Winnipeg Free Press

Winnipeg Free Press (Newspaper) - August 17, 1963, Winnipeg, Manitoba Winnipeg free press saturday August 17, 1963 talks of television radio can drive one Back to to i just Back from vacation and finding it hard to get in the Groove the gait. What a Guy really needs is a vacation from a vacation but my unreasonable Boss won t listen to such a suggestion. But just so we will All understand each other there won t be too much about television in this first column because like i told my Boss when he asked me if i looked at much television while i was on vacation what do you think i am. Some kind of a nut radio was the most consistent entertainment fare while i was living out among the Pines and the Mosquito and be Sieve me nothing can drive you Back to television quicker than some of the so called shows on local radio stations. If you think commercials pop up loud and frequently on to then you should just spend some time in the Daylight hours listening to radio. It became very evident daring my listening sessions that radio with the exception perhaps of Csc network programs plays Down to its listeners and this is especially noticeable in programming on sky Krc and Job where much time is spent on is that mrs. Joseph Doakes now mrs. Dothes for our special award of a Large Economy size can of Wilfric the detergent with the whammy Tell us please in what City is the Corner of Portage and main located of that s too bad mrs. Doakes. If you had answered correctly you would have received the Wilfric but try again keep those letters coming in one station throws a simple question to the airwaves and the announcer states he will be phoning someone at ran Don for the answer. Questions like in what Story will the character Simon Legree be the series of questions starts off at ?1, and 51 is added when no Correct answer i received. The dismal piece of business Here is that when a person is called the question is not repeated they Are just asked if they heard the question Given recently on the air. If they have not heard it and cannot answer then the announcer later reports we called the Home of giving name and address and they did not have the answer ready Sootoo another is added to the pot making the answer to our next question Worth it does not strike the station management that they Are left with considerable egg on the face by they made 245 Calls and nobody was listening to their station. But there is another Factor too. Persons hearing the questions and then hearing that parties called did not have the answer think the persons named on the air Are on the stupid Side when in fact they did t even know what question they were supposed to answer. And i listened in amazement to a program called beefs and bouquets Over Job where of an Early morn unidentified people Call in and criticize everything from government to the behaviour of the children of their next door neighbors. Once in a while a bouquet is handed out but not often. A lot of people believe that this program has Long been a sounding Board for local commies who take a Belt at this and that without too much logic behind any of their arguments. It is also notable for having the same group of individuals turning up on the Telephone Day after Day Many with Little knowledge of the subject they Are discussing and in Many cases the inability to express themselves lucidly. At times one can hear politicians and even judges called utterances bordering on slander and outright libel inaccuracies thrown out loosely with the voice of authority and recently a male caller speaking in very broken nay eve Dutton shattered English complained about the prime minister of Canada falling Down on his election promises and termed the head of the government a this in All decency is far off the beam because apparently there is no Way by which the station itself can accurately Check the identity of any caller who May in the course of his conversation use the and a considerable listening audience to spread propaganda whether it be to obtain Aid for homeless cats or to disparage any Given government policy or civic Effort. Pertinent profile Krc s eve Dutton the Dean of Canada s radio news casters recently penned a pert essay for the popular station s weekly staff newspaper dial log in which he neatly outlines some of the trials and tribulations of a radio new writing newscaster. He Calls it what is a newsman and it goes like this a newsman is often a disc jockey who has traded in a life of fantasy for the harsh realities of existence and usually feels he got Short changed on the Deal. He comes in All sizes Long and Short but Seldom fat. He must have a Strong stomach two pairs of eyes wheels instead of legs and a built in self starter. An extra Arm growing out of the Small of his Back helps. His ears should be equipped with a tape recorder and his head with an electronic computer. He is expected to remember everything he has Ever heard or read. Within any Given fifteen minutes he will a Settle arguments among listeners who phone him for the score of the Grey cup game in 1953, the time the last bus leaves for Transcona and the chemical formula for . B explain to an irate housewife Why it rained when the Weatherman said it would be Clear. Pc be called a Nincompoop by a sports fan because he did t give the final score of a Ball game which won t Start for another hour. D Check fourteen police departments none of which has any news while e simultaneously monitoring three opposition newscasts and f worrying about Why the police radio is sending All those cars to the River Bank change one teletype ribbon and place one paper Roll and g assure an anxious caller that the big fire in the West end is Only the Sunset h and at one minute before air time deliver a week s resume of legislative news for an Alberta station which is doing a nation wide political Roundup in depth. At the same time in this fifteen minutes he will write and broadcast one five minute summary one sports report and a weather Eye. A radio newsman is an encyclopedia a newspaper an historian a Diplomat an entertainer an interviewer an authority and a whipping boy. His delivery must be. Flawless. He must be coordinated to answer the phone rewrite a Story Cue a tape read a handout and drink Coffee simultaneously. He is an automaton at work a family Man at Home a polished gentleman at the chamber of Commerce reception and a Roughneck with hide an Inch thick at the murder scene. He must be a hot rodder on the Way to a fire but at All times a careful Driver with an image to protect. In his rela continued on Page 7 ;