February 2011

Know your facts. Listeners are news and pop culture consumers like never before and they will know when you don't know your stuff.  An example: I heard a radio personality talking about the bizarre death of Segway company owner Jim Heselden who went over a cliff on a Segway.  The announcer said Heselden was "out in the wilderness", suggesting that he was in unfamiliar terrian; Heselden was actually inspecting his own property.  The announcer said Heselden ought to have known about the dangers of riding a Segway because "he invented it".  Heselden recently purchased the company and had nothing to do with the invention of the Segway   Then the announcer speculated that Heselden must have wanted to die because you control the Segway by deliberately leaning in the direction you want to go.  Investigators said there was nothing to suggest his death was anything more than an accident and speculation otherwise is unwise and unkind.  You simply cannot fool people with half-facts and guesses.  And if you try, it will only make a fool out of you.