internet access for automobiles – a key to delivering Internet-based audio content to commuters – Zoldan said, “American auto manufacturers will begin by offering a cellular-type service in the next year or two and as WiMAX gets deployed, the car manufacturers will upgrade.”

Darcy Knapp of Network Solutions spoke to attendees about getting yourself, your station or your show noticed on the Internet with her presentation, “How to Make Your Website Visible to the Search Engines.” Knapp said that when broadcasters are trying to build traffic to their site their main targets are the search engines and that means not just Google although the Google results index feeds over 300 different search engines. “Eighty percent of all Internet traffic starts at a search engine…you want to strive to be on page one on Google because then you will be on page one on those 300 other search engines.”

Among the many valuable points Knapp made was that “keywords” are of paramount importance when it comes to getting the people you want to find your site. “Is there information on your site relative to the terms you’re using on your site? If your show is a political talk show you don’t need to be talking about sports in your keywords. Google knows all and Google will never return you on a search if what you’ve put in your site is not what your site is about. Google considers that spam.” Knapp also said the best thing hosts and stations can do to please the search engines is update constantly. “You’ve got to give Google what it wants and Google wants fresh content. Have lots of text on the front page and update it frequently.”

Paul Vogelzang is the president of the popular and profitable website and podcast MommyCast, whose address to the New Media Seminar was titled, “Make Your Podcast Work for You.” Vogelzang stated upfront that the story of MommyCast is not that different from most talk radio success stories except that it took place entirely online. MommyCast is co-hosted by Vogelzang’s wife Gretchen and her friend Paige Heninger and is credited with being the first independent podcast to sign a major client – Dixie paper products – as its advertiser. Vogelzang says they began getting demographic information from visitors to the website and listeners to the podcast by offering them free items in exchange for information about them and their habits. They were overwhelmed with response and that allowed them to present hard metrics about their visitors to companies like Dixie. “Since the Dixie relationship, MommyCast has been sponsored by Disney, has had a wonderful relationship with Apple Computer, been sponsored by Microsoft, Hewlett-Packard – really top-line sponsors that are very interested in this medium in much more than a niche fashion.”

David Armon, COO of PR Newswire, spoke to the attendees about, “Accessing Sound, Guests and Preparing for the Political Conventions.” Armon said his company has been chosen by both the DNC and RNC to serve journalists and the media in disseminating information from the conventions, and talk hosts and stations can take advantage of his service. “We’re providing real-time text feeds to journalists and the world at large – anyone who registers for our RSS feeds. What we’re doing is giving the advisory of who’s available for interviews and what time, what the schedule of events is and we’re also on site to help out journalists who need help.”

D. Keith Casey of CaseySoftware.com enlightened the attendees about “How to Use the New N95 Phone and Do Live Streaming.” Casey described the various ways a newsperson, station employee or talk host could use the Nokia N95 to not only take photos, capture video and sound but also to stream video directly to the Internet. “To connect to the Internet you can either plug it in like a computer, hook up using a standard Wi-Fi network or via your cellular phone company’s service.” Casey said the phone allows the user to upload directly to YouTube, Blip.tv or you can stream it through YouStream or a number of different options.

Talk Radio News Service’s Dan Patterson and Jay Tamboli gave an illuminating presentation titled, “Using Social Media Including Twitter, Friendfeed, Flickr and Others to Enhance Your Talk Show Impact.” Dan Patterson told the attendees the primary reason for hosts or stations to care about social networking technology is to create better top-of-mind awareness (TOMA) about their brand. Patterson says, “It’s about staying competitive in this exceptionally crowded and busy online marketplace.” Patterson and Tamboli explained the potential uses and benefits of direct interaction sites, social news sites, media sites and sites that assist with distribution of content.

Part 1: Digital Media Workshop

Part 2: Digital Media Workshop

Opening Night Cocktail Reception

The first Friday evening party was sponsored by Talk Radio Network and in addition to brief comments by TRN CEO Mark Masters, also included WABC, New York’s presentation of its Lifetime Achievement Award to talk host Bob Grant. The award was presented by WABC program director Phil Boyce. In accepting the award, Grant stated, referencing the occasions he’s been fired, “I have no complaints. In spite of the cynicism some of us may be tempted to develop, this business we call radio, this incredible enterprise is full of a lot of good, caring people and I ought to know. I’ve been around a long time!”

