REICH COMMUNICATIONS

Radio loss

 

Quality radio lost a real pioneer yesterday. Pete Fornatale, who was one of the innovative leaders in the early days of FM rock radio, died at 66 after suffering a brain hemorrhage two weeks ago. 

Listeners in the New York area have known him for more than 40  years on Fordham University's WFUV and on WNEW-FM back in the late 60's and early 70s when that station was breaking new ground in radio and in music.  More recently, we'd see him hosting on TV when PBS stations would run classic rock concerts during their fundraising periods.

I remember hearing Pete soon after he started on WFUV.  I was in college in the late 60s and I got involved with the college FM radio station, first playing soft pop (we'd call it elevator music today) and then a twice-weekly jazz show.  There were two stations at my school -- the AM rock station that played only in the dorm, and the FM station that, with its 10-watt signal, made it into the town and, on a good day if the wind was blowing right, got as far as the Canadian border 20 miles north.  I gravitated to the FM station, since the AM was programmed in the style of the fast-talking, screaming rock DJs that were popular at the time.  I was never glib in front of the microphone, so the slower-paced FM format better suited me.

I remember coming home on breaks and tuning to college stations in the area, to hear what others were doing.  WFUV stood out like a beacon, and the calm and intelligent conversational-style DJs like Pete Fornatale were a welcome change.  And on FM, especially college stations that were mostly commercial-free, the DJs could play longer album cuts -- even entire albums -- without interruption.

Pete Fornatale went on to commercial success on WNEW-FM in New York, which was the radio beacon for album rock -- what we then called alternative rock.  He was on with other low-key DJs like Jonathan Schwartz (still heard these days playing and talking about Sinatra-era music on local radio here and also nationally on satellite radio), Alison "The Nightbird" Steele and Meg Griffin.  These DJs didn't shout silly slogans at us.  It was almost like they were guests in our living room, bringing some great records to play on our turntable and sitting across the room chatting with us about the music and the musicians.  It was a novel concept back then, and Pete Fornatale was a master at it.

Thinking about Pete makes me recall the earlier days of radio 40 years ago.  As someone who was on the air back then, it was a great time.  The DJs pretty much played what they liked, with little or no interference from station management.  These days, at most commercial stations the DJs are tightly confined to a list of what to play and when to play it -- often computer-generated from one of the major radio programming companies in Texas and elsewhere in the heartland.  And half the time, no one bothers to say what songs you just heard or who performed them. It's like radio has lost its soul.

Radio used to be personal and local.  Now it's largely automated and syndicated, with the local DJs doing little more than sequeing between music and ads.  In many markets local radio news and public affairs programming is minimal or nonexistant, since the FCC 20 years ago lifted the requirement that broadcasters using the public airwaves devote some of that time to public service and news.

Thinking of Pete Fornatale brings back many memories of great radio listening.  And luckily for me, it brings back personal memories of the fun I had sharing good music on the radio with unseen listeners.

Thanks, Pete, for helping keep radio's soul alive all these years.

 

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Looking for an illustration for this post, I stumbled across some silent footage taken at my college radio station back when I was in school.  This isn't me in the pictures, but this is the studio where I used to do my shows.  Thanks to Ted Perkins for the video.

  

WTSC 1968 & 1972(?) Unedited footage from Ted Perkins on Vimeo.

 

 

 

 

Weekend Thoughts

 

My favorite four-letter word

 

It's been called America's own classical music, even though its roots come from Africa and the Caribbean, with some key stops in New Orleans and New York.  It has become popular worldwide, especially in Europe and Japan.  It's not for the masses, but those who like it are passionate about it.

JAZZ is truly America's great music and April is Jazz Appreciation Month.

So go buy a jazz CD or download some jazz.  Listen to a jazz radio station, or check out some jazz at a club in your area.  If you're in the New York area, here are two suggestions for next week.  Monday night, April 23, at Dizzy's Club at Jazz at Lincoln Center, the Manhattan School of Music Afro-Cuban Jazz Orchestra will be playing two shows at 7:30 and 9.  It's a chance to hear some of the music stars of tomorrow in a fantastic club setting overlooking Central Park South.  The band is led by Latin Grammy winner Bobby Sanabria, and the show will include a special salute to legendary conga player Candido, who will be celebrating his 91st birthday.

Also on Monday at 8 is a fundraiser to help trumpet master Clark Terry, who just had both legs amputated (I think due to diabetes).  A who's who of jazz trumpeters will be at St. Peter's Church on Lexington Ave. for the salute to Clark.

So if you're not a jazz lover, give it a try this month.  I'm willing to bet you'll begin appreciating jazz every month.

