Going Live and Local on KVOL 1330

After nearly five years of self-imposed media exile, I am back in the Lafayette media market.

But not as a newspaper writer or editor (that is so 1999), but as co-host of A.M. Acadiana, the new morning show on the only true Talk Radio station in Acadiana -- KVOL 1330.

You see, the people over at Pittman Broadcasting broke new ground two-and-half years ago when they brought in Todd C. Elliot to host the city's first "real" talk radio show -- one where the host was doing more than offering PSA's for local government and businesses and callers were encouraged to voice their opinions, no matter how unpopular.

In the end, Elliot and a small crew he brought on board were dropped by KVOL. But I'm not here to bash him or them. That's the business of talk radio.

Elliot and his cohorts got people talking in Lafayette, and for that we should all be thankful – whether we cheered or jeered when we heard about his firing.

I plan to build on what Elliot started, and expand the dialogue here in Acadiana. That starts, I believe, with a serious change in the way we think about talk radio.

Talk radio must stop thinking of itself as radio, and start thinking of itself as a greater community. And building communities is about talking to one another, about communicating, about informing one another.

In the realm of talk radio, those conversations take place in varied places. Sure, the most obvious conversation takes place on the air. But the conversation should continue online – where a true, community radio station should offer audio/video from local school board meetings, city council meetings, etc. and a host of resources that people once turned to newspapers for.

Most importantly, talk radio needs to be where the best storytelling takes place. It can be about sharing a mundane fishing story, a great breakfast at the local spoon, or about a heated political race.

The bottom line is that people want to talk about all of those things, and – we lose sight of this sometimes – care equally about all of them.

The people in Lafayette care very much about local issues, and want an avenue to discuss those issues, whether it be a controversial zoning decision coming before the board, how to spend a budget surplus or what to do about the growing number of students falling between the crack’s in the public school system.

And, yes, people do want to discuss the occasional national issue – but typically they want to break it down to what it means for them locally. Just as newspapers “localize” a national story by offering information from local experts about what it means here and getting feedback from everyday people, talk radio has the opportunity to do that as well.

So, expect what you've always gotten from me – local news delivered with a slight edge – and I promise you won’t be disappointed. See you on the air.

Lou