I tried to resist touching this but I loathe micromanagement. It's the unwelcome creative outlet for frustrated MBAs. After reading the news I knew that Randy Michaels is running amok. It's not Orwellian.. it's more Monty Pythonian. He issued a list of 119 words and phrases that must never again be uttered within the confines of of 720 WGN-AM.When executive management wanders off the reservation into programming... something has gone very very wrong. There is an org chart. Use it. If your programmers and producers aren't doing the job - fire them. Hire new ones. Do not hallucinate that you can do the job of any and every subordinate. When you've blown an 8 million dollar buy out the next thing to do is obvious start tinkering with the News style book. Micheals used to be a shock jock back in the 1980s... some people just cant let go of the attention. Not that this is his only ham-handed blunder.. just the most recent.
That complete list of forbidden words is as follows:
Flee, Good News, Bad News, Laud, seek, Two to one margin, Yesterday, Youth, 5 a.m. in the morning, After the break, After these commercial messages, Aftermath, All of you, Allegations, Alleged, Area residents, As expected, At risk, At this point in time, Authorities, Auto accident, Bare naked, Behind bars, Behind closed doors, Behind the podium, Best kept, secret, Campaign trail, Clash with police, Close proximity, Complete surprise, Completely, destroyed, completely abolished, completely finished, Death toll, Definitely possible, Diva, Down in, Down there, Everybody, Eye Rack (Iraq) , Eye Ran (Iran), False pretenses, Famed, Fatal death, Fled on foot, Folks, Giving 110%, Going forward, Gunman, lone gunman, Guys, Icon, In a surprise move, In harm’s way, In other news, In the wake of, Incarcerated, Informed sources say, Killing spree, Legendary, Lend a helping hand, Literally, Lucky to be alive, Manhunt, Marred, Medical hospital, Mother of all____, Motorist, Moot point, Near miss, No brainer, Officials, Our top story tonight, Out there, Over in____, Pedestrian, Perfect storm, Perished, Perpetrator, Plagued, Really, Reeling, Reportedly, Seek, Senseless murder, Shots rang out, Shower activity, Sketchy details. Some (meaning about)Some of you, Sources say, Speaking out, Stay tuned, The fact of the matter, Those of you, Thus, time for a break, To be fair, Torrential rain, Touch base, Under fire, Under siege, Underwent surgery, Undisclosed, Undocumented alien, Unrest, Untimely death, up there, utilize, Vehicle, We’ll be right back, Welcome back, * Welcome back everybody, We’ll be back, Went terribly wrong, We’re back, White stuff, World class, You folks
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Actually, Randy Michaels never was a shock jock..although various media outlets (no doubt parroting other media sources) have described him as a "former shock jock."
ReplyDeleteIn the 1980s he took the moribund WLW AM in Cincinnati and, first as program director, turned it into a powerhouse.
Michaels might be the only CEO who actually is qualified to meddle with programming. He really knows radio.
I must disagree. reading that list of words... clearly he's wandered off the ranch. Whatever magic anyone ever thought he had.. its gone. He blew the buyout and now is meddling in the day to day affairs like a chump rookie MBA.
ReplyDeleteYour blog is pretty interesting. Wish I came across it earlier. http://danoday.com/blog/
ReplyDeleteI'm OK with the pronunciation corrections (Eye Rack) and a few of the phrases definitely need cutting ("5AM in the morning" from the department of redundancy department) but most of that list makes no sense.
ReplyDeleteA good CEO should know not to micromanage. It undercuts the authority of your programmers, and gives the impression of a no-confidence vote. It's a rookie move and stinks of flailing and panic.
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