After the cocktail party, seminar-goers attended an intimate event sponsored by ABC Radio Networks called “Hannity After Dark” at which ABC Radio and Fox News Channel superstar Sean Hannity rubbed elbows with fellow industry professionals while everyone enjoyed ice cream, desserts and refreshments into the wee hours of the morning.

Saturday Opening Remarks

The Saturday portion of the New Media Seminar program began with a continental breakfast sponsored by CRN Digital Talk. The opening remarks were delivered by the emcee of the New Media Seminar – Jones Radio Networks talk show host Stephanie Miller – who did some of her trademark stand-up comedy and introduced keynote speaker Sean Hannity. “I told Sean, ‘Don’t listen to what anybody says, you’re not just another pretty face, you’re also really, really wrong about everything. That’s why God made you pretty.’”

Keynote Speech and Presentation

During his keynote speech, Sean Hannity championed the talk radio industry. “I believe we work in the greatest industry, the most intimate industry, the greatest communication with the greatest reach in audience of any medium out there. You can read all the predictions of gloom and doom about how radio is in trouble but in the end when it comes to the spoken-word format and personality radio, I stand by a theme we’ve had for two years, which is: the best in our industry, if we do our job right, is yet to come.”

In setting up his introduction of WABC, New York program director Phil Boyce and consultant Greg Moceri, Hannity told the attendees that talk radio is a business and “we’re in it to make money, to serve our advertisers. We need to educate the sales forces at our radio stations and let them know who our audiences are. One of the great things that’s happening is the PPM data. We’re getting information sooner, we’re getting more detail, we’re getting more analysis and we’re getting more understanding of who these people are.”

Phil Boyce and Greg Moceri presented a breakdown of information about demographics and psychographics gleaned from the Portable People Meter data from New York and other markets where PPM is now implemented. The presentation was titled, “Finding Hidden Gold in Your Upper Demos.” Also joining Boyce and Moceri for the presentation was Talk Radio Network CEO Mark Masters. Phil Boyce said of the PPM, “There’s so much data in the PPM that it’s mind boggling but one of the things we found was the hidden gold mine for talk radio that is truly staggering.” Boyce told the attendees that it is the job of the programmer to find that data and educate the sales staff because they are not likely to do that on their own. “They get beat up every day by these agencies and these 25-year-old buyers saying, ‘I just want to buy the top six 25-54s.’ No they don’t. They want to buy the top six 25-54s with money.” Boyce said the news/talk audience has money and PPM helped them find that out. “Don’t just look at listeners in a demo – look at listeners who have money to spend. Those are the listeners that advertisers crave. Look at listeners who are making more than $75,000 a year.” Boyce illustrated that when you put those parameters into the PPM data, most news/talk stations jump considerably higher in the rankings. Greg Moceri told the attendees a better way to look at a station’s or a program’s success is how much of a given market’s money spent each day is being done by the program’s P1s. For example, in Atlanta adults 35-64 spend 65% of the total money spent in the market each day. “Then look at which radio station best mirrors that or overperforms and WSB does it with 74%. That is a pile of available dollars.”

Mark Masters explained how his new National Advertising Company sells talk radio differently and doesn’t compete with his agency. Masters says his new company was able to bring new sponsors to his shows that are paying between 200% to 300% above national cost per point. “Why would someone renew paying a 200% premium above national cost-per-point? Because they’re making a return on investment. That happens in talk radio because we’re extending and loaning our brand over that particular product.”

The Talk Rumble

An annual staple of the New Media Seminar, The Talk Rumble, features talk radio hosts discussing the hot issues of the day. This panel was sponsored by Premiere Radio Networks and moderated by Alan Colmes of Fox News Radio. Panelists included: Jim Bohannon, Westwood One; Monica Crowley, Talk Radio Network; Thom Hartmann, Air America Radio; Lars Larson, Westwood One/KXL, Portland; Lionel, Air America Radio; Steve Malzberg, WOR Radio Network; Mancow, TRN-FM; Alan Stock, KXNT, Las Vegas; and Tom Sullivan, Fox News Radio.

The panel was introduced by KTEM, Temple, Texas and Syndicated Solutions Inc. talk host Lynn Woolley. Alan Colmes began by asking the panelists what they thought should become of Hillary Clinton as she had just suspended her campaign and conceded to Barack Obama. Lionel said he’s going to miss Hillary because every day brought another great topic to the table. “Remember how we tell our kids, ‘Don’t give up, stay in it.’ Hillary took that a little too seriously.” Lars Larson said, “She is God’s gift to talk radio but she’s the victim of the politics of personal self-destruction. She and her husband who went from being this guy who could have won a third term but for the Constitution and then he goes out and makes speeches that basically destroyed her candidacy.”

