Re: the simplistic argument of employment at small stations ...

[Donna Halper <dlh@donnahalper.com>]

>it was written--
><< And lord knows the "sheepskin uber alles" attitude applies to MANY
>careers, not just radio. >>
>
>I know this from personal experience working in the newspaper industry. Just
>to discriminate because someone only has real life experience, not classroom
>experience, is wrong.


I have taught part-time at several Boston area colleges-- "History of 
Broadcasting" and "History of Journalism" mostly.  It's fun, and it keeps 
me in contact with the audience I have often programmed radio stations 
for-- young adults.  Yet even though I was named "Instructor of the year" 
and have some of the highest retention rates in my classes, I have 
repeatedly been told I can never be a full-time professor until I have a PhD...

Frankly, I think the credentialism movement is very selectively 
applied.  Does Mel Karmazin have a PhD?  Did anyone expect him to have even 
an undergraduate degree?  (I believe he did attend college, but my point is 
that most GMs come from a sales background, and I don't know a lot of sales 
managers or general managers who possess a degree.)  In some areas of 
broadcasting, such as engineering (there are never enough good engineers), 
I don't see managers being required to have degrees.  I don't see this 
required of most PDs either, although in some corporations, they like all 
the managers to take a sales course or Dale Carnegie or something like 
that...