Re: Al Needham Retires

[Donna Halper <dlh@donnahalper.com>]

Kaimbridge wrote:
>A nice write-up on Al Needham's retirement from WESX is in today's
>(Friday) Salem Evening News:

His style of radio is one that is swiftly dying out-- the article mentions 
how he describes everything, knowing that his listeners include many people 
who are blind or visually impaired.  As more of the "old-timers" retire, I 
wonder if the new announcers will be as sensitive to the fact that radio is 
still a life-line for blind people.  Too much of what I hear on radio today 
sounds like the announcers come from TV and assume you know what they are 
talking about even when they don't describe it.  No, things weren't better 
in the "old days"-- but I do believe there was more respect for the 
announcer's ability to use words (and not just 4 letter words!) 
effectively, and the great announcers were those who knew how ot 
communicate in a personal way.  What Al Needham (and Jess Cain and Louise 
Morgan when she was on radio) and others of his generation did was make you 
feel as if the announcer was talking directly to YOU.