Jim Bohannon was asked if it matters who Barack Obama’s preacher is. “It matters a lot because presidents pick people. They pick cabinet members, sub-cabinet members, advisors and judges. Who presidents choose to voluntarily associate with means a lot. And if you hold your first fundraiser with a convicted terrorist and if you hang around for 20 years with a hate-spewing thug in clerical garb, that says a lot about the people with whom you choose to associate.”

But Thom Hartmann said he’s more concerned with John McCain’s longtime relationships with lobbyists. “People who are passing bucks to him and people he’s been doing favors for all these years. I didn’t see Barack Obama setting up legislation that would favor his pastor. I think this is a debate that will work to Obama’s advantage this fall.” The topic of the candidates’ associations was a hot topic as Monica Crowley asked if Barack Obama had any normal friends. “I want to see Michelle Obama with soccer mom friends. I want to see if Barack has any male friends who cut their grass on Saturday – any normal people. They all happen to be domestic terrorists or radical racist preachers.”

Tom Sullivan said the issues and character remind him of the 1992 election of President Bill Clinton. “We knew a lot about Bill Clinton long before we elected him in ’92 and we re-elected him in ’96. We have gotten this country to where more people vote for ‘American Idol’ than they do for president. That’s what this is about – likability, not about the issues, sadly.” Mancow said coming from Chicago he had a perspective on Reverend Wright long before the rest of the country knew about him. “I live in Chicago and I knew about Wright before I knew who Obama was. The guy’s a racist, a separatist – he’s just a bad guy. I know the city and I know the politics and everybody around him in this machine is dirty. I guess America’s ready for it, but, boy, dirty politics. Think New Orleans. Think Chicago. Yes, he’s [Obama] a good talker. He puts on a good speech but what a disaster this man will be.”

The topic of what to do about Iran was broached when Steve Malzberg said, “You’re dealing with a bunch of imams who want Armageddon. There’s no mutually assured destruction like with the Soviet Union. They want chaos and the end of the world. They’ll bomb Israel and go to heaven and get their virgins. That’s why you can’t let them get the bomb, they’ll use it.” Alan Stock said, “Don’t forget Israel took out the capabilities of Iraq in 1981 and they’re threatening to do that [in Iran] this summer as well. If they don’t do it, we should do it before, God forbid, Obama gets in and becomes friends with these people.”

The Nature of the Future

Dr. Michio Kaku, host of Talk Radio Network’s “Science Fantastic” program, delivered his speech to the attendees and noted that in the entertainment world there is a misconception that science doesn’t sell. “Look at PBS. The number one program is NOVA, the science program. Look at the History Channel. They have lots of programs about World War II but then “The Universe” series came on and soared to number one on their list and renewed for a third year. And my book, Physics of the Impossible, people told me any book with the word ‘physics’ in it will never hit The New York Times best-seller list. It’s been on the list now for five weeks running. People crave science. They seek it out.”

Life on the Frontier: Pioneers of Internet Talk

WPHT, Philadelphia talk show host Dom Giordano introduced this panel moderated by WCCO, Minneapolis talk host Jack Rice and featuring panelists: Gary Baumgarten, Paltalk; Ian Bernard, Free Talk Live; Liz Dolan, The Satellite Sisters; Erin Farrell, CRN Digital Talk; Roberta Gale, PodJockey; and Alan Levy, BlogTalkRadio. This intensive look at what some of the trailblazers in this aspect of talk media are doing was sponsored by Paltalk.

Rice opened by illustrating how important it is to view oneself as more than a “radio show” host or a station that just sends audio via its transmitter. He noted how WCCO’s website saw a tenfold increase in visitors after the 2007 bridge collapse disaster in Minneapolis. “The very next day I had a woman who survived the collapse and helped four other people to safety in the studio with me and we recorded the interview on video. That was a big part of the traffic increase. I did that because what we do in radio is not just radio anymore. I used to carry a digital recorder everywhere I went. Now I carry an HD video camera with a shotgun mic.”

