(photo credits pexels.com)
By: Rodrecus Lewis
AUBURN, Ala. — Displaying her overwhelming southern charm and hospitality, Brooke Myers, the general manager for Tiger Communications, began our interview by setting up new office chairs.
The casually dressed radio host walked into the office, with a warm smile and paper building instructions, offering a seat while we prepared for conversation. “We ordered more chairs because for some reason the ones we have keep breaking,” she explained. “I’ve built every chair in here.”
With a radio station worked by only nine people, the radio star explained why her humble beginnings and perspective on change could bring true joy to the area of radio journalism. Having a profound love for music and its timeless qualities, Myers realized the importance of radio at a young age, recalling a time in her youth where it was seen as the prime source for new information.
“Me and my friend were going to Birmingham to see The Smashing Pumpkins, so my dad printed out the direction for us and we hit the road. On the way there, we were listening to the radio when they announced that they had switched locations because they oversold tickets, so we had to pull over to a gas station and ask the worker to give us the directions,” Myers said.
As for music, the quantity and quality of good songs always fascinated the director since she was a child, recalling a time where she would compile her favorite songs into a cassette tape and sell it in school. Incorporating music with times of the day, current events in pop culture, and even weather became something that Myers became fascinated with, which led her to studying radio, television and film, graduating from Auburn in 2002.
From then on, Brooke began her career at The Tiger Communications, a local radio station in Auburn, where she then learned the power of her charisma and music taste. She explained the overwhelming love and support she received from listeners being healing, finding passion for the job and all areas that came with it. She learned everything she could from the station, from broadcasting live to the inner workings of broadcast towers management. When going in depth with her equipment and systems, she explained the function and use for every button she could find. “I wanted to know any and everything about this stuff,” Brooke explained. “I may not be going up on those light towers, but I know what they’re doing.”
While the young manager may not show it, there are a lot of struggles and frustrations that go into managing a small radio station, especially one catering to a college town. She explained that, since people are not solely depended on the radio for their on-the-road format of news and breaking information, a lot of the things that should be priorities for radio are overlooked. Specifically, government mandated public safety warnings (also known as The Emergency Alert System according to the Federal Communications Commission) being checked every month has become a constant stressor. Since most public safety alerts pop up on cellphones, smaller radio stations are becoming less of a priority when it comes to testing. However, Myers believes that if anything, radio stations should be the main source of emergency testing and information because of the lack of reliability with higher tech forms of media like cellphones and computers.
“When whoever decides to take his country down, usually you’d think they want to hit the radio station towers first. No, not anymore. 50 years ago, that would have been your first thought of communication. But now, they’re more worried about the grid.”
Brooke clarifies that she believes that eventually, radio will be put back on the market again. Seeing as though things that are seen as old and timeless eventually make its way to the younger generation, the radio host is certain there will be a time where listening to the radio will become “the new hot trend.” She recalls a story 20 years ago, where she tasked a bunch of interns to move their vinyl records to a new building. “They were like, ‘What are these?’ They thought I meant files, like medical records. Well, now that’s the common thing. Everybody collects vinyl. Everybody.”
When on the topic of technological advancement, Artificial Intelligence was bound to enter the conversation. Brooke made it clear that AI was not on the side of radio shows, with it replacing a lot of natural voices. AI has caused discourse among the radio station community, because of the lack of copyright and ownership regulations, particularly when it comes to other people’s voices and words. However, she clarified that AI wasn’t all bad when used with discretion, saying that the basis of creativity is still needed to create a high-quality product, being that she has experience with the technology herself.
“We had a voice guy, and all of a sudden, he stopped answering my email. (Normally) I would send him scripts, and he would send me back the voiced audio, and he just stopped answering me one day. He wasn’t the best backing string in the first place, so I was just like, ‘What’s going on?’” Brooke explained usually, for bigger corporate radio stations when they lose an imaging guy, (the main voicing for introductions on a radio show) they can call on another guy from a different location. However because of The Tiger’s smaller market station, they don’t have that luxury. “Well, that’s not an option, because I don’t have another station across the country that I can call on. I want it to sound good and all that, and I know some of this AI is really good now, and it’s really cheap.”
Being in her career field for 23 years, Brooke Myers has made a satisfying mark on Auburn radio, not only for her charismatic approach to the show, but also for information gathering skills and knowledgeability. Winning the 2019 Opelika-Auburn Best Radio Personality, the community agrees as well. When asked what she thought was in store for the future, Myers believes that she will still be doing radio, because of her love for making people’s day better.
