John Higdon wrote:

I'm sorry to say it is that thinking that is pretty much what is wrong
with radio today.

But you yourself have dissed the idea of getting an education many times.


We have different tools (for the better, mostly) but
what is now lacking is the spark of creativity in local stations. It
isn't the equipment that is responsible for the lack of new music on
radio. It isn't the lack of tape recorders or turntables that have
"forced" stations to use syndication rather than do things of interest
on their own.

Radio broadcasting is a mature industry. There aren't that many different
ways to do things. There are some interesting used of soundscapes, however.
I suggest you listen to "Radio Lab" on KQED Radio. It's a documentary series
that mixes some very clever sound collaging with the meat of the topic. It
comes from WNYC.


Is there some reason a broadcast school can't teach things like
community involvement, or music programming, or even specialized sales
tactics that involve clients in improving their own businesses? Now THAT
would be a broadcast school.

Jason Jennings spent a decade training people how to run radio stations. As
you may recall, he was once the youngest group owner, and was a hotshot sales
guy. But he knew management through and through. Today he's totally out of
broadcasting, instead spending his time giving what might be called Q-A
seminars to select businesses. http://www.jason-jennings.com/
I'm mentioning him because his content has always been top-notch, and he
charges a bundle for it, out of the reach of most people and corporations. I
haven't asked him about why he stopped doing radio management seminars, but I
suspect it's because people in radio are cheapskates.

Be sure to check out his videos on his site and on YouTube. Even the freebies
he gives away are thought-provoking. He's the author of many fascinating
books, including, "It's Not The Big That Eat the Small, It's The Fast That Eat
the Slow", definitely a must for anybody who manages a business.


However, as with many others involved with
local broadcasting, the schools refused to move on with the times,
seeing as their sole responsibility the training of people to cue
records and splice tape. Broadcasting schools should have all failed;
they were run by people who lacked any kind of vision whatsoever.

I'm told that the commercial broadcasting schools were to varying degrees
shuck and jive. Sure, they might prepare one for a ticket, back when those
mattered, but that was about it.


We need broadcasting schools today more than ever, but I'm willing to
admit that there may be a serious lack of people who are up to the task
of running them.

Why do we need broadcasting schools now? The industry is 1/10th the size it
was, and is likely to shrink even more. Sure, there will be a need for
broadcasters just as there's a need for blacksmiths, but I suggest that it's
not a wise use of resources to dedicate school curricula to it.