Malicious Mischief

Time to freshen the radio station's website. Mr. Webmaster has a bright idea: Empower the listeners by inviting them to post their thoughts and suggestions on a "public" chat board. I'm on board, provided someone exerts editorial control over all posts. There's no First Amendment rights when it comes to my station's website. I sure as hell don't want competitors or disgruntled employees posting malicious content. Mr. Webmaster assures me that he'll act as our censor.

Fast-forward one month. Bobby, the new morning guy on our Rock station, points out to me that someone is savaging him in a series of nasty postings. Bobby has a fairly thick skin, but it's difficult even for him to get motivated for his show when he reads "You suck" and "Don't bother unpacking your stuff" first thing before his morning show.

"I can take criticism," he tells me, "but how can you allow this shit to be on OUR website for everyone to see?"

Not only that, but Bobby tells me one of his co-workers, the guy doing nights on the Rock station, trashed him on the air while reading a promo for the morning show.

"He said, 'Don't bother listening to Bobby in the morning, you'll just want to switch the dial to another station.'"

I call Mr. Webmaster and order him to remove the offending comments from the chat board. I explain that if he doesn't have time to police the postings, we'll dispense with the chat board.

Then it dawns on me. Angela, our promotions director, has said some uncomplimentary things about Bobby ever since he joined the station -- and she lost out to him as morning host.

Next, I call our night guy. I ask him if he has a grudge against Bobby because he wasn't offered mornings? "No, man. I wouldn't do that." I challenge him to explain why he'd make derogatory remarks about our new morning show over the air. "Well, Angela told me everyone hates him, so I just should just be honest with listeners and say he sucks."

I can't begin to understand how he did it, but Mr. Webmaster somehow traced the vitriolic comments about Bobby to Angela's computer. Under harsh interrogation (no, it wasn't waterboarding), Angela admitted she was the author of all the hatred and, while she was on a roll, confessed to conveniently "forgetting" to get prizes she'd promised to the morning show. She was angry that Bobby got the morning job over her.

With Angela no longer poisoning the staff, our night guy is willingly and passionately driving his cume to mornings, where Bobby is #1 in adults 18-23 and 25-54 his first book on the station.

Moral to the story? Don't put up a chat board on your website ... unless you have someone who will sincerely and religiously look at every submission before it's posted.