Several months ago, I was listening to the afternoon show on our local sports talk station. They call themselves 3HL because they used to be on around lunchtime. For those outside of Nashville, 3HL is supposed to stand for 3 Hour Lunch. Anyway, they are no longer on at lunch, and the name does not stand for anything.
On this particular afternoon, the discussion, as it often does, turned away from sports and toward something that could be considered historical.
For some strange reason, they were talking about Ernest Borgnine. I like Ernest Borgnine, but I wonder how many listeners have ever heard of him. Anyway, they started talking about some of his roles and remembered the made-for-television movie that he made about the explosion of Mount St. Helens. They knew that the man he portrayed stayed on the mountain and was never found. However, they could not remember his name.
I decided to help them out. We had just returned from a trip to Oregon and Washington and had visited the mountain.
I tweeted the show and told them that the man’s name was Harry Truman. I knew this because of our trip, but I also remembered it from when the disaster happened. Truman was on television all of the time, and, for obvious reasons, his name stuck out.
They read my tweet on the air and immediately brushed it aside with comments like:
“Harry Truman was president.”
“He must be thinking about another Borgnine movie, Harry and Tonto.”
I was livid. Obviously, they did not know that I just visited the mountain, but they could have read my Twitter profile. It plainly states that I am a historian. In other words, I know a little about what I am talking about.
Finally, somebody called in and said that I was right. The man on the mountain was Harry Truman. The radio guys acted shocked at this information and could not believe that I was right.
I have pretty much stopped listening to 3HL, but I have some advice for radio hosts throughout the land.
If you are going to talk about history or pop culture, then you should know what you are talking about.
If you do not know what you are talking about, then you should listen to people who do.
By the way, there is this thing called Google.
SBI: A Thinning Crowd 
Fact checking has become a lost art. It makes me crazy. I hear all kind of stupid inaccuracies on television and radio. And some of the mistakes would be so easy to check. A simple Google search would find the answers. I don’t know why they aren’t embarrassed.
In the days of Google, there is no excuse.
Laziness and arrogance.
Amen, I agree
How do you handle such situations?
If some one tweets me while I’m on the air I would research the response first. I don’t believe in just blurting out on the air something via twitter or email that I have not had a chance to research. They made fools of themselves belittling your tweet when you sent them the correct answer.
I’m sad that there are people who don’t know who he is right off
I was not happy about that, either.
Interesting. Never knew Ernie’s work there. Know him from McHale’s Navy of course … and his many Western roles. Was a fine actor – Stage, Film or TV – won or was nominated for pretty well every Award available including Oscar for Marty. Eventually awarded Screen Actors Guild Life Achievement Award. Started as a bit part support thug (did you know he was such in Johnny Guitar / 1953?) and became a start. Emmy Award nomination at age 92 for his work on the series ER. He just kept smiling. Pretty good for not so handsome dude.
Sorry … a bit long winded.
That’s ok. I enjoyed reading it. Ernest was good in everything I have seen him in.
Hehehe. Sorry they made you so angry, but at least you were right and they got their “just desserts.”
Thanks. I hope they got seconds.