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Chris Little Has Been in the Thick Of Breaking News Stories

“They said, ‘Do what you want, but you’re in the kill zone.’ After a moment of reflection, I got out of there.”

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You always remember your first media credential. The pass was carte blanche to walk past security, sit in the press box, and interview the sole remaining honest politician in the world. For a young journalist, the credential is the ultimate hall pass. Chris Little is KFI’s news director and he remembers when he got his as a cub reporter.

Little was assigned to cover some of the California wildfires. With his credential around his neck, he was determined he wasn’t going to be denied access. It was his right as a reporter.

“The California Highway Patrol told me I shouldn’t go past their lines for my own safety,” Little explained. Little was fresh on the job and still felt the First Amendment coursing through his veins.

“I told them by law they couldn’t prevent me.”

It turns out the highway patrol officers were not preventing Little from going closer to the fire. They were just trying to talk some sense to the kid. Let him know he was on his own if he proceeded. Nobody was coming in to save him.

A similar thing happened to Little when he covered a shooting in Lincoln Heights, California where some lunatic blasted off .223 rounds of high-powered ammunition into a neighborhood.

“The police told me I should get out of there,” Little said, “just like the highway patrol officer did with the fires. Once again I reminded them they couldn’t tell me to leave and I had a right to be there as a member of the press. They said, ‘Do what you want, but you’re in the kill zone.’ After a moment of reflection, I got out of there.”

As great as the First Amendment may be, it’s not bulletproof.

Little attended high school in Hacienda Heights, California, and was born in Pasadena. As a pre-teen and teenager Little said he did a lot of hiking and bike riding.

“Generally a lot of screwing around,” he said. “My parents were divorced when I was eight and to a large extent I was on my own.”

His mother worked and they had a housekeeper, Anna, who was from Tijuana.

“I learned to speak Spanish from Anna,” Little said. “I still get a lot of compliments on my pronunciation.” 

Tu dialet es bueno.

He and Anna listened to KHD and a lot of Spanish radio.

“All the time,” Little explained. “I called in to the stations a lot. One night, Anna walked into the room and asked me if I was calling radio stations. I said I was. She told me they said on the air that a kid kept calling, and they wanted me to stop.”

When he was a second semester sophomore, he moved to Indianapolis.

He didn’t know what he wanted to do after he graduated from North Central High School.

“My school counselor asked me what I was hoping to do, and I told her I wanted to pump gas,” Little said. “She told me that was one of the stupidest responses she’d ever heard and suggested the military, the Air Force.”

Little figured it was as good an idea as any. And he wouldn’t come home smelling like gasoline every day. After two years in the Air Force, Little was discharged and went back to Indy. That’s where he met a girl at a party who said she was moving to Atlanta. Little figured he had nothing to lose and moved to Atlanta as well.

“I may have been a late bloomer,” he said. “I remember calling the Air Force asking about my VA benefits. I asked if there was a heating and air conditioning school in Atlanta. It wasn’t because I loved heating and air conditioning. It was just something I came up with.”

The HVAC thing never panned out.

Little credits the Air Force for teaching him how to respect authority. He discovered when a person made a mistake, he had to own up to it.

“I learned to say, ‘I’m sorry sir, it won’t happen again.’ I don’t make excuses. If I screw up, I own it. I’m pretty sure the Air Force got me on the straight and narrow.”

Like many professionals in the business, he began as a DJ. First in Atlanta, then at WFBQ and WNAP, Indianapolis. Little created and hosted The Middle of the Damn Night Show, a one-man morning show from midnight to 6 AM on 95.9 KEZY, Anaheim.

He once worked on the television show Hot Seat hosted by Wally George. George was a conservative talk show guy who expounded extreme right-wing political views. The demographic was mostly males who came out to watch the show, studio audiences averaged 30-40 people.

“They used to bring people on they were sure Wally would disagree with,” Little said. “A lot of it was set up. Rick Dees would come on, who was an L.A. bigshot at the time. Dees would carry a pie in his briefcase.” One time, Rick Dees came out in an Elvis costume and smashed a pie in Wally’s face.”

Cal Ripken has the longest string of consecutive MLB game appearances. Little is the longest-serving news director of all time in the LA radio market.

That came about when Little got a call from David Hall at KFI who told Little he’d listened to his demo and liked it. He asked Little to start the following weekend.

“I told David I was grateful for the offer, but I had a vacation planned with my wife to go to the Colorado River,” Little said.

