THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, March 10, 1996 TAG: 9603070181
SECTION: CAROLINA COAST PAGE: 12 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Cover Story
SOURCE: BY JOHN HARPER, CORRESPONDENT
DATELINE: ELIZABETH CITY LENGTH: Long : 131 lines
JAMES HARRINGTON bolts into WGAI's radio studio. In one swift motion, he loosens his tie and throws off his gray suit jacket.
While producer Bob Carter flashes the one-minute sign, Harrington dons a pair of headphones, adjusts the microphone and stares straight ahead. Carter, standing over a 3-foot-wide control board full of blinking lights and dancing meters, points at Harrington.
``Welcome to `Out in the Open,' '' Harrington says. ``We're here to talk about anything.''
With those words, the former-Elizabeth-City-mayor-turned-talk show-host launches into his weekly two-hour talk fest. Harrington, now a banker and an ordained Baptist minister, is just one of a team of talkers who have turned this town topsy-turvy.
``I think most people feel that AM radio is for talk,'' says general manager Dave Dallas, who joined the Albemarle area's oldest radio station in 1994. ``So we looked around and found a number of local people who could talk.''
Harrington, who was Elizabeth City's mayor from 1991-93 and first joined the station in 1994, is the senior member of a group of gabbers that includes Jim Beales, Pasquotank County Republican Committee chairman; Lenora Jarvis-Mackey, president and CEO of the River City Community Development Corp.; and Anita Hummer, mayor pro tem of Elizabeth City.
``I think we're headed in the right direction,'' Dallas says. ``We've picked up listeners and advertisers.''
No surprise there. A recent survey by Radio and Records magazine showed talk radio to be the most popular format nationwide. The format - which encompasses news, sports and general-interest talk shows - has steadily upped its ratings over the past few years, fueled in part by the popularity of the ultra-conservative mouth that roared, Rush Limbaugh.
And think of the irony. AM radio listenership eroded dramatically in the 1970s and '80s, mainly because of the superior sound of FM. As Steely Dan sang: ``FM, no static at all.''
Now, AM stations are taking back listeners who enjoy the static generated between talk show hosts and their callers.
The 1,000-watt WGAI-AM 560, which signed on in 1948, mixes syndicated talkers, sports programs, news, a locally produced morning ``swap shop'' and the late-afternoon lineup of local yakkers.
Harrington, a card-carrying conservative, hitches his show to the ``family values'' post.
``That's a hot button for me,'' says Harrington, whose show Monday featured a discussion of a middle school teacher's decision to show the movie ``Schindler's List.''
One caller, a middle-aged woman, voices her concern about a sex scene in the Academy Award-winning film.
``I just don't think the teacher should show an R-rated film,'' she says. ``There is a scene of a man and a woman having sex.''
``Don't you think it's better to have children learn the mechanics?'' another caller asks. ``If that's what you want to call it.''
Says another man: ``I'm 53 and the father of seven. I don't understand all the mechanics of it.''
Harrington lets his callers talk. Carter says he never cuts off callers on Harrington's show.
``We have a diverse collection of callers,'' Harrington says after the show. ``They all agree to disagree. And I don't think all our topics have to be serious. I'm serious, but I don't take myself seriously.''
``We treat callers as the most important part of the show,'' says Carter, who produces all the afternoon talk shows, including one called ``Talk Back.''
That's the show hosted by Anita Hummer, the self-proclaimed ``voice of the people.'' On her show, Hummer talks about crime prevention, women in the workplace and problems with the city government.
``I speak up for the people,'' says the 62-year-old Hummer, whose show debuted six weeks ago. ``The public needs to be informed.
``People expect me to be controversial all the time, but I can't do that.''
The station manager, Dave Dallas, says Hummer is a hit.
``She provides one of the few liberal voices on the station,'' he says.
Another popular host is Elizabeth City businessman Walt Stewart, described in the media kit as ``opinionated, outrageous and champion of the little guy.''
Stewart is another conservative (what are all these conservatives doing so far left on the radio dial?) who says he ``strives for truth, justice and the American way.''
Stewart calls his program ``The Way It Is.'' He recently polled his listeners on the potential battle between President Clinton and Republican hopeful Pat Buchanan. Fifty-five people responded during the hour. Guess who won? If you said Buchanan, you're right.
``What we've found,'' Dallas says, ``is that conservative hosts talking about conservative issues get the best response.''
Dallas says the station plans to add some other talkers in the next several months.
``The police chief is a possibility,'' he says. ``We've approached a lot of people.''
And what does it take to be a good talk show host?
``Be fast on your feet,'' Dallas says. ``Be able to present an organized set of ideas, and be diplomatic.'' MEMO: YAKKIN' IT UP
Look who's talking on WGAI-AM 560:
Monday, 5-7 p.m. ``Out in the Open'' with Jim Harrington.
Tuesday, 5-7 p.m. ``Voices of Reason,'' with Jim Beales.
Wednesdays, 5-6 p.m. ``An Eye on Currituck'' with Owen Etheridge and
Paul O'Neal (first and third Wednesday of the month)
``Community Voices'' with Chris Holland (second Wednesday)
``Extension Spotlight'' with Travis Burke (fourth Wednesday)
Wednesday, 6-7 p.m. ``Community Round Table,'' with Lenora
Jarvis-Mackey.
Thursday, 5-6 p.m. ``The Way it Is,'' with Walt Stewart
Thursday, 6-7 p.m. Walt Stewart and Frank Roberts
Friday, 5-6 p.m. ``Talk Back,'' with Anita Hummer
The call-in number is 335-4371.
ILLUSTRATION: Color photo on cover by DREW C. WILSON
Anita Hummer
Staff photos by DREW C. WILSON
On her show, Anita Hummer, mayor pro tem of Elizabeth City, talks
about crime prevention, women in the workplace and problems with the
city government.
WGAI talk radio's talking heads include, from left, Chris Holland,
James Harrington, Jim Beales and Walt Stewart.
``I speak up for the people,'' says Anita Hummer host of ``Talk
Back'' on WGAI. ``The public needs to be informed.
by CNB