Re: First time on the air

[Donna Halper <dlh@donnahalper.com>]

At the risk of seeming like a party-pooper, my first time on the air was a 
lot different from most of the guys who replied.  Because I grew up at a 
time when top-40 was a white male preserve (no offence), when I innocently 
tried to follow my childhood dream and get on the air at my college 
station, I was told they didn't put "girls" on the air.  They did say I 
could be a board op, but I wasn't allowed to speak.  So, my first time was 
in 1965, and the first record I played was by the Rolling Stones-- "This 
Could Be the Last Time," back when the station at Northeastern was known as 
WNEU.  It wouldn't be till 4 years later, after a prolonged battle for the 
right to do what guys totally took for granted, that I was finally 
permitted to do a show, and my recollection is the Program Director, who 
hadn't wanted to give in to having a female announcer, stood outside the 
studio waiting for me to make a mistake so he could say "I told you so" and 
fire me.  I didn't make a mistake, and based on the fan letters I got, I 
did a good show.  He never said a word; in fact, I don't believe he ever 
spoke to me the entire time he was PD.  But I gotta tell you, it brings 
back a lot of emotions for me, reading some of your memories of your first 
time on the air.  It seems many of you were just automatically accepted and 
your being there was no problem.  It was so different for me: although I 
knew from childhood that I wanted to be in radio, so many people told me I 
couldn't, without even giving me a chance; and even when I did a good job, 
I was made to feel as if the guys just wished I would go away and let 
things return to the way they used to be...  I had never expected that my 
gender would be an issue...