Idiot's Guide To Calling A Radio Station
Nov. 4th, 2008 09:57 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
jcollie719Here's a tip to anyone who calls a radio station during a live event like a presidential election:
(1) If the station does not invite people to call in, DON'T CALL! The staff are very busy monitoring the coverage and don't want to be distracted.
(2) If you've already called the station, DON'T CALL A SECOND TIME! If the board operator, call screener, etc. couldn't answer your questions the first time, they won't be able to do it a second time.
(3) If you call a station that actually does invite callers, remember that the board operator or call screener are not the host. Save any rambling opinions you may have for the host.
Someone called me twice (see Rules #1 and #2 above) during the presidential coverage asking me how Americans could vote for Obama when he allegedly refused to recite the Pledge of Allegiance during an event (This caller even said he liked Obama, but that one bit of information bugged him.) I had to turn the air monitor down to hear the caller, so I thought NPR was going to a break at 19 after the hour (per its schedule.) Unfortunately, that was when John McCain was giving his concession speech, so I accidentally played an underwriter announcement over it and got several angry calls about it.
(1) If the station does not invite people to call in, DON'T CALL! The staff are very busy monitoring the coverage and don't want to be distracted.
(2) If you've already called the station, DON'T CALL A SECOND TIME! If the board operator, call screener, etc. couldn't answer your questions the first time, they won't be able to do it a second time.
(3) If you call a station that actually does invite callers, remember that the board operator or call screener are not the host. Save any rambling opinions you may have for the host.
Someone called me twice (see Rules #1 and #2 above) during the presidential coverage asking me how Americans could vote for Obama when he allegedly refused to recite the Pledge of Allegiance during an event (This caller even said he liked Obama, but that one bit of information bugged him.) I had to turn the air monitor down to hear the caller, so I thought NPR was going to a break at 19 after the hour (per its schedule.) Unfortunately, that was when John McCain was giving his concession speech, so I accidentally played an underwriter announcement over it and got several angry calls about it.