Liz Dolan of the Satellite Sisters says the first question she’s asked by talk radio people is, ‘How do you make money?’ Dolan told the attendees they went after the biggest company they could think of. “We’re launching a major project with Proctor & Gamble. They’re doing a series on our show and a series of webisodes for women with my sisters on the Proctor & Gamble website. How did we get that giant deal? We went to Proctor & Gamble and said, ‘Your website – it sucks.’ We are content providers. We know how to provide content for you. These companies are not out desperately trying to buy ads but they are trying to figure out what entertaining content they can be a part of on the web. And these marketing departments literally don’t know what to do with the dollars they have to spend on the Internet.”

Roberta Gale of PodJockey said the fact that almost anyone can webcast should not cause people to dismiss the medium as inferior to radio. “It’s easy to be dazzled by the Internet but what we often forget is that it’s about content. To paraphrase George Orwell, ‘All stations are created equal but some are more equal than others.’ And what makes them better is talent and content.” Gale also said the steps it takes to get to content on the Internet are getting fewer every day. “In a few years people are not going to be intimidated because you are going to be able, in the space of the second it takes to click on the radio in your car, to push a button and that podcast is already downloaded. All of that technological fear is going to be gone.” Free Talk Live’s Ian Bernard told the attendees that unlike radio, people listening to podcasts have the ability to fast-forward through commercials if they begin to annoy them. “The Internet audience is pretty intolerant of commercials so you can’t take a four-minute commercial break with a podcast. You should probably keep the commercials to 30 seconds or less. Integrated sports work really well and short, pre-recorded commercials are the way to go.”

BlogTalkRadio CEO Alan Levy said all the talk of monetization is important but he believes his company’s goal of democratizing the medium also serves an important purpose. “What blogs have done to newspapers, platforms like BlogTalkRadio are doing to audio. We’ve created an army of broadcasters. Since we began almost 18 months ago we produced almost 100,000 segments. The money will come. My audience and listeners are participants. They come to be part of the equation.”

CRN Digital Talk Radio’s Erin Farrell explained how her company started in the early 1980s on the concept of taking radio stations and putting them on the audio channels of cable TV systems. Farrell says that business model didn’t involve the Internet obviously, but it illustrates what can be accomplished by expanding beyond the traditional delivery system. “We also have on-demand content. We have videos that can be put on the cable systems. It’s a way to take radio and really bring it to every single medium, which is what we have to do if we want to survive.”

Paltalk’s Gary Baumgarten told the attendees his website has become like a favorite radio station. “Our experience at Paltalk is we have a very loyal kind of listener. We are one of the stickiest sites out there in that people come and stay with us. It all started when Opie & Anthony opened a room at Paltalk on their own and suddenly there are 500 people an hour going through this room. They stick there all day long and talk to one another. They hook up with one another and it becomes a real community. To answer the question about monetizing: if you build it, they will come. If you build listenership, you can sell it.”

Making Money with Online Content

McVay Media news/talk specialist Holland Cooke delivered a presentation on making money with online content. He kicked off his presentation by stating, “It’s all about putting your content wherever it can be to make it as available as possible.” When it comes to selling what your station has to offer – namely, your talent – Cooke told the attendees his client station WZTK-FM, Raleigh used its morning show hosts to produce podcasts. “We had the two advertisers come into the production studio with our wiseacre morning guys and just talk unscripted and when you do this you get the opposite of an informercial. The stuff that comes out of their mouths is compelling copy.” Cooke also explained to the crowd that using YouTube for your online video needs is smart. “The price is right. You can host your own video but the files are really big and bandwidth gets pricey quick. It’s a robust server. Even if you can afford a lot of video hosting, how many people can view it simultaneously? YouTube can take a punch. They give you the code so you can put the player right on your page so that to look at your YouTube video they don’t leave your website.”

The Freedom of Speech Luncheon

The Freedom of Speech Luncheon was sponsored by Altria, Young American Broadcasters and the Talk Radio First Amendment Committee.

The luncheon program began with talk host Allen Hunt delivering the invocation. Then Talk Media, Inc. CEO Carole Marks introduced Dr. Laura Schlessinger, the recipient of this year’s Sharon L. Harrison Memorial Award for Outstanding Community Service by a Radio Talk Show Host. During her speech, Marks said, “We are here to acknowledge the fact that this amazing woman is one of the most charitable community servants in our industry. She’s an example to all of us how the power of talk radio can be used productively to help other people.” In accepting the award, Dr. Laura Schlessinger observed how her own career has been full of surprises both positive and negative and said some people deal with the ups and downs of stardom by turning to drugs and alcohol, some get into despair. But her audience’s trust in her to help them led her to understanding that having purpose in life is what it’s all about. “If you did things in your life that matter to someone else – no matter how seemingly small – the despair goes away…I’m crying over this [award] because this has been a search and a struggle to find meaning and I’ve found it every time I turn on the microphone and help people in any way I can.”

