In a recent entry I alluded to a blog entry I’m keen to post soon and it related to the important impact Timmy Mallet made on a particular individual who will become clear soon. In running up to the revelation of this very influential personality on my own development the individual gave a rant about the sad decline in independent radio because of the bid to be like Americans and have tightly formatted programmes that were built more around the commercials than around the actual liberty of the producers of programmes to create something entertaining. The argument in essence is that sales have taken over production and that’s been a bad thing for independent radio.
The argument is extended to television and there’s a lot to be said about that argument. I don’t really watch television often and anything I do watch has usually been pre-recorded so as to skip through the boring bits (like the ads) to get to the content. The reason why I don’t watch as much television is because my tastes have changed and don’t find much expression in the content that is produced these days. There is also the concern, however that the actual quality of the content being produced is somewhat poorer than in previous times and the commitment to excellence is being watered down to the desire of the sales people. This is very sad.
My experience of radio combined the worst of both worlds especially as we weren’t doing what we were doing for the money from sales or anything. Yeah we got different people to sponsor shows and that stuff, but that wasn’t the main reason for doing what we did. What we ended up doing, though, was to discipline budding radio people to fit in the tight format of the big wide world of commercial radio. You will have to play these songs in this time with these competitions and these announcements and these adverts in between remembering the news, sport and weather at the appropriate times. It stifled any creative outlets that people may have wanted to explore and put the need of the sales above the need of the audience or the producer/presenter. This kind of sales mentality can also be seen by why churches and organisations pitch things the way they do. The vote is with people’s feet and they will do what it take to retain interest, even if the consequence is actually defeated by not getting the people you should be seeking. This is also very sad.
It is appreciated that there has to be some consideration of the balance between the input and the outcome. There has to be some thinking behind why you’re doing what you’re doing and if it’s gaining the result you desire, and if not things should be reconsidered and jigged about to reach that end. Yet there is some underlying preference for popularity and money over quality – as if the sole measure of quality is numbers. If that really was the case then we could just make calculations of the quality of something and lose vital creative contributions that others have made through their efforts not to please the crowd, but to release the essence of what’s inside them to the benefit of those who are willing to receive it.
That commitment to release the best of you over time and effort, shaping and moulding, is something that cannot be hindered by the basest requirements of the pound sign or the opinion polls. That’s another reason why I think democracy is a crock. Some things are right whether the majority go for it or not. Some things are wrong whether the majority go for it or not. The commitment to be obedient to the call should be all that motivates you to do what you’re doing. Room should be made to as responsive to the demands of that call with as little hindrance to that process as possible. That means people should be allowed to fail. That means people should be allowed to develop their niche market even if the numbers attracted are small. Faithfulness is not measured by figures other than the number of times you don’t allow the opinions, judgements, values and allure of others to stop you from producing whatever life’s content you have to offer.
That’s a challenge in the world that’s a bit like commercial radio that’s looking to packaged and tightly formatted and looking to conform to certain standards that attract certain sponsorship (attention, praise, money), but doesn’t actually help you fully realise your specially given call on this earth. It’s why the call to not be conformed to the world but be transformed by the renewing of the mind remains a critical one not just in the confines of churchianity, but in the open fields of the faith-driven life.
Who are you? Who are you called to be? How are you responding? How’s it going? Let these questions and the One who calls be the only steer and focal point of life and all other things will be sorted out as they should for good (even if through bad).
For His Name’s Sake
Shalom
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Life With CD 