PODCAST

Weekly Earful

Lesley Lotto

Rants and news bytes for Radio Station peeps all over the place! lesleylotto.substack.com

news daily news

All Episodes

7:49

🤖 What's What❓‼️

Weekly Earful ·

2026/04/20

We cover AI a lot on this blog, rant, or whatever you prefer calling it. A story caught my eye in the Columbia Journalism Review because it showed even careful journalists can be fooled by Artificial Intelligence shortcuts.So, the story goes… a Dutch freelancer, Menno van den Bos has been in touch with the publication, as well as the Tow Center for Digital Journalism. He said he found what he thought was inaccurate reporting in one of the newsletters they put out. But it wasn’t necessarily their

8:35

What's What❓‼️

Weekly Earful ·

2026/04/06

Lies and the Lying Liars who tell them. Remember Al Franken’s book from 2003? It was a blistering look at Conservative Talk Radio. Al of course, went on to be one of the first Liberal Talk Radio hosts on the old Air America. And, of course, a US Senator from Minnesota who resigned after being accused of sexual harassment during the #metoo movement.But I digress, the book’s title is what I want to talk to you about today. As news sources thin, and news is pumped out via social media, how can we tell

9:37

What's What❓‼️

Weekly Earful ·

2026/03/30

When news no longer matters and everyone is reporting the same story ad infinitum, we have a problem. When there is one side and only one side, we are robots, or Stepford Spouses and don’t really know what’s going on, do we?Here’s my take on the loss of CBS News Radio. Now we have one network feeding national news that is not regurgitated from television. First though. This is, sad, very, very sad. As a long-time consumer of their news over many years and knowing people who have worked there at some

7:55

What's What? 🤷🏻

Weekly Earful ·

2026/03/23

We’ve been fighting a while to keep AM on the dial. Especially when you go buy a new car. Some of the newer vehicles don’t even have FM, so you have to pay, no matter what to get radio with human voices. These are generally electric vehicles and are the base level, so they’re going for an entry level consumer, while not allowing that entry level consumer to not pay for the addition of broadcast radio.But let’s not forget about the audience going for AM radio still. The Local Radio Newsletter reports

9:55

What's What? 🧐

Weekly Earful ·

2026/03/16

A long, long time ago, on a wing and a prayer I started a news network. It wasn’t designed to be a news network, it was a job for a person without a job, in a small town in Montana.After a year, I was anchoring 40 newscasts per day, so I had to hire someone, because I’m also a mom. In 19 years, it may feel to an outsider, as if we’ve hired one new person each year, but actually there have been too many to count (at least 200 anchors have come through since the beginning). And it feels like 10,000

8:53

What's What? 🧐

Weekly Earful ·

2026/03/09

When I was a young person, in high school, I found journalism. I was a print reporter in high school and college. But I leaned into independent journalism in college. I found regular print reporting to be stodgy, unless it was investigative.After college when I was voice deep into broadcasting, an occasional investigative story would captivate my imagination. I produced a series in the early aughts about superfund sites in Montana. I heard about one in Butte, but I didn’t know much about it, or much

7:57

Women Rule Audio 💃🏼

Weekly Earful ·

2026/03/03

I love a good talk show, music program or channel and love an entertaining podcast. Sometimes when we get to overthinking, it’s great to unplug from our daily routine, and plug into audio.An Edison Research study shows women play an important role, tuning into audio as some of the most loyal, engaged, and influential listeners. The group says women are consistent with their listening, while multi-tasking…We commute, work, run around for ourselves and our families, and even spend time tuning in at

7:59

Embracing What is 😑

Weekly Earful ·

2026/02/23

There’s a new trend online, which isn’t that new, reminding us that it’s okay to lean into boredom. To say that you’re bored, may just be because you are not glued to your phone, computer, television, or even a book. How bad would it be to look out the window and just sit there gazing?Studies show boredom or allowing your mind to wander, is a way to let creativity take over your mind’s eye. Focusing on being creative can light up something inside of you that doomscrolling cannot. Wouldn’t it feel

8:00

Whatever Happened to Whimsy? 🤪

Weekly Earful ·

2026/02/16

Obviously, you’ve got to have some fun in you or you wouldn’t want to be on the radio, yes?I was wandering through a retail store a year or so ago and a child was running about, yelling, laughing, skipping and generally showing off their joy. And I thought, why can’t we adults do that? Do you know what would happen if you skipped through TJ Maxx showing joy? People would roll their eyes at you; they might even get mad and tell you to stop the joy. Don’t you think it would be preferable to hearing a

8:16

Feedback 🧑🏻‍💻

Weekly Earful ·

2026/02/09

I had a boss back in the day when I was a brand-new Program Director who gave me zero feedback. I would ask and he would say, “if you did something wrong, I’d tell you”. I am not sure now after so many years if I appreciated that. When we’re younger and cockier, we may think, wow, look at me. When in reality we should be mortified that as a green manager, you actually don’t have that needed support.I think constructive feedback is paramount to continually be a top performer. I’m not talking about

