If you’re on the ground in Iraq and you love Country music, then you know Kristen King. She’s an Army specialist and midday jock on
She’s much beloved by the troops. No wonder she’s been the subject of feature stories on both the CBS Evening News and NBC Nightly News in recent days. And no wonder that there’s talk of turning her story into a movie.
As Harry Smith says in the CBS story, “She makes soldiers far from home feel like they’re listening to the girl next door.”
Says Kristen:
No matter where you are, music makes you think of home. There are certain songs that everyone can connect to, and every song is connected to a memory. So, when guys call in and wanna hear these songs, it’s like giving them a piece of home. So I’m glad that I can do that.
I’m not talking about an iPod here, folks. I’m talking about a flesh and blood human being on the radio. We’re talking about what sets radio above and apart from so many of its novel competitors, no matter what their hipness, no matter what their stock valuation. Better than any of them, radio is capable of connecting people to each other.
So watch the CBS story and share it with your peers. It’s not just going to make you feel good about working in radio. It will make your listeners feel good about listening to it.
Because connection is why they come to us in the first place.
And by the way, the smartest thing your radio group could do would be to give this woman a job on your air when she comes home.