Hello Montreal. Are You Listening?

“Hello America, this is London calling…”

That was a signature phrase of the legendary U.S. broadcaster Edward R. Murrow. His radio reports from London during the blitzkrieg at the onset World War II established radio as an indelible force in the history of media. The voice brought the pain and suffering of war into the living rooms of Americans in a way that had never been experienced before.

Radio, in that era was many things. In addition to being news, it was entertainment, it was a tool for propaganda and of course, it was a way of selling products. Perhaps the most endearing and powerful quality of radio was the conversation. Although it was mostly a one-way conversation, there was an intimacy to it, a sense of warmth, welcoming, comfort.

Peter Gzowski, a renowned CBC broadcaster seemed to best capture this quality. Although his show Morningside was broadcast nationally, as a listener one always felt as if he or she was sitting across a kitchen table from Peter. His calming, folksy voice masked an intelligent and astute mind that always managed to coax an unexpected answer from celebrities and politicians alike.

Much of what we know of the music industry today is due in large part to the power of radio. Legendary hosts like Murray Kaufman (Murray the K) or Wolfman Jack, played significant roles in identifying and capturing a generation’s passion for music. To this day, radio plays a substantial role in how the public is exposed to a musician’s work.

In the modern era, radio competes with a multitude of media sources. Technologies such as the iPod, internet audio streaming, satellite radio, among many others, have given consumers more control and options in their listening choices.

What often seems overlooked today is that radio succeeds in areas where these other mediums fall short; it is still intimate, immediate and free. Local radio addresses the issues that are relevant to the communities they serve, and gives voice to those issues. It captures the cultural identity of a city, town or region through music and gives voice to its stories. Where it may be impossible to read a newspaper or stare at a screen, radio can continue its conversation throughout the day.

The thing is, any person or device can play music or give you the news and weather, but the true strength of radio is in the familiarity of the voices who share our common experience. We need people who make us laugh, make us think, teach us something or wonder aloud with the rest of us.

Radio is indeed a conversation, and it can be a powerful one, but only if the conversation comes from, and is directed towards, the community it serves.

Perhaps the days of a Wolman Jack, Peter Gzowski or Edward R. Murrow have passed, but it seems in this world where there are so many avenues to communicate, not much is really being said. We owe it to the medium to see that the conversation they began continues and grows stronger.


Skating from left to right on your radio dial,
Go Habs, Go