Re: Another Madison Radio Pro Makes the Big-Time

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: Make us proud Dusty, you will be missed by this listener. : : Wednesday, June 15, 2011 : : Another Madison Radio Pro Makes the Big-Time : : Dusty Weis is about to take his talents to Souf Beach. : : In a few days, Dusty will make the leap from radio market #98 (Madison) to radio market #12 (Miami metro area). Like LeBron, Dusty plays the : radio news game at the top level. Unlike LeBron, Dusty won’t choke when he hits the big-time. : : I met Dusty the way I met so many young news people in the twilight of my career as a news anchor: some station official dragged Dusty into : my on-air studio a few years ago and said “here’s a new guy; see what you can do with him.” : : I soon learned that this new guy, raised in Monroe, who’d graduated from the UW-Madison Journalism School and had recently decamped from : Portage after a stint with the Portage Daily Register, could actually write. He was one of the handful of people I’ve met in my decades of : radio news who actually understood how the English language works, and most of the rules on how to use it. He paid attention to things like : grammar and syntax, case and pronoun agreement, and the rest of the picky rules that too many J-school grads these days have apparently never : heard of. : : Not only did Dusty know the rules, he knew how to write clear, concise, and colorful sentences. He had a knack for capturing the essence of a : story and writing it clearly. (It ain’t that easy, folks.) There was some stylistic flair to his writing. Not only that – he LOVED to write. : So, my job in mentoring Dusty was easy: write, write, write, Dusty. Keep writing. Write more. I’ll put a few red marks on your copy and go over : it with you. After a few weeks of this, it was clear that there wasn’t much I could teach him; he was operating at a level well above market : standards, and getting better on his own every day. All I had to do was cheer him on. He knew how to choose the right “sound bite” for the : story, how to make a story flow, and had mastered the myriad technical things that go into producing a professional radio news story. : : I wasn’t a bit surprised when Dusty told me a few days ago he was headed to a heritage news/talk radio station in Miami. His last few months : covering the shenanigans at the Capitol have enabled him to put together a resume that any news director would put on the top of the pile. : Dusty’s stuff from the Capitol was great: no electronic media reporter up there did a better job than Dusty, and he put in marathon hours : gathering, writing, editing, and voicing his reports. This is what is often called “paying your dues.” : : Dusty has paid his dues, and Madison’s loss will soon be Miami’s gain. (Dusty would NEVER write a cliché like the prior sentence!) He’s gonna : thrive in that Miami environment, and I have absolutely no doubt that he’ll soon make a name for himself in that big zoo. : : I’m honored to have been a colleague, Dusty. Remember your Wisconsin roots, and wear your Badgers and Packers gear with pride.

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