The second portion of the Freedom of Speech Luncheon was dedicated to honoring those across the globe who are struggling to bring freedom of the press to areas where that liberty is not usually enjoyed. This portion also saw the awarding of scholarships by the Young American Broadcasters. U.S. Broadcasting Governor Blanquita Cullum told the attendees, “I was very cavalier when I used to be on the air. I always thought I knew what freedom of speech was. I didn’t. I’ve learned from journalists who, on a daily basis, put their lives on the line. We have lost many journalists this year. It’s hard to believe that working for American companies, journalists die.”

Freedom of Speech Award Presentation

Following lunch, attendees gathered again in the theater for the afternoon sessions, which began with the presentation of the 2008 Freedom of Speech Award.

Prior to that, however, Salem Radio Network talk host Michael Medved delivered the “Annual State of the First Amendment Address.” Medved, alluding to the specter of the return of the Fairness Doctrine, told the crowd, “People get the First Amendment wrong all the time. The First Amendment does not guarantee diversity of opinion. What the First Amendment guarantees is that the government won’t interfere either to shut down diversity of speech or to guarantee diversity of speech.”

In presenting the 2008 Freedom of Speech Award to WOL, Washington and XM Satellite Radio talk host Joe Madison, TALKERS magazine publisher Michael Harrison said Madison is someone he points to when people tell him how hateful and horrible talk radio is. Harrison used Madison’s position in the industry to note how talk radio’s tendency to tightly program stations along political philosophical lines can cause it problems. “I’ve always believed that when you start to superserve the core, it implodes. It’s easy to superserve the core but what you wind up with is: times start to change, the core starts to shift and you will have a happier but smaller audience. The key is, while serving the core, to expand, to keep it growing and growing short of bursting the bubble. My vision of talk radio is: debate is where it’s at. I want more black people here. I want more liberals here. I want more doctors and psychiatrists. I want to see talk radio expand to FM. I want to see white and black on the same station. I believe that this is the heart of art, the heart of politics and the heart of freedom.”

During his acceptance speech, Joe Madison spoke extensively about his experiences in Southern Sudan. He also strongly championed the importance of free speech in America today. “Contrary to what some people may think, I believe talk radio is one of the most important professions in modern media. You are the vanguards of free speech. Let no one tell you differently. We are the disseminators of information and information is power.”

Talk Radio and Race

This panel was moderated by TALKERS magazine publisher Michael Harrison and it addressed the issues facing black talk show hosts, urban-targeted stations and race relations as they affect talk radio in general. The panel featured Coz Carson, WWRL, New York; Charles W. Etheridge III, KISS-FM, New York; Rev. Jesse Lee Peterson, The Brotherhood Organization of a New Destiny; Sunny James, The Sunny James Show; Lincoln Ware, WDBZ, Cincinnati; and Larry Young, WOLB, Baltimore.

Then-WWRL, New York morning host Coz Carson told the attendees that he doesn’t like the moniker “black talk” because it alienates people. “To me, it says, ‘We’re talking to an exclusive audience and you’re not invited.’ What I like to do is good talk radio. I’m a talk radio host.” He also referred to his days programming WVON, Chicago and said, “If you’re going to do ‘black’ talk radio you have to find a way to be financially successful. You have to understand the nuts and bolts of radio.”

Lincoln Ware was asked if there is a need for “black” talk radio. He said, “I think there is a need because you have to counter some of the right-wing myths and stereotypes out there. We still have people in Ohio who think Barack Obama is a Muslim. Some of the talk show hosts feed into that frenzy. That’s where they got the idea.”

The most traditionally conservative member of the panel, Rev. Jesse Lee Peterson, said his purpose on the radio is to unite. “I happen to agree with Pat Buchanan that blacks should be proud to be Americans. And thank God that he got us here because we could be stuck in Africa. This is the greatest country in the world. Everybody and their momma are trying to get here and we have black Americans complaining rather than giving back to this country. When it comes to freedom of speech on the radio, white Americans should be able to tell the truth just as black Americans should.”

