Why Barack Again?

The short answer: because we didn't the first time. We arrived at an interesting program decision today on the radio station side, likely to provoke some discussion but there is a strong belief it's the right thing to do.

The issue surrounds broadcasting last Thursday's acceptance speech by Democrat presidential nominee Senator Barack Obama, followed by coverage of Republican presidential nominee Senator John McCain's speech before his convention.

As much as we'd like to say it comes at the thought of presenting both in an "equal time" setting, it has more to do with poor timing on our part, in particular planning during vacation time and not paying enough attention to a calendar.

Many stations such as WAKR with complicated programming of sports find themselves trying to squeeze must-listen to coverage between must-carry sports obligations. The culture here at the stations has been one to encourage community debate and discussion, and carriage of the acceptance speeches by the candidates certainly fits that mission (even IF most people may be watching on television or ignoring altogether) of service.

Unfortunately our top news manager (me) was out of town last Thursday, and we didn't catch the fact that Thursday was in fact an open night: we should have been presenting the Obama speech live. Add to that oversight the discomfort of carrying one candidate (in this case McCain) while not carrying the other (Obama)...that simply is not an option, but we couldn't turn back the clock -- or can we?

Our decision: re-broadcast Senator Obama's Denver speech in its entirety, without the normal commentary from a broadcast team, then join ABC's coverage tonight minutes before Senator McCain does the same thing in St. Paul.

It isn't perfect but in some aspect is gives our listeners the opportunity to listen again and compare both in a shorter, more compact time frame. We're leaning toward posting both speeches, unedited and in full, on the website as a reference point for listeners and voters who may be on the electoral see-saw over the next two months.