Radio Personalities Research Articles

Black Radio’s Contribution to Collective and Cultural Memory: Personnel Perspectives of Black Radio History in the United States

ABSTRACT This interdisciplinary research investigates the significance of the community connection between Black radio personnel and their audiences through the lens of collective and cultural memory narratives. The study addresses two key research questions. First, how do Black radio personnel’s collective and cultural memories contribute to the Black public sphere? Second, what are the defining characteristics in developing parasocial relationships and interactions between Black radio personalities and their audiences? The qualitative research employs an autoethnographic methodology and a questionnaire, utilizing insights gained from the author’s experiences working at a Black-owned radio network and station. The questionnaire, distributed to key informants in the field, explores narratives related to Black radio station engagement, memorable moments, and public service programming. The findings reveal diverse stories, including community mobilization around social issues and the unique role of Black radio in shaping local and national events. The exploration of parasocial relationships among Black radio personnel demonstrates positive connections with listeners, ranging from on-air interactions to long-term friendships. Despite occasional challenges and boundary issues, the study highlights the deep emotional impact of these relationships and their role in fostering loyalty and engagement within the Black community. The research contributes to the documentation of Black radio history, emphasizing its role as a cultural memory maker and underscoring the need for expanded archival efforts in this area.

Me, myself, I:

Digital technologies have sparked a renewed focus on radio personalities. Radio personalities are, by virtue of their profession, performers, and social media offers a stage on which to enact their professional and personal identities. Drawing on Goffman’s (1959) theatre metaphor, this study explored the way radio presenters display their personal and professional identities online. This research evolved from the difficulty that seems to exist in the interplay between a personal online identity and an online personal brand. The qualitative study was embedded within an interpretative and constructivist paradigm. Data were collected through face-to-face interviews with radio personalities of a commercial radio station in South Africa and were triangulated with content analysis of the presenters’ social networking profiles. The findings extend existing scholarship by suggesting that radio personalities display differently configured online characters. The study makes a theoretical contribution by highlighting that radio personalities’ actions on social media should be informed by a strategic marketing approach in achieving individual and business goals.

Injecting Health Information? The Channeled Role of Radio Personalities in the Vaccination Status of Older Adults

On top of the country’s predicament to bolster the number of vaccinated older adults is the perpetuating transmission of health mis- and disinformation. Following the approach of Grounded Theory, this study examined the role of radio personalities in the vaccination status of older adults drawing from the data of the 14 semi-structured interviews: seven vaccinated and seven unvaccinated. The study found that radio personalities contribute to their attitudes and behavior about the COVID-19 vaccines. The recurring information learned by older adults from them led to the discovery of wired and unwired trusts, placing both agents in the line of responsibility. This interpretation was derived from the dominant themes emanated by the channel of motivation, views toward radio personalities, emerging mis- and disinformation, credibility indicators, and substantiating information. The study recommended a full-swing collaboration between radio entities and health agencies to increase vaccination uptake among older adults.

Live and direct? Censorship and racialised public morality in grime and drill music

AbstractThis article addresses the linguistic policing of grime and UK drill music. Existing studies often focus on the immediacy of the penal system. This article will instead explore the extent to which institutional bodies uphold and maintain a programme of racialised censorship across radio broadcasts, seeking to understand how these value judgements impact upon creative practice. It presents an ethnographic study of three radio shows that aired on BBC 1Xtra, demonstrating through interviews and analysis how the broadcaster's censorship practice unfairly renders Black artists as dangerous with criminal associations. Lyrical assertions of musical skill are misread as direct threats, while evocations of the quotidian are seen to cause violence rather than reflect artists’ surroundings. Importantly, it will show how artists’ work and words are adversely discriminated against owing to a legacy of racialised public morality that imposes greater sanctions and restrictions on artistic output: radio personalities must strike a balance between presenting voyeuristic excitement about a genre, and the need to meet (racialised) editorial standards; producers assiduously monitor new slang to make sure that it is censored; and artists are encouraged to self-censor and alter their musical output, to protect themselves from unwanted ramifications.