Charles W. Etheridge III said he wanted to show talk radio as an example of the media in general when it comes to race. “Madison Avenue has continually and still does create a separate and unequal media system where black consumers, black programs and black stations are relegated a separate and unequal paradigm. Black listeners get 90 cents on the dollar and white talk radio listeners get $1.27. That’s some 33% discrepancy in terms of fair value for a commodity. So after 400 years, black people are still existing at the same discount as we existed when the Declaration of Independence was signed.”

Sunny James was asked what her dream talk radio job would be as an African-American woman and would it be at a black talk station. She replied, “I would do my podcast. I pass along information from the L.A. Times, from the Chronicle, from coast to coast. I tell them, ‘This is what you need to know about.’” But James said it wouldn’t be on a black station. “NPR is still trying to figure out how to program a black show for a black audience. So what’s the point in trying to get on a black station? Everyone who has a white face or an Asian face needs to know what’s going in our community if we’re expected to build any bridges.”

Larry Young told the attendees that although his talk station is the lowest ranked station of the four Radio One-owned stations in the Baltimore cluster, his program has influence. “The advantage I have is that nobody can get elected in Baltimore City unless they come by WOLB. The governor who got elected said he’d never go on WOLB and within a month he was on WOLB. Anyone who has any issues that are important within our community, they come to WOLB. When something happens in Baltimore at 11:00 pm, the first station they tune to the next morning is my station. I’m proud to say that, according to Arbitron, I have a 17% to 22% white audience –– not because I’ve changed but because the information is there.”

A Dialogue Between Neal Boortz and Ed Schultz About Talk Radio

This presentation was introduced by Valerie Geller of Geller Media International.

Jones Radio Networks talk show hosts Neal Boortz and Ed Schultz delivered their presentation beginning with an explanation of how the U.S. State Department contacted Neal Boortz to ask for help bringing talk show hosts to meet with the British and Irish press in July to talk about American talk radio and the presidential race.

Schultz asked Boortz if it’s easier doing a talk radio show now than it was in the past. Boortz told the crowd, “I’ve been doing talk radio for 38 years now and I remember when our primary sponsors were nursing homes and Geritol. But getting an out-of-town newspaper back then was pretty much impossible and the Internet was many, many years away – so was syndication. The audience is much younger now than when I started. The demographics were 60+ back then and I was in my 20s. With the younger, more in-tune demographic and the unbelievable amount of information that we have at our fingertips and the fact that, by some surveys, we’re the number one format in broadcasting, it’s much easier.”

Schultz told the attendees that everyone is aware promotional and travel dollars at stations and networks are fewer than ever before and it’s incumbent upon hosts to invest in their brand and to branch out beyond radio. “My wife and I invested in our own satellite uplink camera for $150,000 from a firm in Boston. We have a room dedicated at KFGO, Fargo. All I have to do is go in, put mic and earpiece on and, boom, I’m on the air on any one of the networks. They run the lights, focus the camera and do everything from Boston. Tonight I’ll be on ‘Larry King.’ It’s not because I’m in with Hillary or because I know more about Barack Obama than anyone else, it’s because I’m accessible.” Schultz said he has done 67 TV hits since January and figures he’s exposed the Ed Schultz brand to a potential 40 million people in that time.

Managing a Talk Show Hosting Career

This panel was introduced by KDWN, Las Vegas talk host Heidi Harris and moderated by Harrison Strategies principals Steven J.J. Weisman and Matthew B. Harrison. Panelists included: David Bernstein, Bernstein Talent; Allan Handelman, Rock Talk/WZTK-FM, Raleigh; Ron Hartenbaum, WYD Media; Larry Kramer, Kramer Talent; Jeff Schwartz, Media Management Group; Doug Stephan, Stephan Multimedia; and Jason Insalaco, The Kelton Agency.

A number of the panelists were lawyers, including Jason Insalaco, who was asked if it’s necessary for talk media talent to have counsel. He told the attendees, “I think it’s helpful to have counsel and to have an agent who is not just looking out for your business and legal interests but also to develop and grow your career. With new media, station owners will say, ‘We’re not making any money off of you, yet.’ That may be true presently but that will change and it needs to change for stations to remain competitive. You should at least have a lawyer to look over your agreements to make sure your interests are protected, to determine who’s going to own the content once it’s done.”

