During two years of high school, I did weekly news reports on my school for the local radio station KAHI AM 950.
After spending a year in Australia after graduation in 1984, I returned to Auburn in June 1985 and went to work at KAHI and its sister station KHYL.
In 1987, the radio stations were sold. The new owners issued us with a manual. It had a special section on payola. It said it was a dirty word and that we should never accepts gifts for doing anything on the air.
I read the hit book “Hit Men” about the payola scandal.
Frankly, I don’t see anything wrong with it. Record companies get something out of it when a radio station plays their music on the air. Why shouldn’t the people making the choice about whether or not to play certain music receive a financial compensation for their choice from those who are affected?
I also don’t have a problem with reporters paying for stories, paying for interviews, and the like, even though this is a big no-no in American journalism (not in British journalism).
I also see nothing wrong with bloggers getting free product. Newspapers get free product all the time to review and they don’t have to publish disclosures (according to the latest FTC guidelines).
I just watched the movie “Lying in America.” It’s about payola and young love.
I loved it.
I don’t think the government should get involved if record companies want to pay off disc jockeys and the like. Perhaps there should be disclosure laws, but who really cares? Let the free market sort it all out.
