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Has Broadcasting Become Ageist?
The article below raises an interesting question - will broadcasting companies only hire people who are 35 or younger, leaving those in an older age group with plenty of working life left, out in the cold? The author posits that's exactly what's happening, and while he uses sports radio as an example, it could be argued it's much more widespread.
"Whether its justified or not, there is a mounting perception by veteran talent that the industry just doesn’t want them anymore. That is unfair and potentially damaging."
When I was starting out in the biz, I remember looking up to people with broadcasting experience. Hey, these guys had been on air and I listened to many of them growing up. The fact they would even deign to talk to me, let alone help teach me what I needed to learn, was incredible to me. I was in awe of them.
In fact, the very first question asked during a job interview was "what experience do you have?" because no one wanted to hire a beginner, especially in a major market like Toronto.
Decades have passed and now it seems if you're over 40, the new question that's asked behind the scenes seems to be "is he or she too old?" What you may have learned in all that time doesn't seem to matter as much.
I remember going to a job interview a few years ago and one of the first questions they asked me was, "How would you feel about having someone younger than you as your boss, telling you what to do?" I told them it wouldn't bother me at all, and I was a pretty quick learner. They offered me the job the next day, but for a number of personal reasons that had nothing to do with age, I turned them down.
So when the article writer wonders about ageism in broadcasting, I have to admit it gave me pause. I know a tremendous and famous retired radio newscaster who is now in his early 80s, is sharp as a tack, and sounds like he could go back on the air tomorrow if he wanted. Believe me he doesn't want to! I can only wonder what the reaction would be if he did.
Has anyone else run into this kind of thing as they've moved along in their career? When did having experience become a bad thing?
How Real Is Radio’s Ageism Problem?
- Dale Patterson
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Re: Has Broadcasting Become Ageist?
Is there any doubt about it? Surprised that anybody would be surprised at this.
"Life without echo is really no life at all." - Dan Ingram
- RadioActive
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Re: Has Broadcasting Become Ageist?
There is another aspect to this beyond just age.
People with years of experience generally make - and demand - more money. Companies like Bell & Rogers increasingly are only interested in doing everything on the cheap. So hiring a 20-year-old who doesn't know how to write, or mispronounces names and streets, while having no background in news, to do a newscast (when they actually staff their newsrooms) is a no-brainer.
They may not sound good or know what they're doing, but boy, do they work cheap! And to the bean counters, that's really all that counts.
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Thread Starter- The Weed
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20-40-60 rule in force. 20 plus years experience, 40 plus in age, making $60,000 or more? There's the door.
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Yep. I can think of at least 10 people right off the top of my head that have been through that exact numbers game. Some of them were really good at their jobs.
In one case, the guy I'm thinking of was in his early 50s, and did the work of at least two people, willingly toiling 12+ hour days in a newsroom. He'd been at the station almost 25 years, getting promotion after promotion over his career there.
He was actually given a raise for all his hard work about two months before he was fired in a major "restructuring." Ironically, that raise may have been one of the very reasons he was cut. Never mind how much he contributed to the place. He was now making too much - and he was gone in one day.
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Thread Starter- Johnny B
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Re: Has Broadcasting Become Ageist?
Media companies know they can feed off the hunger of young folks seeking their broadcasting dreams...they will do more work for less money and can then leverage the older more experienced folks out of the business...or either through attrition or layoffs or 'constructive dismissal' where they change or make the job next to impossible to do well and enjoy...the product obviously suffers and is prone to more errors but most viewers and listeners either don't care or don't notice enough to tune out....and those who do the media giants don't care about...plus many get their info from so many other sources that the media giants need to spread their budgets around to cover more things while ensuring profits come in for shareholders and exec bonuses...I had the absolutely privilege to work closely and daily with some of the best Toronto radio has ever offered including - Larry Silver, Evelyn Macko, Humble and Fred, Ripkin, Scruff Connors, John Derringer, Gary Bell, Mark Elliot, Jeff Chalmers, Al Joins, Mike Stafford, etc, etc...all were at least a decade older than me when I entered the business...what I learned from them was incalculable...that level of experience and knowledge is something every young broadcaster/journalists/media pro should have available...it makes them better meaning the on air product will be better....
- alangee
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A perfect example of what is being talked about is the FAN 590’s morning crew. I’m sure they’re very nice people but I had to give up listening to them because too much of the time it sounded like a bunch of kids shooting the breeze a frat party. It’s one thing to be young, and it’s actually great to be young from what I remember. That doesn’t mean one has to sound infantile. Or is this just me being a crotchety old fart?
- Dale Patterson
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The same applies to other industries as well. Once you get old - and expensive - you're gone. Experience doesn't matter, in fact it works against you.
Last edited by Dale Patterson (February 23, 2022 10:39 am)
"Life without echo is really no life at all." - Dan Ingram
- betaylored
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I think Mike Stafford would have been happy to stay with his mid-morning show at the lower salary, he said for years there was no way he was going anywhere but eventually felt pressured? to accept the morning show... darn right radio is ageist and oh boy, pun intended, still subtly sexist and racist.
Last edited by betaylored (February 23, 2022 5:12 pm)