Dr. Joy Browne is, for the most part, a wonderful clinician and a helluva advice dispenser. Of the three folks delivered here she is the one I would turn to in times of trouble hands down.
However, sometimes she faces a problem particular to people in broadcasting in that sometimes she attempts to deal with major issues in teeny tiny windows of time.
For instance--in the first hour of her July 9th podcast she decided, at the end of the hour, to address the issues of a woman who is bi-polar, diabetic, obese, and coping with an eating disorder on a fixed income. She wants to become empowered and more positive in her life. Joy’s reply to this situation was a whopping 78 seconds long.
Why? Is she an insensitive person who could care less? No. It was the end of the hour. And radio folk are loath to roll over a caller from one hour to another, as some stations may not carry all three of a broadcast. So she has to make each hour, as much as possible, stand on its own.
Good business, bad ethics. The woman called in good faith to get a response and to Joy’s credit, the response was very informative. But because it was shorter than one of the film reviews she makes us endure, it came off as curt and insensitive.
Joy, you gotta solve this problem with better screening and more of a devil may care attitude toward having a clean break at the bottom of the hour. People who are disenfranchised are the bread and butter of your business. And this woman, who mustered up her courage to call you deserves longer than 15.6 seconds per issue from you.
