Why do people in radio think you can get by with “local talk” when the host is not from the city and calling the show in on the phone?<\/p>\n
The latest to fail at this is Heidi Harris. Her schtick is she’s a former Vegas cocktail waitress turned Conservative Tea Party talk radio host.<\/p>\n
She had been doing a local show in Vegas. Vegas is her town – she knows the people, she knows the casino business, she knows the city – but she lost that job.<\/p>\n
Salem Radio in Los Angeles decided to put her on in morning drive time on two stations. It’s clear from her blog she is still living in Vegas. There are few success stories of females doing major market or syndicated talk, other than as the sidekick to a male host, behaving deferentially to him (see: Christine Craft), so she already is starting off with an uphill battle. Los Angeles is not exactly a hotbed of Conservative politics – strike 2.<\/p>\n
Since she doesn’t know LA, doesn’t live there, doesn’t experience the city – she is limited to national issues or pretending she’s local, maybe by reading the local newspapers). You might get away with being a long time LA person who moves away and calls the show in – for a while – but not the reverse. If you make a sincere effort to move to the city you might be accepted, as long as you don’t constantly compare your new city to the old “when I lived in Philly, we had odd\/even parking, and we should try that here”…<\/p>\n
So Heidi is gone. So sorry. Good luck on your next venture.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Why do people in radio think you can get by with “local talk” when the host is not from the city and calling the show in on the phone? The latest to fail at this is Heidi Harris. Her schtick … Continue reading