Tanúhegyek – avagy felhívás „keringőre”

The Hungarian Pedagogical Association has always considered drawing on the examples and strengths of notable predecessors to contemporary pedagogy to be a vital mission which can help teachers who struggle with everyday challenges and, at times, are vulnerable to burnout. A symbolic tool for taking up this task is the publication activity of the Association. The book ‘Tanúhegyek’ (Witness Hills in English - a metaphor) was published in 2018 with support from several municipalities and institutions of higher education. The book contains more than fifty portraits of famous Hungarian drama educators, puppeteers, musicians, and radio personalities, such as music and dance teachers.

“You Should Rather Return to Your First Job.” The Self-efficacy Beliefs of Radio Personalities

ABSTRACT Radio presenting is a rewarding yet challenging undertaking for novice and experienced radio personalities. Self-efficacy, a key determinant of performance, is an under-researched psychological variable that may influence radio presenters’ performance in a highly competitive industry. This study explored the self-efficacy beliefs of radio personalities at a community radio station in central South Africa. Eleven semi-structured face-to-face interviews were conducted and analyzed by means of directive coding. The findings in this study unpack the factors that impact positively and negatively on self-efficacy beliefs and may help navigate station management toward rendering the necessary support in empowering and retaining these employees.

Alcohol Advertising Regulation for the Adult Population: An Analysis of Distilled Spirits Radio Endorsements in Spain

Restrictions on advertising of high-alcohol-content beverages aims to prevent consumption in young people and alcohol misuse in adults. The main objective of this research was to analyze the presence of distilled spirits mentions and its compliance with legislation in relation to the minor protection time slot, the factors associated with drinking, and the promotion of excessive consumption. We conducted a content analysis of all advertising mentioning spirits broadcast throughout 2017 on news/talk radio stations targeting an adult audience in Spain. We identified 355 radio mentions. The special protection time slot for minors was disregarded in 91.8% of cases. Radio personalities encouraged immoderate consumption in 76.6% of the analyzed mentions, and associated alcohol consumption with improved physical performance, social success, or health in 42.3% of cases. This study reveals the shortcomings of public administration in the control and monitoring of spirits mentions in the radio medium, in a context in which the adult population is unprotected against messages that frequently encourage excessive consumption and associate it with positive and gratifying values.

All ‘Shook’ up: Bob Hope, the USO, and How a Night in Greenland Changed Television

Broadcast in January 1955, a single episode of The Bob Hope Show on the Colgate Comedy Hour, Hope’s first USO show on American television, reflects wider shifts taking place in television in the 1950s. The episode demonstrates the increasing importance of recorded and edited television over live TV; the shift in production from New York City to Los Angeles; the increasing role of Hollywood stars over New York’s theater community or radio personalities; changing public tastes; and advertising in the 1950s, which was about to undergo profound change as well. The show also reveals changes in the character of war as Americans get to see for the first time during the Cold War, US military personnel at a remote location. Hope’s jokes and William Holden’s monologue at the end of the show illustrate how Americans had come to see both the specter of communism and the American military after the armistice in Korea, all while broadcasting from the new ‘front lines’ of the Cold War, or in this case what Holden called ‘Malenkov’s patio’.

Irony and Outrage: The Polarized Landscape of Rage, Fear, and Laughter in the United States

Irony and Outrage: The Polarized Landscape of Rage, Fear, and Laughter in the United States

Tricky two-some: The interplay between radio personalities' personal online identities and online personal brands

Radio stations encourage their presenters to utilise social media such as Facebook, Twitter and Instagram to create awareness of the station’s brand, promote their shows, interact with listeners, and build their professional brands. The question is: how does this affect their engagement with social media when they are not on air? This study explored the interplay of radio personalities’ personal online identity and online personal brand. A qualitative strategy was chosen to help navigate the investigatory efforts to explore the ways in which radio presenters exist online. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with ten radio presenters at a South African commercial radio station. A number of challenges were identified that radio presenters encounter when they attempt to manage their online personas. A lack of training in social media communication and a lack of knowledge about the basic principles of personal branding are some of the challenges. Recommendations are made to radio presenters as well as their employers to simplify this complex issue of managing the interplay between personal identity and personal branding in creating a branded identity (as opposed to a brand identity).

