Last month I shared with you the story of The Short Radio Program Director Who Thought He Was A Big Genius.
Here’s one more, 100% true “short PD” story. (The point being not that the PD was short but that the PD apparently felt the need to overcompensate for his height by acting superior to others.)
A Famous Disc Jockey.
A Famous Station Manager.
A (short) Program Director you’ve never heard of.
The Famous Disc Jockey — wh0 had an extremely successful career — had a contract that included his own assigned parking space. He didn’t demand it. But the station offered it, and he accepted.
One day another jock from within the station was promoted to Program Director. I have no idea how that happened, because he was astonishingly unqualified.
The day after the other jock was promoted to Program Director, the Famous Disc Jockey arrived at work to find the New Program Director’s car in the Famous Disc Jockey’s parking space.
The Famous Disc Jockey went into the New Program Director’s office.
The New Program Director was seated behind an imposing desk.
The Famous Disc Jockey said, “Ummmm….I think your car’s in my parking space.”
And the New Program Director replied, “It’s my parking space now! So I guess you’ll just have to find somewhere else to put your car.”
The Famous Disc Jockey thought a moment. Then he grasped the edge of the imposing desk, lifted it in the air and threw it against the wall.
“Okay,” said the Famous Disc Jockey. “How about if from now on I park it right here??” And he stormed out.
Furious, the New Program Director went to the Famous Station Manager and related the events that had just occurred.
And the Famous Station Manager said, “If I were you, I wouldn’t park in his space again.”
When given a taste of power, the New Program Director failed his test of character.
No, he’s no longer Program Director.
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You yanks really like your car spaces
That Program Director has since been cloned and occupies PD positions all over America. Radio management has enshrined the “short man syndrome” as S.O.P. and the quality seems to be sought out when hiring new PDs. Radio is in a sad place these days.
Sounds like almost every PD I’ve met in the last 20 years
Reminds me of another parking space story from a station where I used to work. There was a short row of parking spots to the side of the main entrance where managers would park during the week, and the rest of the parking lot for everyone else (nobody had an “assigned” spot per se; as I recall, this arrangement was basically just “understood”). Well, one weekend a part-time disc jockey is working his airshift and he decides to park in one of the spots closer to the entrance (this is a Saturday or Sunday afternoon with nobody else in the building, and I don’t think this part-timer knew about the “understood” parking arrangement…and even if he did, so what? He’s got the whole place to himself). Well, Mr. General Manager shows up. Now, it was pretty rare to see him there on a weekend; perhaps he actually had business in the building, but I think it’s more likely that he just happened to be driving by, saw part-timer’s car, and decided to go off on him, which is what he did, basically telling part-timer that he was never to park in that managerial parking area again (but not quite that nicely). Petty.
I heard a great line one time that said, “A person who is nice to you, but mean to the waitress, is not a nice person.” It’s always a good test of character to see how people treat those whom they perceive to be “beneath” them.
Hey Dan. What did the mans stature have to do with his being an incompetent ass? I can’t help but believe you have offended more than a few people. I know you offended me. Five foot Five and just fine with it.
There are certain males who are insecure about their height and who overcompensate by acting like jerks. They’re all too common in the radio biz.
This blog post is a sequel to a posting about another Jerk PD. That posting said:
I can see where that lack of context in this posting can make the “short” reference appear to be irrelevant. I’ve added a line in the second paragraph to make it more clear.
Sorry you’re offended.
You need a check up from the neck up. Your stereo typing and prejudice are transparent. I am sure the radio biz has no more jerks than any other business, regardless of stature, skin color, or any other “excuse” you want to hang on it.
Unfortunately, any negative stereotype in our society, has it’s root in truth. For that matter, any stereotype has it’s root in truth. Some people choose to see it, others do not and get offended. You can NOT paint every short person with the same brush, however, realize that people may think that way because they have experienced people who do indeed think that way. It makes it bad for the rest of us, sure, but it’s difficult to change people’s minds. All you can do is control yourself and try to keep your mind open as much as possible.
Radio/TV/Entertainment in general is a ego driven business with “i’ll scratch your back” type social relationships, often more then actual ability in some cases. You can’t really quantify a on air talent except with ratings and even then they are subjective. These relationships are key to success.
If you start to believe your own press, and you are of a small stature, you can take it too far. I’ve met a few, in and out of radio like that. being 6″5″ doesn’t help dealing with those people. I never truly understood it myself. In any work enviroment, being part of a team is crucial, yet in radio it’s all too often a matter of ego. shame really.
I always thought those with egos and cause problems are those who are wannabe’s. Those truly with talent, and in turn often successful shouldn’t have an ego because they have nothing to prove to anyone. Those are the truly decent people in any business.
Anonymous, I thought the concept of “short-man-syndrome” was a well-enough-established one to be used without appearing to generalise and offend?
Isn’t it interesting to observe how many choose not to comment on the point of the essay; instead bashing the example!
Tape measure, anyone?!?