What? After they hung up Little’s wife was aghast. She asked, ‘What’s wrong with you? She knew he always wanted to work there. Realizing his mistake, Little called Hall back and took the job.

He said the mind-boggling events of 9/11 were taxing and a wonderful learning experience.

“I really wasn’t sure how to handle the magnitude of 9/11,” Little explained.  “I got a lot of direction from David Hall. We called in the troops, and everyone showed up. We went around the clock for a week or two. KFI was in Korea Town, and I stayed in a hotel for three days to be close to the station. I’d go to the station, get on the air, go back to sleep, do it again.”

Little said with that experience he was indoctrinated in the news business.

“It was such an emotional story,” he said. “I remember people running around with big posters which asked if you’d seen their mom. Their brother. It brought tears to my eyes and it took a while to get over.”

Little has taken improv classes and his son teaches improvisation classes.

“I quickly learned I’m not as funny as I think I am,” he jokes. “I don’t try to be funny, but never thought I’d be the straight guy. I’m told I’m funny, but my wife is really funny. I’ll steal her lines when I can.”

The line-stealing Little said he has a sign in his office that reads, ‘If you’re first and right, nobody remembers. If you’re first and wrong, nobody forgets.”

It’s all about accuracy for Little. When a new pope was being selected in the Vatican, media outlets were waiting for smoke from the chimney on top of the Sistine Chapel to signal the change. Black smoke meant no pope had been selected, white smoke meant they had a new guy.

KFI was on top of the story but Little didn’t feel comfortable without further confirmation.

“When Fox reported the selection had been made, Bill Handel wanted to go with the story,” Little said. “I urged him to be cautious and wait a bit.” Handel didn’t listen. “It was a special extension of the show to cover the Vatican. We were wrong.”

Surprisingly to some, Little said TMZ is often on target, journalistically sound. When TMZ reported Michael Jackson died, Little said they debated about going with the news based on TMZ’s reporting.

“There was a big disagreement in the newsroom about whether we should go with what TMZ reported on Jackson,” Little said. “We will use TMZ information if we verify the facts. They pay for news, but that doesn’t mean it’s inaccurate.”

According to Little, journalists are sometimes too quick to repeat news without being confirmed. Little thinks the verification is missing in a lot of stories.

“Some of these new professionals may be a bit naive,” he explained. “Out of the same crop may come exceptional young editors. They are into it. It’s like they’re excited to come to work and tear into the news every day.  I just make sure their stories are correct.”

As far as motivation for a young person to aspire to become a journalist, Little said in addition to being cool, they understand the power of audio.

Little said they know they can affect things in the world by stories they tell.

“If they think they want to be a reporter or an editor, I ask them to pick the top five stories of the day and write them up. I can tell by the stories they select if they should be in the business.”

If a guy with Little’s experience believes you don’t belong in the business, it might time to turn in that credential.

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BNM Writers

News is the Only Thing Missing From Election Coverage

Coverage of the election is, as we’ve discussed, still very horse-race-centric, and there’s been, of course, coverage of the various Trump court cases, but where is the coverage of exactly what the candidates plan to do if elected?

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The first thought I had when I heard NBC had hired Ronna McDaniel as a commentator for $300,000 a year was to wonder how many actual journalists they could have hired for that money. Then, I recalled that NBC had laid off dozens of news staffers just a few months ago. Then, I remembered that I had just recently written a column decrying news organizations throwing pretty much anybody on the air as a “pundit” and this….

This was worse. It’s one thing to grab some rando who happened to be a minor functionary for the Executive Branch. It’s another to hire someone whose job was to promote election denialism and pretend that her opinion is something valuable for viewers. And, yes, it’s just as ridiculous when news organizations hire former presidential press secretaries (that’s you, Jen Psaki and Sean Spicer), their very jobs were to spin everything in their bosses’ favor and now you’re going to pay them big salaries for, um, what? Because they “have a name” or you’re afraid someone else will snap them up? Why them?

The McDaniel deal lasted five days, one completely unilluminating interview, and one unexpected Chuck Todd spine-growing outburst, so it’ll all blow over soon enough. The problem is, though, the part about having fired several news staffers, and what it means in an election year on both the national and local levels. If you have the money to hire an alleged pundit – any alleged pundit – you have the money to hire reporters, and I don’t mean anchors or opinion show hosts.