Subscribe, Rate and Preserve Wherever You Get Your Podcasts

Contemporary podcasting is used not only to extend the reach of existing radio stations and personalities but also by hundreds of independent content creators who can bypass the strictures of traditional distribution channels to deliver audio programs directly to online audiences. Preserve This Podcast (PTP) was an Andrew W. Mellon-funded outreach and education project designed to raise awareness among indie podcasters of the need to proactively preserve their content and teach basic techniques for podcast preservation. This paper discusses the preservation challenges faced by indie broadcasters and strategies the PTP team used to address these through face-to-face workshops, online outreach, and web-based tools, using the present threat of “podfade” to raise larger issues surrounding the urgency and challenges of preserving born-digital audio content.

Self-service media: Public radio personalities, reality podcasting, and entrepreneurial culture

ABSTRACTThis paper analyzes the initial seasons of two reality podcasts, Gimlet Media’s StartUp and Stable Genius’ ZigZag in relation to neoliberalism and entrepreneurialism of the self. It demonstrates how these for-profit podcasts documenting the launching of private companies represent the culmination of longterm historical processes in the public media sector and U. S society more broadly. It argues that the leveraging of public radio expertise and capital to launch reality soundwork programs promoting for-profit media companies is symptomatic of a broader shift in American cultural towards entrepreneurship of the self. These programs, and the companies and personalities behind them, are thus emblematic of both a distinct phase in the development of podcasting as a medium and the pervasiveness of market fundamentalist ideologies in contemporary U. S society.

Analyzing the Style of Writing of Russian Press on Russian-Turkish War of 1877-1878 for Serbia

Media language has always attracted the attention of linguists, particularly applied linguists and sociolinguists. There are four practical and principled reasons for this interest. First, the media provide an easily accessible source of language data for research and teaching purposes. Second, the media are important linguistic institutions. Their output makes up a large proportion of the language that people hear and read every day. Media usage reflects and shapes both language use and attitudes in a speech community. For second language learners, the media may function as the primary—or even the sole—source of native-speaker models. Third, the ways in which the media use language are interesting linguistically in their own right; these include how different dialects and languages are used in advertising, how tabloid newspapers use language in a projection of their assumed readers' speech, or how radio personalities use language—and only language–to construct their own images and their relationships to an unseen, unknown audience. Fourth, the media are important social institutions. They are crucial presenters of culture, politics, and social life, shaping as well as reflecting how these are formed and expressed. Media ‘discourse’ is important both for what it reveals about a society and for what it contributes to the character of society. This study tried to analyze the style of writing of Russian Press on Russian-Turkish War of 1877-1878 for Serbia. The article deals with the problem of gaining independence of the principality of Serbia in the Russian-Turkish war 1877-1878. The article considers the events with the Serbian participation in the liberation war through the pages of the Russian press. It describes all the vicissitudes of gaining Serbia’s independence from the Ottoman rule.

The Use of Radio Advertorials in Spanish Radio Stations

Radio advertorials (RA) are long advertisements broadcasted within the programming and executed by journalists to imitate editorial content. An analysis of their presence, use and characteristics confirms that journalists and radio owners are not rigorous in the application of the codes of conduct that regulate this advertising feature in Spain. This work focuses on these rules and propose a matrix of variables, such as time slot, product category, type of endorser, advertiser identification, format and copy text style, which identifies these inappropriate practices in the sample under study. The results show that RAs are more prevalent during time slots with higher audience ratings and in programmes hosted by well-known radio personalities. Also, most RAs are embedded within the editorial content of programmes and are formatted as interviews, and their copy style is informative.