8:14

Dig Deep 🪏

Weekly Earful ·

2026/02/02

Is it time to bury our heads in the sand like an ostrich?It is believed that when an ostrich thinks it’s in danger, it will bury its head and may believe its entire body is also hidden. It may feel like a good time to bury ourselves and ignore the many news stories happening around us. Even as a news junkie myself, I would say sometimes we need to not know, but lately there is a must know feeling. Maybe we shouldn’t be glued to a television or news talk station all day, every day, (hint, unless

7:43

💵 Cash Pours into Radio 💵

Weekly Earful ·

2026/01/26

Not everyone can afford satellite radio and free, local radio has always been there for us. A new study behind the economics of that shows free, local radio powers the economy, bringing in $437 billion in annual GDP with nearly 910,000 jobs across the country.A new study by Woods & Poole Economics looked at what local radio and tv contribute financially. Along with BIA Advisory Services the research measured as much as $1.19 trillion dollars in GDP and 2.46 million jobs with radio pulling in over a

8:28

Let's Get Physical 🏋

Weekly Earful ·

2026/01/19

Another winning story for radio as the fitness industry may be a way of growth for advertisers. The Media Audit ad investment company MCCG Invest reported growth of 8% for audio platforms – with a focus on radio. The research shows advertisers could invest in radio to reap a massive share of health-club users. The research also says people who listen to audio are way more likely to be gym goers. The study said nearly 12 percent of adults in the U.S. reported using a health club in the past year

7:30

The End is Extremely Nigh

Weekly Earful ·

2026/01/12

First, they came for Voice of America (VOA), then they took away the funds for the Corporation of Public Broadcasting (CPB).However, you may feel about the government putting up money for public assistance, or in this case entertainment and information, as media folks, we should stick our necks out a little more and find ways to entertain and inform the public for free. Voice of America ended last year, for all intents and purposes. There are still staffers there, but from the research I’ve done, it

7:44

I'm Baaaaack! 🤪

Weekly Earful ·

2026/01/05

It’s been a doozie of an Old Year. Isn’t that what we call the year before the New Year? An old year? Well, if not, it sure felt old, and dreary and, whew, what a whopper!After 2 years of not anchoring news, by choice, not design, I started to get back into the trenches. As a local news anchor, it’s not often you must question if the material you’re working with is true or not. But, in 2025 we had to start questioning a lot. Am I right? Is that Artificial Intelligence (A.I.) or is it real? I saw so

6:25

📺 TOTAL OVERWHELM 📰

Weekly Earful ·

2025/11/17

Just when you think you have everything under control at work, some massive news story breaks and you become frazzled. It’s how you handle breaking news, or some catastrophic event that sets you apart from the rest.I remember in my 1st yoga training my teacher, who was a New York City resident (read: hustle and bustle) said “slow is fast”. She recalled being in a hurry to unlock her bike to get to her destination, and when she took her sweet time, it got her there faster. You know when you’re in a

7:15

We're Not Nearly Done! 📰

Weekly Earful ·

2025/11/10

Local news still matters! I’ve been screaming this from the rooftops for years now. A new study says audiences “still crave local news”. Sure, print newspapers are struggling, but journalists still want to create stories in their communities and radio stations have been trying to capitalize on localism for years with digital, streaming and podcasting. Heck, they’re even building their own news sites to complement their news talk stations.It was quite a big election night across the country last

7:08

Radio is Breath 📻

Weekly Earful ·

2025/11/03

As certain new models of cars are totally doing away with FM radio after already dumping AM, broadcasting advocates warn profits are being placed above public safety. All it takes is to remember the Southern California fires earlier this year when cell service was out and radio ruled.In a Blog posted by the Chief of Staff and Executive VP of Public Affairs for the NAB, Michelle Lehman writes “Free Local Radio in Cars is Not a Luxury, but a Lifeline”. She says it’s local radio that’s still one of the

7:21

To Be Known 🥹

Weekly Earful ·

2025/10/27

I have worked in tiny town America and for a couple of major news networks. I have noticed the people in tiny towns seem to want to be seen more than the people at the major news networks. I mean, I don’t go around announcing my background, and I’m not sure they do either, but I’ve noticed them.I read about a woman a week or so ago in the trades who recently died. She was apparently the first to ever host a national news program for NPR. And I thought, dang I’ve never heard of her, and she was a

7:30

💃🏼 ON WORKING ALONE, TALKING TO MYSELF AND HUMMING 🎵

Weekly Earful ·

2025/10/20

I’ve worked by myself at home since 1995. At some points I have absolutely felt lonely and that I needed human interaction or some social capital. But most days I am absolutely fine working alone. I have my little doggie by my side, I have a team I interact with on Slack, I might visit a local café and work there, and I teach yoga. So, I get out in my local community quite often. And that works well for me.When I go out “into the wild”, I am uber friendly and thrilled to be amongst people. I’ve

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