My Proudest Moment as a Broadacaster, Part II

After years of being handed ad copy to voice right as I was leaving work, one cold January day I'd had enough. The salesperson in question was famous for getting things to people late, and the copy was always full of errors. This copy was no different. From WCLV's back door, I picked up the coffee can, the one used for cigarette butts, and placed it on the front walkway from the parking lot to WCLV's entrance. A WRMR colleague's cigarette lighter was used to flame the copy, and I flung the burning paper into the butt can and let it incinerate. Suddenly, I heard a voice familiar to WCLV listeners: "Jackie... We have heat in here." It was WCLV's co-founder and then-president Robert Conrad, who, from one of the production studios, had seen the whole thing. "I'm protesting!" I said. His expression changed. "What are you protesting?" I didn't mention the salesperson's name, but I strongly suggested that salespeople provide better copy and get it to the "talent" in a more timely manner. Months later, I learned that when news of my bonfire traveled around the building, my reputation among my WRMR colleagues, all of them radio old-timers, went up about 3,000 per cent. They were impressed that somebody protested shoddy treatment by a salesperson. Years later, when a new sales rep was being indoctrinated, she was told: "You better make sure your copy is in good shape, or Jackie will burn it."