 

The Power of Words

  

My friend and mentor Al Hirsch sent me this video several days ago and it so moved me that I want to share it with you.

As someone who uses words in my work, I know the impact some well-written words can have.  Words can be powerful enough to change minds, motivate action, open hearts.  Having the ability to craft words into sentences that can create action is a pretty heady thing, I must admit.  I've seen it in my work, and I've also seen it in community activism at home.  I've been in meetings where others screamed and threatened, but got nowhere.  And then I, with some calmly-spoken carefully-chosen words, was able to change minds and move people closer toward a common resolution.

Words can be powerful.  We should use them for good.

Who do we Trust?

 

Even as access to information about business and government increases, the public's trust in those institutions continues to spiral downward.

A recent survey by Hill & Knowlton showed only 30 percent of Americans trust their government and 35 percent trust corporations.  Both numbers are down substantially from the previous survey two years ago, which pegged trust of government at 53 percent and business at 45 percent.  Why such big drops?  A whopping 43 percent fewer trust government and 22 percent less trust business in only two years.

Part of the reason might be the ever-growing access to information we now enjoy thanks to the web, 24-hour cable news, and C-SPAN.  Whistleblowers have always been around, but they now have unprecedented access to giant audiences via blogs, Facebook and other online platforms. Fifty-two percent of those surveyed feel they have much more access to information than they did ten years ago.

And it seems like the more we see, the less we like what we see.

The survey also showed that in-person meetings and appearances by government and business leaders are the most meaningful way to communicate with the public.  Having employees participate as volunteers at community and charity events also creates goodwill and good attitudes toward government and companies.  Social media communications were also seen as good ways to communicate, although they ranked far lower than personal appearances and involvement.

As disheartening as it may be to see the level of public trust so low, it shouldn't be a surprise.  Just think about how so many government officials have behaved at all levels, as mayors and city council people get sent to jail and even state and national officials have done illegal or stupid things that have brought major media attention on them.  Think Elliot Spitzer, Marion Barry, Anthony Weiner  ... the list goes on and on.

Corporate America hasn't behaved much better, although some of their bad moves have been fueled by pure greed and selfishness.  Look at the economic meltdown and government bailouts of some of the biggest banking and finance companies, which brought to light the wildly out-of-synch salaries and bonuses they got... and still get even after the public has saved their financial hides.  I'd also put in that category of bad behavior the CEOs (and the approving Boards) of companies like Verizon, The New York Times Company and Gannett who are laying off or cutting salaries of thousands of employees even as those CEOs, already getting huge salaries and giant bonuses, take obscene raises.

So as business and government gets more transparent and the media gives them more attention, we the public are having our worst fears about them confirmed.  Is it really any wonder, then, that our trust has sunk so low?

This is much more than a communications or public relations problem.  It's an issue of ethics, and leaders in government and business must abide by some or a distrustful and outraged public will eventually force them to do so.

In the meanwhile, who do or who can we trust?

 

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How NOT to make a sale

I don't mind if a company contacts me to solicit my business.  I try to look at emails and snail mail that comes in, and I'll even give someone a quick moment on the phone.  

If the pitch comes in via phone, I'll listen for a few seconds and, if even remotely interested, I'll then ask the caller to send me information by regular mail.  I tell them, truthfully, that I don't make a purchase decision from a phone call, but that I will read material and then decide.  It's interesting, but by asking people to snail-mail me information, I put an end to about 75% of the pitches.  They want to email me stuff, but I don't need more email clogging my Inbox.  And I resent having to use my toner and take my time to print someone else's sales material.  But many call centers are not equipped to handle mail follow-up, and they lose any possibility of getting business from me.

Lately, I've been seeing a new -- and really offensive -- type of pitch.  The one I just got moments ago from Google trying to sell me ad space on Google+ is an example.  My phone rang and I hear someone saying he's calling about some opportunities in my business sector.  I asked him, "What sector do you think I'm in?" since people sometimes think Reich Communications is a cellular reseller.  The guy kept talking, and I again asked him a question.  He kept talking, with the normal hesitations and "uh"s that made me think I was speaking to someone live.  Finally, as I was about to hang up, he said for more information and to place an order, press 1.

Damn!!  I hate being tricked! 

I dialed 1 and really told off some poor Google sales rep.  I also told him since my number is on a "do not call" list, the next time I get a call from them I'll report them to the FTC and they'll get a fine.  And I mean it.

But the thing that astounds me about this is, how do people think they will actually sell anything if they are so impersonal about the sales process?  We hear all this talk among marketers about connections and relationships with customers and potential customers.  Obviously, the marketing folks at Google, despite all the site's success, don't get it.

One thing I do know... Google will not get any business from me.

 

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