Blogging, shilled the radio star
I visited the studios at WBHM (90.3 FM) Monday to talk with Tanya Ott about blogging.
Not having done radio in years, I thought we might just do a simple recorder, like in the field. Nope: in the booth I went, headphones on, mike in front of me.
I’m used to public speaking, but not necessarily sitting in a fish bowl answering an interviewer’s questions about various aspects of blogging. Fortunately, Tanya is kind to us novices.
And I remembered a very important rule of pre-taped interviews: Take as long as you want to think of a good answer. They edit out pauses, but they don’t always edit out stupid, blurted-out, half-witted answers.
We talked for about 30 minutes, which should boil down to a solid three- to five-minute segment. She had planned on talking with other Birmingham-area bloggers, which should add to the diversity and the depth of the information presented.
My thanks to Tanya for allowing me to ramble on about the pros and cons of blogging, whether for yourself or your business. The interview should run sometime this week during the morning drive. I’ll let you know when.
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For fun, I asked my friends on Twitter and Facebook to suggest possible topics for a WBHM blog. I thought “Tapestry,” the station’s weekly arts program, would be a good starting point for a blog and a community conversation about local arts and culture.
Responses from the crowd:
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WadeOnTweets: If @WBHM903 were to blog, what should focus on? Local news? arts? fund-raising? issues? Reply w/ your take. I’ll RT best answers.
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OverCoffeeMedia: Local stuff — arts, news, politics. Anything we can get nationally is suicide. In two years, there will be no wire copy.
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tsutrav: at minimum they should post versions of on-air pieces with all the links intact. I’m always fumbling for a pen while driving
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jenniferhdaniel: Hyper local news us expatriated Birminghamians don’t get.
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tsutrav: and more solid local biz news. we have tons of local arts/events outlets already. but an indepth blog on local biz would rule
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insomniactive: I would think a team approach would work best: one person tackles local arts (subdivide further?), one local issues, etc.
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kristenmstewart: I’d also like to see @WBHM blog posts on how Birmingham fits into stories from the national news programs.
Should WBHM start a blog? What would drive you to read it on a regular basis?
Birmingham Blogging Academy 
How about a weekly survey of what’s news at other NPR stations across the US. While we’re discussing sewers and taxing groceries, what are NPR-affiliates in Boise, Berkley, and Boston discussing? Would provide an interesting snapshot and comparison of our “woes” with those of another region. You could even post links to the filed reports from the other stations.
Interesting. I once heard a report filed at another station, so summarizing and linking on a blog has potential.