David Bernstein was asked what advice he has for talent not happy where they are but not certain they are ready to go out on their own. “It’s important to know where you are. It’s very hard to self-assess. As talent move up from smaller to bigger markets in their careers, that’s where mistakes occur – branding for example. Someone who stays at one local station for a long time has a great career but that doesn’t include the branding part. You are a local celebrity, period. If you see yourself in a bigger light, as someone who can represent a specific area of expertise, get the feedback and the advice to see if what you do is acceptable to those who are going to judge you. Take the time to have somebody else look at it, whether it’s a professional or somebody whose opinion you trust.”

Allen Handelman told the crowd that things in the syndication end have changed greatly since he first got into it but the good news is that the new media present many more opportunities. “You can actually get your foot in the door without even using terrestrial radio, there is so much you can do on the Internet. But I remember going to conventions in the late 1990s and talking with people who wanted to be in talk radio but they didn’t even have an ideology, they just wanted to out-Rush Rush. Whatever you do, don’t fake it.”

Many talk show hosts covet the opportunity to become syndicated seeking a bigger profile and, hopefully, more money. Ron Hartenbaum said his experience at the network level tells him those people almost always have a track record as a successful local host. “What’s interesting is when you see some programs developed, even from some major broadcasting companies, and we saw this with Clear Channel and Whoopi Goldberg. I remember thinking, ‘Whoopi Goldberg! How is she going to do 15 hours of radio plus a couple of hours a day of show prep? Is somebody who’s had the success that she has in other media actually going to do this?’ The results speak for themselves. That show isn’t really tracking anymore.”

Larry Kramer said in his experience he believes talent in general needs to do a better job of listening. “The careers that I manage, we spend a fair amount of time on that. Talent needs to hear what people are saying. Just because you are saying it doesn’t mean it’s right. Taking in a lot of input, feedback and criticism are some of the best things you can do. Also, be open-minded to other media out there. You’re a content person. You are the brand you create. It’s easy to fall into the pattern of being an employee. ‘I come in, they tell me what to do, I go home and do it again tomorrow.’ You’re all creative people, there’s no reason to be in that pattern.”

Taking Larry Kramer’s comments concerning the attitude of the talent a step further, Doug Stephan told the attendees, “There are many people in this business whom I’ve run across who feel they are owed a certain amount of attention. That’s nonsense and the completely wrong attitude. There are some great practitioners of what I’ve learned over the years. Sean Hannity is a master at serving his stations. Alan Colmes is, too. Getting on the station is important but staying on the station is just as important. The sales managers are more important than anybody else at the stations today. Sorry program directors.”

Jeff Schwartz agreed that the most important thing a talent can do today is to stop thinking about oneself as talent. “It’s a paradigm shift in how you observe yourself and think of yourself in the business. Content is king. It will always win out and it doesn’t matter whether it is radio, television, carrier pigeon or smoke signals. You have to ask yourself, ‘How much content can I produce based on the media available at the time?’ And you have to stop thinking of yourself as an individual and start thinking of yourself as a business.”

The Future of Terrestrial Talk Radio

The final panel of the 2008 New Media Seminar was sponsored by Stephan Multimedia. The panel was introduced by WPRO, Providence talk show host Dan Yorke and moderated by Citadel VP of newstalk and sports Brian Jennings. Panelists included: Robin Bertolucci, KFI, Los Angeles; Grace Blazer, WTKK-FM, Boston; James Derby, KXL, Portland; Dave Elswick, KARN, Little Rock; Scott Lakefield, WOR, New York; Jack Landreth, KXNT, Las Vegas; Mark Masters, Talk Radio Network; Bob Shomper, WGN, Chicago; and Bill White, WBT, Charlotte.

Robin Bertolucci, who appeared from Los Angeles via Paltalk, was asked what her programming philosophy is that makes KFI, Los Angeles one the country’s great talk radio outlets. She said, “Our mantra and objective at all times is to try to be more stimulating. If in everything we do we can realize that slogan then we are doing our jobs right. Our target audience is 35-54 and we just try to keep it very lively. I’m a fan of big energy and forward momentum. I also think that whatever we do content-wise, it’s less important where we do it and more important that the content is magnificent. Whether it’s on a podcast, streaming or free, over-the-air radio, as long as it’s great, it’ll be fine.”

Grace Blazer echoes Robin Bertolucci’s statement about quality of content. “We branded WTKK ‘Boston’s Talk Evolution’ and we really work on playing the hits with great hosts day after day.”

