Be a One-Man Radio Network
(Page 2 of 4)
May/June 1971
By Chuck Crouse
In three days of calling, I 'signed up' five stations. No written contract was drawn. I simply sent each accepting radio station a letter that put in writing what I had offered on the phone. The letters also included my home address, home phone and capitol phone.
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Most state capitol buildings have press rooms. In my case, there were two: A crowded, noisy one housing newspaper reporters and a quiet room for broadcasters tucked away on the fifth floor. The executive director of the Legislative Management Committee (ask around to learn whom you must see) set me up with a desk in the broadcasters' room and I ordered a phone.
Since I had been paying my home telephone bill on time, I did not have to make the $75.00 deposit usually required on new business phones. I already owned a cassette tape recorder and I bought several new blank cassettes and a set of batteries for it. I also wound an induction coil with which to feed taped audio into the phone (instructions later). A ream of cheap paper and some file folders, and I was set to go.
In my state, the Governor has a brief, informal news conference at 9:30 each morning. I make it a point to scan the morning paper before I go in and I always get to the conference just before it begins. Usually, the Governor doesn't have much to announce at these gatherings and the sessions are taken up with questions from the dozen or so reporters who attend regularly. I'm quite fortunate in that the Governor permits cassette recorders to operate during the meetings: His predecessor did not.
After the morning conference I stop by the main press room to pick up any mail (mostly releases from political parties and various state agencies) and then go on up to my desk on the fifth floor.
There is usually material for one or two stories in each news conference. I write them up, select appropriate cuts of 10 to 30 seconds from the tape and start calling my stations.
Rarely does every station buy any given story. Some want local angles and two all-news stations have union contracts which prevent me from feeding them tape. For these two outlets I prepare special straight-voice reports that run a little longer than the stories I give the other studios.
All these reporting calls are made collect and the receptionists, who recognize my name, accept promptly. I quickly outline the content and length of the story or stories I have and each station's newsroom people decide on the spot whether or not they want my offering. If they do, they roll their tape and I feed.
