Dede McGuire Interviewed about her Radio Career (vid)

I almost didn’t post this because I didn’t have time to preview. Then I told myself to listen to a couple of minutes of it because I greatly appreciate honest, hardworking people in the industry who don’t play by the “rules” and are kindred to my own conceptual and out-of-the-box thinking. Successful people who go against the grain and take chances are often targeted in the black community so many learn to hide their insecurity and forge ahead nonetheless.  I speak from experience.What she says makes great sense about being on the air or doing something that garners a lot of audience attention but we don’t know how or even IF we are affecting people.  You produce this product but in the black community we almost NEVER respond to what we like, we mostly respond to what we don’t like, which is extremely unfortunate. I can’t help but to wonder how many other industry success stories feel the same way.This is a great interview and it’s so rare that people interview US to find out who we are, the onus is almost always on us to do that job. Finally, I want to also say that I was prompted to post this because in starting our new Rhythmic site All Radio News (allradionews.com) and interviewing quite a few Rhythmic PDs there is one fundamental difference between them and many black programmers. They say “Thank You” and they pass it around their social networks. OK TWO fundamental differences (lol). When was the last time you thanked your staff at your urban radio station for doing a great job? Get mad at me if you want but you already know I couldn’t care less. It’s true, we rarely say “Thank You” and it’s inconsiderate and I’m talking about some of the most successful urban programmers in the industry.  So I guess it starts with me to show my gratitude and appreciation for those who deserve to be congratulated.  As a community we should just be more appreciative and acknowledge the strengths of others in the community. Don’t get me started.. but a simple “Thank You,” “Great Job” or “I love what you do” goes a LONG way urban radio. (I’m not talking about Dede she always extends her gratitude)To that end. I want to say that I greatly respect and appreciate Hyman Childs and his service broadcasting company stations. This is literally the only station in the country that I have only heard GREAT things about and the admiration that the staff have for this industry legend is second to none.  I would love to meet him. Thanks for treating your Radio DJs and staff with such a great level of pride and respect and I also appreciate you Dede and your amazing contributions to the industry. Keep up the amazing work.[flowplayer id=”168562″]