In the Arms of a Peachleaf Willow off I-55

In the Arms of a Peachleaf Willow off I-55 Collin Callahan (bio) a flittering of rust-bellied birds chirp like smoke alarmslow on battery. From tendrils of shade,I sketch a ribbonsnake unwinding on a stone, as airplane left linesfade like deniminto the darkening sky. A semi lies—jackknifed—in the median of the interstate.The air is thick with diesel. Radio personalities spilllike lukewarm coffeeout of passing car windows. If I listen close,I can almost heara freckle of a man on the shoulder of Exit 13—shakinghis styrofoam cuptambourine. [End Page 52] Collin Callahan Collin Callahan was born in Illinois. His poems have appeared in Blue Earth Review, Denver Quarterly, Hobart, and elsewhere. Collin is currently a PhD student in Creative Writing at Florida State University. Copyright © 2018 University of Wisconsin Board of Regents

Linguistic Pride or the Airwaves: Pulaar Radio Broadcasting on the Senegal-Mauritania Border

In parts of the Sahel Region, media liberalization and the establishment of community radio stations have increased the sources of news and information available in both urban and rural areas. This paper is based on ethnographic research conducted on five community radio stations in Northern Senegal, near the border with Mauritania. These radio stations have a significant development component, broadcasting about such issues as agriculture, herding and public health, receiving varying levels of funding from organizations such as USAID and the NGO Institut PANOS, which promotes journalistic freedom in West Africa. However, the impact of community radio stations in contexts such as that of Senegal cannot be understood merely through the lens of their formal development or organizational goals. Based on several fieldwork trips made to Senegal and Mauritania between 2010 and 2015, this paper analyzes four aspects of the role the community radio stations play: 1) Community radio stations in the Senegal River Valley have created opportunities for people to forge new social networks and support systems. Not only do the radio stations' compounds serve as social gathering points, but they host the comings and goings of staff members, supporters, as well as people coming to drop off announcements for funerals or other events. Call-in talk shows are another important aspect of the way the radio stations researched for this paper contribute to the building of new social networks in the Senegal River Valley, as many regular callers become well-known, attaining a degree of local fame. 2) The radio personalities employed at these stations deal with the challenges of living as public figures- even celebrities- in their communities, and many of them convey a sense of responsibility to conduct personal lives that will not embarrass them, their colleagues or their families. 3) The community radio stations researched for this project broadcast mainly in Pulaar, a language which is spoken by significant minorities in both Senegal and Mauritania and around the Sahel. Many programs broadcast themes associated with Pulaar linguistic pride, showcasing Pulaar poetry or even airing shows in which callers compete to speak Pulaar without using loan words. Moreover, a significant number of broadcasters interviewed for this paper bring to their work backgrounds as language activists promoting the Pulaar language through teaching literacy, theater and other activities. 4) Mauritanian listeners are an important source of support for the radio stations, despite the fact that the stations are located on the Senegalese side of the border. Mauritanians appear as guests on shows, give donations, submit public announcements and call into programs. In this respect, the radio stations are not merely “Senegalese” development projects, but thrive on the linguistic, cultural and kinship ties shared by people on both the Senegalese and Mauritanian sides of the River Valley. Ultimately, covering these four themes will shed light on how community radio stations in places like West Africa, with their range of public service broadcasting and talk shows, reconfigure social relationships and create new opportunities for the pursuit of activism and cultural revival.

“… And Please Visit Our Facebook Page, Too!” How Radio Presenter Personalities Influence Listeners’ Interactions With Radio Stations

Radio personalities or presenters are important to music radio stations, as their individual personalities influence if, how, and to what extent listeners want to interact with radio stations and presenters during programs. Both parasocial interaction with the presenter and flow experiences are believed to mediate the listener–presenter relationship. With this in mind, we conducted an experiment in which 236 German radio listeners aged 14 to 49 were asked to listen to the same radio show, but with varying presenters. Mediation analysis revealed notable effects of presenters’ personalities on listeners’ behavioral intentions. Both parasocial interaction and flow were found to be important mediators of the discovered effects.

Exploring the Influence of Parasocial Relationships and Experiences on Radio Listeners’ Consumer Behaviors

The purpose of the present study was to explore the influence of radio listener experiences on radio listening behaviors, consumer perceptions and behaviors, and social media involvement. A national sample of listeners (N = 2,700) from a variety of small, medium, and large designated market areas (N = 9) throughout the United States revealed the presence of parasocial relationships (PSRs) and experiences of parasocial interaction (EPSI) with local and nationally syndicated radio personalities. Both PSRs and EPSI predicted radio listening, positive perceptions about, recall of, and purchasing of the brands, products, and services recommended by listeners’ favorite radio personalities. Results also show that PSRs and EPSI predicted listeners’ involvement with social media platforms.

