The Infinite Dial

The other night I got back from the NAB sessions and caught a few minutes of the NBC premiere for "Life." The protagonist is a former cop who was wrongly convicted of murder, sent away for 12 years, only to finally be exonerated and (oddly) returned to the force as a detective. My favorite scene was a brief interlude of the main character being shown Google for the first time, and, on a lark, Googling his name. To his horror, the whole first page consisted of links about his murder trial, mug shots and even photos of the murder victim. He was, as you would be, horrified.

Googled your station's name lately? You may have mug shots of your own. We heard a lot at the NAB about two of the three primary media platforms: audio and video. Nothing at all, however, about the platform that really makes the web work: text. If you are not actively telling your story every day on the web, posting fresh, new content that really contributes to your listeners' lives, then others may be telling your story for you--and you may not like the stories they tell. Google remembers all.