Disappointment On My Radio
On my way home from Muskoka this morning I punched around to hear what Toronto stations are doing in the early hours. Since I’m normally on the air at that time, I don’t very often get the chance to hear the competition.
This is what I heard.
A guy filling in for the usual host, sounding timid and saying “uh” every third word.
A woman trying to be profound but only revealing how incredibly ill informed she really is.
A news anchor using the word ‘charged’ in this way. “Health Minister George Smitherman charged that a percentage of the new health levy will go toward maintaining sewers.” Charged? Why not, explained, said, admitted, revealed, told us for sure that, confirmed an earlier rumour that, told a news conference, said in a statement, or any number of other, clearer words or phrases. Why use a word that takes the brain in a direction most often reserved for crime and credit card stories? Over-thinking and trying to be too clever can ruin a good sentence.
I heard the most boring break ever aired on modern, major market radio concerning a promotion that came off like a snoozefest, full of cliches including “enjoy the live entertainment” and “fun for the whole family” said in a dull monotone. It’s SHOWBIZ people!
I heard a somewhat interesting diatribe from a political analyst who was never identified. I guess he’s a regular and the station doesn’t want any new listeners.
I heard one of my top traffic reporter pet peeves on my own station and was not surprised. It is “heading westbound”. You’re either heading or you’re bound, you don’t need to be both. Also from the Department of Redundancy Department, I heard a host say “self-medicating myself”.
And then, finally, like a starving woman finally being given a morsel of food, I got Howard Stern clearly enough to stick with 92.9. I was just in time to hear a terrific phone call from Ben Stiller followed by a true story told by Arte Lange that made me laugh so hard I couldn’t get out of my car until he was finished. A funny tale told well by a top notch story-teller. Now that’s entertainment.
