I think The Buggles had the wrong idea about this radio stuff

So, this happened: I was on the radio this week!

A friend of mine, Arash Afghahi, is the news director at WNYU-FM 89.1, NYU’s student radio station. Yes, I know, it sounds dorky, but apparently we broadcast to the entire tri-state region, and although I’m not sure what that means, exactly, it sounds like a big deal, so suck it.

Anyway, one of his coworkers was putting together a panel of journalism students for the station’s weekly current events show, Earshot, and asked me to participate.

Among the topics we discussed were microblogging, social networking, and the future of print media. I guess they asked me to come on because my friend had mentioned my internship at Gawker (presumably they didn’t realize that I basically just watch TV all day) and, I guess, my past at the Washington Square News. So my initial reaction, like yours, probably, was basically: “Sergio, what the fuck makes you qualified to talk about this shit?”

The short answer, of course, is “nothing.”

But I threw caution to the wind and decided, “Hey, you’ve heard other people debate this topic ad nauseam, and it is kind of related to your field of study, and, I mean, you’re a pretty opinionated bloke, right?

And, also, who the hell listens to WNYU, anyway?

If a tree falls in a forest and no one is around to hear it, does it make a sound?

If I humiliate myself on public radio and nobody’s listening, can I drop the f-bomb?

Well, I didn’t curse, I don’t think. (Their archiving system is busted, so the show hasn’t been posted on their site yet, but I’ll take a listen when it’s up and let you know if I managed to violate any FCC rules). I did knock over a clipboard at one point, which made a loud crashing noise and derailed my train of thought, but besides that, it went pretty smoothly.

In any case, the point of this isn’t to talk about media or journalism or any of that crap, necessarily. Mostly, I’ve just decided that radio is cool.

To be fair, most of the radio I listen to is KROQ and occasionally NPR interviews with celebrities I care about and whose voices don’t grate, so my frame of reference is a little limited.

But, you know, it seems like a cool medium. And unlike broadcast, you don’t have to be attractive to do it! Radio people can be fug and nobody would ever know, necessarily. Apparently Earshot takes guest hosts, too, and Arash suggested I look into it.

Because let’s face it, we’re wasting our time with this print vs. web debate. Anyone who’s ever watched a post-apocalyptic action film knows that radio’s where it’s at.

If you plan to survive the zombie invasion, that is.

UPDATE: For anyone who cares, I’ve uploaded the audio from last week’s show. Thanks to Earshot producer Shannon Geis for the .mp3! And you can tune in to Earshot Thursday nights at 7:30 EST on WNYU 89.1-FM or stream it live online at wnyu.org.

And, of course, major thanks to Esha Gurnani for inviting me on, and my co-panelists, Andrew Breiner and Jessica Lubin.

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