16/12/2025
When I went to bed on Sunday night December 14, incredibly upset at the news still breaking of the Bondi shootings in Sydney, I knew that I would hear Ben Fordham on 2GB the following morning. As a person, not a radio industry writer, this awareness that Ben would leave wherever he had commenced his Christmas holiday break to return to work, speaks to a trust I have in him, having heard his similar actions in other critical situations.
Talk radio comes with significant responsibility and on Monday there were several example of talk, public, music and community broadcasters who used their platform to aid us to process the events of the night before.
During Ben’s program a man rang in who pretty much said the ‘long time listener, first time caller’ line that is so famous in our industry. He lived on the Bonnyrigg street that was allegedly connected to one of the gunmen. Guided by the show producer beforehand and Ben live, he described the raid by police of the property in the wee hours of the night before. Afterwards I realised how this man had demonstrated his listening to 2GB by knowing exactly what is expected of their callers. He got straight to the point with vivid detail. He knew not to mention names or actual addresses. When he was done, he reflected on some of the then unknown additional details he’d heard, that one of the people in the house was to fly to Canada on Monday.
When had that been organised?
Across Monday morning Ben, and Mark Levy who followed him, recapped what was known roughly every 15 minutes and also shared information that had been texted or emailed. That caller however, and how he spoke with Ben, lingers on my mind.
Today is my last day at Radioinfo for 2025, one where I usually touch on key moments or stories from the last year. This year, what I have learned the most from, is a selection of great calls, like the one above.
With radio and podcasting increasing trying to utilise video alongside the audio, and programs content to only interact with listeners and fans through socials, phone calls have become the audio equivalent of a work Zoom meeting that could have been an email.
But for radio, a phone call, and some of the privacy it gives to facial expressions, emotions and appearance, is due to for a revival.
Read more at: https://radioinfo.com.au/news/good-call/ © RadioInfo Australia
When I went to bed on Sunday night December 14, incredibly upset at the news still breaking of the Bondi shootings in Sydney, I knew that I would hear Ben Fordham on 2GB the following morning. As a person, not a radio industry writer, this awareness that Ben would leave wherever he had commenced his...
