I think I always like to first differentiate between pundits on cable channels who very clearly have a slant and an agenda and they're really just giving out their opinions versus these journalists who are really doing their best to be objective. Welcome to BRANDwidth On Demand, your guide to rebooting radio. Always look to improve and also don't overstress because I think sometimes we end up hating the news if we're letting it get to us too much. So just do your best and keep going.
BRANDwidth On Demand. Rebooting radio with a different take on all radio can be. Now, your guides through the media morphosis, David Martin, and author of the book, BRANDwidth, media branding coach, Kipper McGee. Our
guest is an award winning broadcast journalist who left her job at CBS in Los Angeles to launch a daily news podcast called The Newsworthy. Each morning, she provides a 10 minute rundown of the most important headlines as well as weekend long form interviews with newsmakers. Her casual and concise style helps listeners save time and energy for what matters most.
She's passionate about providing an unbiased and informative way to stay up to date on news while providing multiple perspectives so her audience gets more understanding and fewer eye rolls. Since its launch in 2017, the Newsworthy has been downloaded millions of times per month. Has been featured in publications like Harper's Bazaar, Fast Company, People Magazine, many others.
She's also a frequent speaker at journalism conferences and events, a strong advocate for diversity and inclusion in the news industry. Since she's last with us, she's been named one of the top 25 women in podcasting by Podchaser, awarded the best podcast by Harper's Bazaar magazine. Wow. And featured as a can't miss podcast by Stitcher. BRANDwidth On Demand is proud to welcome back one of the very few objective news anchors in media today. Here's Erica Mandy. Hey, Erica.
Hey, Erica. Welcome. Thank you so much for having me on.
Well, we are glad to have you back and always appreciate your making time for us. Of course. So one thing that continues to impress me day after day with your news is just your sense of objectivity with everything going on from politics, presidential race, unthinkable things in the Middle East, Ukraine here. So in keeping with your mantra of fast, fair, and fun... what do you see as the most important things to keep in mind when trying to be objective whether covering or anchoring a news
story? So I think regardless of what's happening, we really try to understand all perspectives through a variety of sources. So that might be different types of experts. We're talking to other news outlets. We're reviewing and citing potentially what various reporters on the ground are saying, and then also even looking at what's getting a lot of attention on social media so that we know what our listeners might be saying or seeing online. And we can address any of that if needed as well.
So to be clear, that doesn't mean that. We're necessarily including everything that we see in our show, but doing all of that research across multiple platforms, multiple sources, it gives us all the information to then decide what perspectives do we already have and need to include what is still missing, or perhaps is not verified enough to include and or what other context might need to be added if we include certain things. And we also often ask ourselves.
If a person who supports one side hears this story, how are they going to feel? Did we represent them fairly in at least part of it? And then we ask that question for all the different perspectives while also keeping in mind that we are going to be factual. And if there's something that we can't verify, or if there's any claims that warrant it, we will provide necessary context. So ultimately, as I'm sure other journalists are familiar with.
Even a one minute, two minute story in our podcast means that we've spent a lot more time researching in order to be as thorough and objective as we can be with our format. And obviously, this is more complex and time consuming for stories like the Israel Hamas War and much more straightforward and much more simple for other types of stories.
Good point. You know, one of the many things that set your newscast apart is your positivity and your use of extremely neutral language and keeping your news stories as brief as possible. What tips do you have for an anchor who wants to stick to the facts and let the reader or viewer? Draw their own conclusions.
Yeah, I think the positivity piece comes from like the variety of stories that we do and trying to avoid being overly Sensational and I think it really does not take much for the audience to Notice something that makes them feel that we're being biased. So we really try to avoid words like shocking and bombshell and amazing because I think In a lot of ways, these are opinions and they make it sound sensational and it shows a slant.
So I think in general, unless it's really, really called for, we try to avoid that. I think the other key thing is to just, yeah, think about every word and what it represents. So that's being really mindful of things like titles. So one example might be a certain Florida bill that everyone was talking about for a while that's known as the don't say gay bill. But I think it's our responsibility to make sure our audience knows that.
That's actually a nickname from critics, and we present it in a way, no matter how we feel about it, we present it in a way that is clear that critics are calling this. This is why critics call it that and what supporters of the bill who passed it are saying about it and what they call it as well. And I think for anchors specifically. It also really matters what our tone of voice is.
I want to be really mindful about how I present with my tone, each perspective and what my tone might be communicating to the audience in addition to the words that I'm saying.
For somebody who's just starting out in the business today and wants to be as good as they can be at being an objective journalist, what suggestions would you have for them to make sure they keep their own personal biases in check and not let those biases influence the way a story is written, read, or delivered?
First, explicitly and actively asking yourself. If every perspective was fairly represented in your story, so it's taking the time and being mindful of it is the first step. And then I also try to recognize in myself if I'm feeling overly validated or overly upset about a particular story that we're writing or that I'm reading, then there's probably a problem, right? So it tells me that I might be too extreme one way or the other.
And so I try to feel that I'm not feeling any certain way about a story. So I think it's those two things. I also think, in general, it's good to have more than one pair of eyes on every story whenever possible. If you can have someone read it over and say, Hey, is this coming across fair, objective to you or any other questions you have about it? It's always good to get a second perspective if you can, if you have the time.
I know the resources aren't always available, but we do try to at least have two pairs of eyes on every story before we air it.
