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10 Questions with ... Anita Bonita
March 3, 2020
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BRIEF CAREER SYNOPSIS:
In my chequered broadcast career, in order, I have produced radio commercials for what was then the country's largest agency, was part of the original Z-100 Morning Zoo, served as APD/MD at the late, lamented WNEW-AM 1130, served as a reporter and researcher for Mets baseball on WWOR-TV and Major League Baseball overall for CBS Sports, was Creative Services Director for an international radio syndication company, did mornings with Jay Sorensen "down the shore" at WJRZ (where I was also news director), spent 18 years at RCS as music manager and technical support specialist, worked as an assignment editor for regional TV network Verizon FiOS1 News ... all of which led to being a news anchor at WCBS 880.
1. How did you get your start in radio- why radio? (I know you started really, really young, so what was it that made you think, yeah, this is what I want to do?)
As a kid, I was enchanted by radio signals bouncing into my bedroom from all over the United States, so my first week of college, I called the campus radio station to make a request, visited the station at the request of the jock on duty, and started working there the next week. I did news, sports, and the weekly Hot Hits show. It was a tiny teapot of a carrier-current station ("The Sporty 640!"), but it also gave the world former R&R editor and current Baltimore mainstay Harvey Kojan, sports reporter Bill Daughtry (formerly of WCBS and ESPN), and WNYC's legendary Brian Lehrer.
2. You've done a pretty huge range of jobs in and around radio over the years, from voiceover, imaging and production to on-air and news, and most recently you've been anchoring at WCBS along with your creative services business and consultancies. Let's focus on news for a moment: as someone both currently in radio news and recently part of a regional cable TV news operation that (probably prematurely) folded, what's your outlook about the future of both radio news and the news industry in general? What role can radio play in a changing news industry, and are you optimistic or not about whether the news industry in general can weather the era of shrinking budgets, staff cuts, and demonization of the news media by the president?
Any pessimism I may have had about radio news drowned in Hurricanes Irene and Sandy. My mother, brother, and sisters had no power for two weeks, and their only lifeline was a transistor radio. (Cell phones tend to die when there's nothing to plug them into.) Radio can play the same role it always has: reaching a large number of people, wherever they happen to be. It won't be easy, but news will survive the shrinking budgets and staff cuts because those who remain are dedicated to seeing it happen... and I don't see that demonization lasting past this administration.
3. Of all the things you've done in radio, what was the most fun you've had on the job?
Writing song parodies. I've done over a thousand (including my greatest hit, Bonita And The Bangles - Walk Like A Giant, done in January of 1987 at Z-100). I still write them (I can't help myself); they just don't get on the air anymore.
4. Your own work excepted, what's the best station imaging you've ever heard? What one station jumps out at you as a particularly strong example of a well-imaged station?
The imaging for the original JACK.FM, the Internet station created by Bob Perry and Russ "Famous Amos" DiBello one night while playing with new sequencing software. It was audacious, original ... and I can't help but think that the format would have been more successful nationwide if the terrestrial purveyors had stuck to the formula.
5. You were part of some memorable morning shows, including the original Z Morning Zoo on Z100 in New York and as co-host at WJRZ at the Jersey Shore with Big Jay Sorensen. If you had to... okay, you HAVE to pick one, just one, memorable moment. What was the most memorable moment of your morning show career, whether on the air or behind the scenes?
I can't narrow it down to one; best I can do is three. First would be the radiothon we literally put together overnight at Z-100, to benefit a young drummer on Long Island who was grievously injured when he alerted a family to an imminent explosion on their doorstep. We auctioned off everything from the bustier Madonna wore in "Desperately Seeking Susan" to lunch on the set of "All My Children" with Susan Lucci (who used to call to check up on the young man). Second was a phone call I missed at WNEW. I had already left for Shea Stadium (aside from being APD/MD, I was Mets beat reporter) when Irving Berlin called to say how much he'd enjoyed the special I'd written on his life and music. And last was an interview I couldn't listen to for years, because I was sure I'd blown it. I was working solo that holiday morning at WJRZ (meaning doing seven newscasts on top of doing the show) when Davy Jones called in, and engaged in one of the most poignant conversations I've ever heard, talking about how much we need to enjoy life and family while we're here. It's haunting to listen to now.
6. Who have been your inspirations, influences, and/or mentors in the business?
I'm a native New Yorker, so of course, Dan Ingram is 1, 2, and 3. Harry Harrison, God rest his soul, was always a source of encouragement, even when all I was doing was pushing papers, as were Julian Breen and Kevin Metheny. They're not among the best-known names in New York radio, but Dave Mallow and Mike Wade were huge influences when I was trying to make my way in, and I still rely on Russ DiBello to keep me honest, whether I'm doing news or music. Also, one doesn't work with Scott Shannon, Ross Brittain, Quincy McCoy, and Dwight Douglas without learning a thing or two. And one last one, from my current station: Neal Busch -- who not only gave crisp, clear traffic reports, he also flew the chopper itself. He was my first example of going on the air and doing it right, no matter what got thrown at him.
7. Of what are you most proud?
That I've been able to be the role model for young women that I myself did not have. When I first started, it was easier for a female to get a job on the air than it was to get one in production (my first love)... and when I told the GM I was leaving my first professional on-air gig, he tried to get me to stay by saying, "We'll move you from overnights to mid-days -- we've never done that for a chick before!"
8. You've done so many things, there might not be an answer for this, but... what have you not done yet in your career that you'd like to do before you retire?
Make actual money? :-P
9. Fill in the blank: I can't make it through the day without ____________.
...Coffee. On Yom Kippur, I can do without the food. But the lack of coffee gets me every time.
10. What's the most important lesson you've learned in your career so far?
When you think it's impossible, wait till tomorrow. It then becomes possible.
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