Decades ago, when I was still listening to National Public Radio (NPR), they had a reporter named David or Sean or Steve, I can't remember which. This fellow would stutter, but only when he was doing an interview. And then, he never repeated random syllables, as is the case with true stutterers. He only repeated whole words: "Do you, you, you think he left the door unlocked?" "How, how, how did she know?"
I wrote NPR a message to this effect:
"[David or Sean or Steve] stutters during his interviews. My guess is that it is an affect, meant to project disability, to disarm and put the interviewee at ease. If that is the case, it is entirely inappropriate to pretend to be disabled. If [David or Sean or Steve] really does have a speech impediment, then perhaps he should find another job."
My message had a curative effect. David or Sean or Steve stopped stuttering.
These days you don't need to rise up through the ranks of radio to be an audio personality. With the advent of podcasting anyone can have their own show. And, if you have any sort of knack for it, you can monetize your efforts. Whether the content is audio, visual or textual, anyone who posts anything on social media today is by definition a publisher.
On my computer all day, usually engaged in work which only requires short bursts of my full concentration, I listen more than I read these days. I prefer listening to lectures, but there are a few podcasts that I follow. One of these is a weekly show, "Israel Update with Michael Doran and Gadi Taub."
Doran worked on the National Security Council and was also deputy assistant secretary for public diplomacy at the U.S. Department of Defense. Taub is an author, historian and Israeli media personality. I like their news and opinion. I don't like their schtick, their jocularity. And I am not alone in that preference.
They themselves have made their blend of serious news and comedy a subject of discussion, wondering how it's going over, calling for audience feedback. Their presentation may seem very casual and impromptu, but they are podcasting to make money. My opinion is that Doran is excessive, laughing too long at his own jokes, jokes which aren't funny to begin with.
Listening last week, I was driven to leave a comment below their YouTube podcast:
@lokkalinternet6813
12 days ago
If you guys are not just trying to kill time, Mike could tighten it up. He spends three minutes to make the point that Iran is a nuclear threat, which is not news to anyone listening. Then, he keeps saying "um," often 2-3x in a row, like he's stuttering. I suspect that it is an affect, like he's being casual or trying to be cute, but it has no place in a podcast. I suspect that if he sat up straight, and acted like someone important is listening, he could avoid those annoying portions of "dead air." Gabi has no trouble putting his sentences together. That's the trouble with too many jokes, they make you sloppy. I love listening. I love reading Mike on X. But enough with the schtick, please.
This week, working into the wee hours, I was listening to the duo's most recent podcast. Two thirds of the way through the show, in a complete departure from their regular format, Mike started reading listeners' comments. With this interruption in the news and analysis, I carried on with my work, paying less attention to the podcast until I noticed that a comment he was reading was mine (misreading my username as "lokkal interest" rather than "lokkal internet").
He read aloud the first three sentences of my comment, got a little flustered, and stopped just where I got biting. I don't blame him. I would have been embarrassed to continue as well.
I can guess what happened: a producer of the show, probably at Gabi's urging, slipped my comment into Mike's script to drive home, at a vulnerable moment, our shared point of view; comedy we can get elsewhere, and better, thank you. We're tuning into you for news and analysis.
People keep me abreast of the publishing world in San Miguel, sending me links and photos of what the "competition" is up to. Just today one of these friends sent me a link to an article about the Instituto Allende in Mexico News Daily. The article retells the entire history of San Miguel in 16 brief paragraphs, referencing the Instituto only five times. Instead of only a passing mention, I would have liked a series of in-depth articles each on San Miguel and Don Manuel Tomás de la Canal, Felipe Cossio del Pomar, Stirling Dickinson, José Mojica, David Alfaro Siqueiros, Enrique Fernández Martínez, the Carmelite nuns of Querétaro, the War of Independence, the collapse of the silver market, Bellas Artes... But I get it. The article is aimed at a different audience, one that does not know anything about San Miguel. It's like one of those puff pieces printed in travel magazines by authors who were in San Miguel once on a ten-day vacation: courtyards, rooftop restaurants, mariachi bands...
Last night, another friend sent a photo illustrating, "for what it's worth," that the Insider's News, the flyer that once billed itself as the replacement for Atención, is now being printed in color. I'm one of the most nostalgic people you'll ever meet, but, if you'll pardon a very slight exaggeration, as a medium of publicity paper is dead. Certainly, it's dying.
I too am guilty of being behind the times. I should be making these articles into podcasts, or maybe an audiobook. In a homage to the famous sarcasm, "Everyone is a critic," this chapter could be titled, "Everyone is a publisher."
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Dr. David Fialkoff presents Lokkal, our local social network, the community online and off, Atención robustly reborn for the digital age. If you can, please do contribute content, or your hard-earned cash, to support Lokkal, SMA's Voice. Use the orange, Paypal donate button below. Thank you.
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