The Political Economy of the Radio Personality

In music radio broadcasting, radio personalities (presenters, hosts, DJs) have traditionally been of critical importance to programming success. In this article, I seek to add to the understanding of contemporary developments within radio, especially music radio, through focusing on the presenter from a political economy perspective. How do new business models and technologies affect the performances and forms of talk developed by presenters in contemporary radio? What new roles are assigned to presenters in commercial music radio? How are work practices and labor relations affected? The article shows how media convergence has impacted the work of radio personalities in traditional broadcasting.

Rufus Thomas, Man of the House of Happiness

[ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] In his eighty-four years, Rufus Thomas worked with hundreds of colorfully named musicians and radio personalities--like Hot Rod and Honey Boy, Moolah and Gatemouth--but other than calling himself world's finest teenager, Thomas never needed a funky handle to distinguish himself as a singer, songwriter, and disc jockey in Memphis, Tennessee. His career was entwined with virtually every great blues, RB yet, Thomas believed that as a pure entertainer he had no equal. As he put it: There is nobody alive, on the face of the earth, who can do Rufus like I do Rufus. Thomas had a run of memorably goofy top-ten R&B hits in the 1960s, but listing them (Walking the Dog, Do the Push & Pull ...) or mentioning the dozens of bands who paid tribute with covers (The Rolling Stones, Aerosmith ...) misses the point. The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, after all, doesn't feature Rufus Thomas. Instead, his influence derives from the bawdy figure he cut and the freewheeling tone he set. Whether performing on Beale Street, recording for the legendary Sun and Stax labels, emceeing fund-raising revues, or misbehaving late at night in a radio studio, he communicated something essentially spiritual. He gave hot-blooded young male musicians from Mick Jagger to Busta Rhymes the grammar for thinking and talking and joking about their deepest, darkest, nastiest urges. With unabashedly raunchy good humor, he helped define the tradition of the fun-loving trickster, the likable lech. Until shortly before his death in 2001, Thomas continued to work Saturday mornings from six to ten, co-hosting a radio show at WDIA-AM. After a guest appearance a few years earlier, he simply kept coming back, and nobody minded. After all, it was Thomas, as much as anyone, who once made WDIA the most important radio station in the country--the nation's first to switch to all-black programming. Everyone knows what a big deal it was when, in 1953, a nineteen-year-old truck driver named Elvis Presley paid a visit to Sam Phillip's Sun Studios to make a record for his mom. But WDIA quietly debuting its Tan Town Jamboree four years earlier may have had farther-reaching effects on American culture and the history of popular music. At the time, African Americans in Memphis couldn't visit the city's fairgrounds or zoo. The city's lone African American police officer wasn't permitted to arrest, or touch, anyone white. But suddenly, with all these smart and funny African American voices enlivening the air, playing down-home race music, and discussing the great and small concerns of the African American community of the Mississippi Delta, WDIA brought together the urban and rural, the poor and well-to-do, the schooled and unschooled, in one powerful demographic. Profit had been the original motive, of course, but once the white station managers switched to an all-black format, they didn't hedge their bets. They went out and hired the most audacious on-air personalities in a town brimming with audacious personalities. And then they did something amazing: they let Rufus Thomas and his colleagues simply be themselves. [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Rufus, you are one handsome devil! Thomas exclaimed, within minutes of my dropping by WDIA'S scruffy, shag-carpeted studios in 1999. Visiting Memphis was a musical pilgrimage, and WDIA's downtown studios were my first stop. Well-dressed all the time! Thomas went on. Even on your off days! You can hear them saying it as soon as they pass you on the street: 'Damn, that Rufus is sharp! Uh-huh!' And for a man your age, who is still able to go out on the street and look sharp, it's remarkable. Or there's another word you can use: It's incredible! It truly is. Whatever you put on, you make something happen that nobody else do. …