Oregon Media Insiders

I can't speak about the personalities involved, but it's typical of a boneheaded radio PD to assume that your morning news anchor can do the job without any gear. They think news is something that you merely sit down and "read." They believe, having never done news themselves, that all you need to do is "copy and paste the Oregonian," which is a pretty conceit that some print people like to flatter themselves with. For all I know, some may do that, but nobody with any listenership or credibility.

Radio done right involves immediacy, because that's its only edge, and you've got to be nimble as hell. If the city gets buzzed by a meteor, you get eyewitnesses on the air right this minute. Slowpokes will get run over, and they'll call you a diva, but tough. And you have to keep pounding fresh stuff. You've got to be able to do instant story research. One station was able, for example, to immediately show that the explosion we saw Tuesday morning was not the wayward spy satellite crashing, which is the first thought many people had. The news person went to a real-time tracking site that showed it was off South America at the time. You can't do that sitting in a studio with a jock and no gear. Listeners check you out, and if you're not on it, they're gone.

That's why I respect Rebecca for demanding the tools, and refusing to put up with nonfunctional equipment or co-workers. There's a reason Stan needed her back, and there's a reason she'll be missed by KINK's listeners...if not by the people she left behind.