Crash Connell “Relate, Then Redirect
Relate, Then Redirect: Navigating the Noise in Christian Radio
Most of us in radio know how easy it is to get pulled into the noise. Real time social media, controversy, outrage. It keeps coming, and our listeners are dealing with the same thing we are. We do our best to make sense of it and make sure it lands with the listener. So I think there are some fair questions for talent and programmers. How are YOU dealing with it yourself? What Scriptures do you run to when your own mind gets sucked into it? What helps you get your head straight before you turn on the mic?
When you bring up the headline, the controversy or the thing everybody is sharing/discussing online, where do you leave them? Are you helping them process it? Are you helping them see it through the lens of Scripture? Are you giving them something worth taking with them after the break is over?
That is the balance I keep thinking about: Yes, relate, but then redirect. We should know what people are talking about. We should sound like we live in the same world they do. We should understand the pressure, the fear and the frustration people are carrying. The question is what we do with it once we have their attention. Is this one break, or 2 or 3 more segments?
And there is one more question worth asking. Who are you accountable to when you open that mic? Who keeps you grounded? Who can tell you when you are getting pulled too far into the noise yourself? Who reminds you what this job is really about?
I hope those are healthy questions for any of us who get to speak into people’s lives every day.
Andy “Crash” Connell is the GM/OM and live morning co-host at Q90 FM (WORQ 90.1) in Green Bay, Wisconsin, a role he’s served in since 2013. His radio career spans both ministry and major-market secular formats, with past experience in Dallas/Fort Worth, New Orleans, El Paso, and Madison, WI. He was born-again in 2010. Known for his bold approach to broadcasting and a deep commitment to biblical truth, Crash leads Q90 FM under the station’s mission: Truth at Any Cost Reach Crash HERE