Coverage of the election is, as we’ve discussed, still very horse-race-centric, and there’s been, of course, coverage of the various Trump court cases, but where is the coverage of exactly what the candidates plan to do if elected? Who’s probing Project 2025 and why isn’t it front-page, first-segment news? Who’s pressing the Biden administration on Gaza? Is anyone reporting on the candidates’ record on climate change?

Beyond prescription drug prices, is anyone digging into the broken healthcare system and demanding answers from the candidates about what they’ll do to fix it (and not letting Trump get away with “I’ll have a better plan, a beautiful plan” without a single specific detail, like they did in 2016)? Why didn’t anyone focus on, for example, the GOP candidate for governor of North Carolina and his incendiary past comments well before the primary?

Pundits are not going to do the legwork on the issues; they’ll just talk about swing states while John King and Steve Kornacki point at their touchscreen maps. We need reporting on the things that matter (and can affect that horse race, even if most people have made up their minds). It shouldn’t just be Pro Publica and scattered independent journalists doing the dirty work.

Honestly, I don’t want to hear the complaints about the quality of the candidates or how this is a rerun or any of that. (We’ll leave that to The New York Times.) We are a horribly underinformed electorate and we got the horse race we deserve. It might just be idealists like me who think that, just maybe, the news media can play a role in educating the public and bursting the bubbles and echo chambers. This country has survived and prospered for a few centuries with the press shining a light on injustice and corruption.

Now, when we need that most, they’re more concerned with what they think will bring them ratings and money (although someone will have to explain to me who thought having Ronna McDaniel as a paid commentator would draw a single viewer to NBC).

Here’s a thought: Don’t lay off reporters, especially in an election year.  Assign them to dig deep on issues that matter to the voters.

Let the pundits talk about that.

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8 Ways to Take Your Commercials From Drab to Fab

Our main source of income is derived from commercials. There are a lot of bad commercials.

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Another reason to read this column, I often add an Easter egg. We are in the advertising business. Our main source of income is derived from commercials. There are a lot of bad commercials. Frequently, clients write these ads. You can excuse it if the spots suck. But when the commercials are written by Account Executives or the production department at the station, it is kind of unforgivable.

I am going to share the most meaningless phrases in commercials.

Locally Owned and Operated

Customers do not care. If customers cared about a business being locally owned and operated, Walmart would not exist. People want service, selection, and value. They do not want to get soaked. When you purchase something, are you willing to pay 20% for a local company? If you say yes, you are wrong. People want a deal.

The Phone Number

Doing 70 down the 405, John slammed on the brakes to write down the phone number for an amazing HVAC Company. That is not how it works people. HVAC companies rarely have or should have regular customers.

Normally, your AC is out. You call the HVAC Company that you are familiar with. Radio advertising allows people to have “TOMA”: Top of Mind Awareness. There are stats that show when a company is advertising on your radio station, their website shows an increase in traffic. When you needed a service for your home, you hit Google and choose the company that you’ve heard of. It’s that simple. I actually heard a commercial asking listeners to add a businesses phone number to their contact list. That is a moronic use of advertising real estate.

Street Addresses

“Tequilaberry’s Prime Rib is located at 106 East Governors Drive in Peoria.” 

The people listening cannot process that detail. You could say “Tequilaberry’s Prime Rib is on Governors Drive just off 10th in Peoria.” That is almost digestible. That creates a picture of where it is.

Trust me, people interested in prime rib will Google you and load the address in their navigation system. Spend that precious spot time selling the experience of the restaurant.

Always Using the Company Owner/Founder in Commercials

Sometimes, it is amazing when business owners are their spokesperson. They have passion and are natural salespeople. Some business owners are terrible at speaking about their product.

When you have a business owner who is a natural promoter, they can drag listeners into their business. I once worked with a family who owned a couple of hardware stores. They spoke about the benefits of visiting their stores. It was heartfelt and real. They promised that their employees can help solve any problem in your home. If you went to that store and had a simple or complex problem, the employees helped you out.

I once worked with a man who owned a really nice flooring company.  For whatever reason, he thought that he was funny. He had spots written by him, his wife, or a kid. The ads were dreadful. They were not funny at all. Account Executives need to talk these clients out of doing commercials like this. Nothing says wacky hijinks like flooring.

Overuse of Numbers

“We have grapes at 99 cents a pound, Chuck steak at $1.99, two-for-one zucchini.”

Trust me, no one driving in city traffic can keep track of that. “The 2025 Chevy Chevette is back with 45-mpg efficiency and amazing 18-inch tires. Prices start at $19,999…  The New Chevy Silverado starts at $32,999.”