But listening to your newscast, I got to say, I really have no idea what Your leanings might be, no, or do I really want to know? But the question is really how often is it that you get a visceral reaction to something and realize that you better look at it from a more objective angle before you record,
I think. Potentially daily, definitely weekly where it's not visceral per se, but I think there's something that you know, something's not sitting right here and I'll talk with my executive producer about it and say, Do we feel like we're representing this perspective? I'm going to do a little more research. I'm going to look for if there is a better argument out there for that perspective that I can find when something just doesn't sit right. That's usually when I'll take a second.
Look, I'll do some more research and see if we can't. Thank you. Tweak it so that it feels that we're just being a little bit more fair, or if I, or I feel like, wow, this is really validating my feelings. So I'm going to take a second look and let's even out how this is coming across. So it happens quite often
looking at all the different channels that are out there, putting the news together and putting it up for an offering. Different things like slants on stories or quoting people who agree with the point of view of a journalist or even errors of omission. What are some of the common pitfalls, Erika, that you see journalists falling into when they're trying to be objective, and how do you
overcome them? Yeah, I think I always like to first differentiate between pundits on cable channels who very clearly have a slant and an agenda, and they're really just giving out their opinions versus these journalists who are really doing their best to be objective. And I do think for journalists, I think one of the pitfalls could be that you could start saying what everyone else is saying because a story becomes known as something.
And so you refer to something a certain way instead of really taking a step back and asking yourself if there's anything missing or there's any additional context that you could offer, any more transparency that you can offer instead of just going with what. All the different media are saying, right, or what you're hearing often or how you talk about it with others.
And so that even reminds me of going back to the example I brought up earlier of don't say the don't say gay bill that's often referred to in that way. It becomes this go to way to describe the bill and that's how people. Know about it. And so I think it's easy to fall into just referring to it that way, instead of saying, okay, maybe we need to offer more context here to make sure the audience has the full story. Right.
So shifting gears just a little bit. I think I know what your answer would be because you've left and you're doing it now, but for somebody who's still working for others, how would you suggest they deal with. Say a manager, boss, salesperson, somebody who really wants them to use a certain skew or slant say like in a local market where they don't want to talk about this car dealer, who's been jacking prices because he's also the mayor, you know, that kind of stuff.
First of all, have you ever had something like that happen to you? And what recommendation might you offer for those who still have to deal with it?
Yeah, it's a good question. I have not had anyone explicitly tell me they want to be biased or slanted or not cover something at all because it's an advertiser. I have had a boss say, Okay, well, that's an advertiser. So I need to know in advance if we're going to run that story because I need to give them a heads up. So I feel like it's fair and I think that there's been, it's been reasonable, but I think regardless, any type of pressure, whether explicit or not, can be hard to deal with.
And, and the thing that I would say in general is to just think about it in any way that, or any time that you're dealing with a manager or boss, you have to try to understand their goal and also explain your why of.
How you want to do it and try to come up with something that you think, and maybe present your why in a way that's, that also addresses what they're looking for, which is usually, at least in my experience, is not so much about being biased or having an agenda as it is about getting ratings and yeah, to your point, making advertisers happy. So if I were to think of an example of how to deal with something, let's say there's a lead line in there that feels really sensational and biased to me.
Maybe I offer. Okay, let's leave the lead line in there because it really draws in attention. But could we add more context after that? I really think it's important to add a couple extra lines that provide this context. And oh, and maybe we can even link to the document that we're referring to at our website. It'll draw more people to the website. We can pitch them to go to our website. And it'll offer some transparency and help people understand where this information is coming from. Right?
So you're trying to think of the ratings piece, which just being real is what drives the news business, but also trying to say from a news perspective, this, I think this context and this transparency is really important as well. And usually, at least in my experience, news directors have a news mind as well as the business mind. And so they're going to be open to.
Wanting to do the best news possible, I think, especially in local markets while also trying to keep in the ratings and getting attention part of it.
Our guest is Erica Mandy with the Newsworthy Podcast. Someone you'd love to hear from. We'd love to hear from you. Email your suggestions to show. At BRANDwidth On Demand. com or reach out to us on social brand with plus on Insta and Facebook. That's BRANDwidth P L U S brand with plus.
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Coming up, Erica shares her advice on being objective
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Our guest is Erica Mandy. She's the creator and host of The Newsworthy. Erika, when it comes to objectivity in news, what's the best advice you've ever gotten?
I think it's that we will never make everyone happy and that's okay, as long as you're doing your best to be objective and really, always looking to improve, you know, you will likely get some complaints and let's be open to them. And still be able to shake them off to do better next time or to keep going with your mission.
And what's the one piece of advice you'd like to share to those who aspire to be you someday?
I think that it's rare for one thing in one News story in one show to make or break you. So remember that we aren't saving lives here, but we are doing an important job of telling the news. So just do your best. Always look to improve and also don't overstress because I think sometimes, we end up hating the news. If we're letting it get to us too much. So just do your best and keep going.
Great advice. Our thanks to Erica Mandy, creator and host of the Newsworthy podcast. We have links to Erica's podcast, plus her special episode on objectivity in the media. All of it in the show notes, just scroll down on your phone.
As always. We want to thank Cindy Huber, our executive producer, who puts this all together, and Hannah B., our associate producer, for booking. And, coming up on the next BRANDwidth on Demand,
it's me, Fred Jacobs, talking with Kipper and Dave about, well, this, that, and everything else as it involves radio, past, present, and of course, future. We'll be talking about innovation, what's going on with AI. How the air personality role has changed and anything else about radio that hopefully we think is relevant. So join me on the next episode of BRANDwidth on Demand.
That's a wrap Kipper. It's all about company, being good company, a good companion. It's a really a secret to success in the show notes at brandwithondemand. com. I'm Dave Martin.
And I'm Kipper McGee. May all your BRANDwidth be WIDE!