According to Dave Elswick, local is the key for terrestrial radio. “I believe that the more local you are, the more you are talking about the issues that are involving the people you are talking to, the more they’re going to want to listen to you. The word to my staff this year is ‘impact.’ The news stories you do, the topics you do, must impact the people you are talking to or it’s not even worth listening to.”

At KXL in Portland, James Derby says their focus goes beyond the radio. “We’re really looking at the future. My boss recently told the staff that we’re not really a radio company, we’re a marketing company. We have the Internet, we have a regional radio network we operate and we have two stations that invest heavily in local content. We figure we reach about a million people and the state of Oregon has about three and a half million people. Every single show we have on the station is up on podcast. We use video extensively on the websites. We’re looking at the future and how people are going to use media.”

Scott Lakefield told the attendees WOR had always been a station with a variety of different programs and recently they branded it “News/Talk Radio 710 WOR.” “We realized that there was an opportunity in the morning to really go local and talk about what people want to know about locally as well as the big national headlines. But if you’re not talking local stuff your audience isn’t necessarily going to connect with you.”

It doesn’t matter whether you are talking about radio, podcasting or streaming, it’s all about getting people to come to your product, according to Jack Landreth. “What we do with KXNT is we have a very good blend of local in morning and afternoon drive along with Sean Hannity, Mark Levin and Rush Limbaugh in middays. At the same time, Sean and Mark are real good friends of the station. They are on the station in morning and afternoon drive all the time. People know they’re not local but they’re very good friends of the station. Our company has a huge initiative with webcasting, streaming and podcasting. I’m able to look at numbers, almost PPM-like, as a topic is on the air and see how many people are coming in and coming out of the website and it follows very closely with the Coleman study of Rush Limbaugh.”

Mark Masters predicted all it’s going to take is a major news event to change the face of talk radio. “I believe that we have to prepare for event-driven opportunities and those who prepare for those events are going to win. I think we’re going to have a war with Iran. I think it’s inevitable and nobody’s going to listen to music when that happens. Obama’s activated the young people to be interested. When a major regional conflict breaks out, you’re going to see a lot of underperforming FMs immediately cling to talk.”

Bob Shomper told the crowd his totally live and local station is ready if a conflict such as a war with Iran should break out. “Because we still have resources. We have an ABC Network that we rely on. We have the Tribune Broadcasting System that we rely on. We have the second biggest news department in the city next to WBBM. We’re prepared for it and we’re in the Tribune Tower, which is a target.”

The common denominator for the future of terrestrial radio is local according to Bill White, who echoed what a number of panelists said about being on top of local content. “They key to our success, frankly, has been our sales manager and our sales team. I talked to our afternoon guy who wants to go on the air today [Saturday] to talk about Hillary [conceding to Obama]. I called our sales manager and told him we’re going to lose a lot of revenue this afternoon and he said, ‘I don’t even want to talk about it. It sounds like a good idea, let’s go for it.’ Those are the kinds of relationships that we have in our group.”

Farewell Bash

The seminar wrapped up with a party sponsored by Podjockey and included the presentation of the Judy Jarvis Memorial Award for Outstanding Contributions by a Woman to Talk Radio to Talk Radio Network star Laura Ingraham. The award was presented to Ingraham by WINK, Fort Myers, Florida talk show host Mandy Connell.

In accepting the award Laura Ingraham said, “I’d be really remiss in not acknowledging the women who’ve come before me in this field: Dr. Laura, of course, who I know gave a great speech earlier in the conference. She really busted through the walls of radio syndication. And people like Kate Coplowitz of USA Networks who was this woman who decided she was going to launch her own cable network and did so with aplomb and grace. And believe it or not…I even think of Hillary Clinton. In her run for the presidency – and this is coming from someone who wrote The Hillary Trap, so I know the Clintons – no matter what you think of her, no one can deprive her of the recognition for being this person with perseverance and stick-to-itiveness and resolve and she demonstrated through this really long primary season that at 60 years old, she was going to keep on ticking and I’ve got to say we have to recognize her as well.”

The 2008 New Media Seminar was sponsored by: ABC Radio Networks, Accuracy in Media, Allen Hunt Show, Alliance for School Choice, Altria, Broadcasters General Store, CelleCast, Comrex Corporation, CRN Digital Talk, FAIR, Foneshow, Harrison Strategies, Media Research Center, Paltalk, PodJockey, Premiere Radio Networks, Stephan Multimedia, Talk Radio First Amendment Committee, Talk Radio Network, Talk Radio News Service and Young American Broadcasters.

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