It gets really confusing fast.

WWW.

Yes, I hear commercials saying check us on the internet at “W-W-W dot business name here dot com.”

WWW is assumed and not needed anymore unless you are running a Commadore-64 with the latest floppy disc technology.

Yellow Pages Ad

“Check out our new ad in the Yellow Pages!”

OMG, no one reads those damn things anymore. Most people born after 1960 just toss those suckers in the trash. There was a time when the Yellow Pages were the largest revenue generator in advertising. Yes, a book of ads. Like Facebook, without your buddy’s political, vacation, or food posts. It was just ads. Zero content.

I had stuffed salmon tonight that I engineered myself. I would make Sydney Sweeney quite the trophy husband. Set us up. Hey, I am single. It was not that long ago that you would hear a radio ad that promoted a coupon in the Sunday paper.

Well, that copy should be deader than a doornail.

Amateur Theater

A husband and wife discussing their lawn and how she heard about Telly’s Lawn Service from her friend Stacy. 

Those commercials are obviously contrived and not interesting at all. 

______________________________________________________________________________________________________

Open every commercial must have an attention-grabbing opener. “Totally Jammed…  The floor covered with the guest towels. Fearing the horrific consequences of another flush…  I did the right thing. I called ABC Plumbing. Quick service, a great price, and peace of mind.”

The next time that the plunger is failing to get the desired results, the listener of that commercial will identify with the very realist scenario.

We are in the advertising business. Use radio as it was meant.

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The Lost Art of Using Sound as a Springboard

Use sound it wherever you can. All you need is a loyal, capable and willing board operator, to go along with a conscientious host.

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Jon Stewart was the first guy to do it — take a politician’s words from the news of the day or week. Search his or her entire past and find a sound byte saying the exact opposite.

It became an art form – and a great way to keep people accountable.

Most radio operations don’t have the resources necessary to consistently do something like that, but truth be told, that kind of journalism isn’t really the point of this week’s column.

It’s an example of the simple power of sound. We need to use it more within our shows. Use sound it wherever you can. All you need is a loyal, capable, and willing board operator, to go along with a conscientious host.

Speaking from experience, not doing it is lazy.

Doing it takes minimal effort and helps conversations tremendously – especially when it’s in real-time. I know. I’ve been there – missing opportunity after opportunity because I didn’t think of it, ask for help or just do it myself.

Put simply, good sound is a better springboard to a question than just a question.

Just the other day, I realized how well it works and how little I’ve been doing it.

Here’s what happened.

We have one particularly heated congressional race in our state. The Republican candidate is running for a second time after narrowly losing in 2022 in an election where Connecticut’s gubernatorial candidate from the same party got smoked, and the Republican presidential candidate lost the state as well.

This time around, there’s a struggling Democratic President with real doubts about the economy and the country’s standing in the world.

Put simply, the Democratic congressional incumbent has a massive task ahead to get re-elected.

On my show, I try to be consistently independent and be a place for both parties to appear with the expectation that the conversations will be fair and honest.

The Republican candidate came on the show earlier this month, and we went through a number of issues. Connecticut is a relatively strong Democratic stronghold, where the party controls the legislature, the Governor’s Mansion, and the entire congressional delegation.

Having said that, the largest voting block is unaffiliated, so appealing to independents is crucial for either side to win. I asked the Republican candidate twice about whether he will support Donald Trump, and both times, he equivocated. I asked the follow-up, we were on the record, so I moved on.

The following week, his opponent, the Democratic incumbent, was scheduled to appear on the show. Before her arrival, I realized the Trump Q&A should probably be replayed for her. Duh.

My producer found it, clipped it, and had it at the ready. I felt that I should have realized it sooner and not put some added strain on my partner’s morning routine. He was fine, but it definitely added unnecessary work within the show.

Lesson learned.

The sound byte worked well. I played it. She responded. We moved the story forward, and it was compelling – as you might imagine, the topic of Trump vs. Biden is pretty compelling these days.

By no means did it create a “wow” moment. That would be a little much. But it did make the show better, using the opponent’s own voice as opposed to my paraphrasing something. That lends credibility, not only to the topic but also to the show. He gave this important answer on our show, and she gave her response … on our show.

My final thought on this is that we (I) need to look for more places to utilize sound as a springboard to conversations, as opposed to simply raising the topic and discussing it. Maybe you’re already good at it and do it all the time, but this past week, I realized I need to push myself to do it more.

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