Paul Szmal: My guest on FLX Morning is our former WAUB colleague Joe Salzone. He now hosts Ithaca's Morning News on News Talk WHCU. Good morning and welcome back.
Joe Salzone: Good morning, Ted. Good to have you with us.
Paul Szmal: So how's Morning Radio in Ithaca treating you?
Joe Salzone: About the same as Geneva radio is treating you, I guess. Inside joke, right?
Paul Szmal: So yeah, you're here today in your capacity as a president of ARMA TV, which is Auburn Regional Media Access. That's the local public access, community access television station. So tell us what I know you've maintained a lot of ties with Auburn. So that's a big part of being part of this, right?
Joe Salzone: Absolutely. I've been a part of the board in one form or another since maybe 2013. So not long, actually, after you hired me in 2012, and became president of the board just last summer.
Paul Szmal: So what we're here to talk about today, a couple of things, you're looking to hire some help, but also just want to let people know, because a lot of times, public access television is sort of, you know, people know Wayne's World, and that's about it.
Joe Salzone: Yeah, public access is something that is, it's not well known to a lot of people, to a large population, because the programming is very much government meetings, school board meetings, and then people from within the city of Auburn can do their own shows. And it's a very niche product.
Paul Szmal: Is it harder to get people to host shows now in the podcast era?
Joe Salzone: I think it's harder to find people willing to learn how to use the equipment, because that's what we provide. We provide training, and what we do is we train you to be essentially a producer, and then you're tasked with developing your content, producing your own shows, shooting it, editing it, and giving it back to us so we can air it.
Paul Szmal: So what's the process of getting on? Are you not allowed to refuse anybody at all, because you're community access, or is there some sort of auditioning or vetting process, if I want to do an hour weekly show?
Joe Salzone: The vetting process really depends on what the host is looking to do. If they are looking to do a half hour or an hour of hate speech, we would say no, we would decline that. Or if an elected official who's running for re-election wants to do something, we can't, because that would go against certain policies. But really, most of it is people who want to get a message out about their organization, or like in my case, I've done a series of conversations, much like what I've done on the radio in Auburn and what I do on the radio here in Ithaca that you taught me, but just doing it in front of cameras and lights.
Paul Szmal: What advice would you have for someone who wants to start a show? We both know from radio, people come in and they have good intentions, but they'll come in and go, I want to do a four hour a week show, and you kind of have to go, whoa, let's walk before we run.
Joe Salzone: Yeah, the best advice is have a plan. Anyone, as you know, anyone can do one really good show. Can you do five in a row? Can you do 10 in a row when everything around you is not working or your life is crumbling? I mean, we know we've done this long enough, we can come in after some bad times, and as soon as we get behind this microphone, it's like it never happened.
Paul Szmal: You have your own program that's called Casual Conversation, so how does that differ from the type of interview you would do on WHCU or you did on WAUB?
Joe Salzone: Longer form interviews, that's really the big difference. We could go a half hour, the one I did most recently with Sheriff Skank was I think about 25 or 30 minutes, and the point of it is, just as the title implies, we have a very casual conversation, there aren't any notes, there's not a lot of coordination about topics or questions, we sit down and we have a discussion about whatever happens to be going on, and we go as long as it takes, as long as it feels organic. When I start to hit a wall or the guest starts to hit a wall, there's that natural timing that you and I would know a lot about, anyone who does broadcasting on a regular basis, you have that good inner clock and you wind down. But it's basically just a longer form conversation, very much like what we've done on the radio all these years.
Paul Szmal: So are you recruiting for talent? Do you keep an eye out if you see someone who's kind of a personality and you think, hey, they could do this, do you say, hey, why not come on ARMA and do a show?
Joe Salzone: That has happened. It's not something that we actively seek out. It's better for Auburn residents to seek us out at auburntv.org, that's where you can fill out an application to become a producer. And we're also looking, we had a really good producer with us, James Riker, who has taken a job, a full-time job out in Syracuse. So his spot as sort of the studio manager, the person that was running the day-to-day operations, is a position we're looking to fill.
Paul Szmal: So what kind of technical skills are needed to fill that position?
Joe Salzone: A lot of video skills, Ted. A lot of video background would be great. Someone who understands some of the systems in play. Someone who is able to go out and film things, film things like the holiday parades, film things like local meetings, and also manage our website, manage our social media. And frankly, a lot of it, as anyone who's looking for a job, a lot of it can be tailor-made if the right person comes along. I'm happy to take on some of the responsibilities myself, so are other members of the board. But we're hoping, and we thank James for sticking around long enough, because he also wants to make sure that we find the right person to take the mantle and allow ARMA, which is now more than 20 years old, allow us to grow and explore different forms of media.
Paul Szmal: Talk about how ARMA serves the community and how you'd like it to serve the community.
Joe Salzone: Really, we are a reflection of Auburn. The programming that we have, stuff I've done, stuff other Auburnians have done over the years, it really reflects their interest, it reflects the feel of the city, and I would say anyone who believes that they can do it, who wants to put out a creative product, who wants to be part of the conversation, who just wants to maybe flex some skill set that perhaps they can't do in any other walk of life, we welcome them to reach out to us and we can get things going in a pretty short amount of time.
Paul Szmal: It seems to me, other than the typical one-camera or two-camera interview show, just in terms of video production, I mean, not very long ago there were some fairly crude stuff on YouTube, but now the tools available, the bar is pretty high in terms of production values.
Joe Salzone: I can't say enough nice things, Ted, about James. I've worked with him on a lot of these video shoots going back probably 10 years at this point. He runs a very professional operation, so we've done three-camera conversations, we've done a lot of two-camera shoots, and he really is, it's going to be immensely difficult to replace him. He's someone that works well with everyone, including someone as temperamental as myself.
Paul Szmal: Now, I know you don't want to leave anybody out, but give us a couple of your favorites among the locally produced shows that are on ARMA-TV.
Joe Salzone: I always enjoyed our conversations with the now former mayor, Mayor Quill. We would do maybe a quarterly conversation, and it was an extension. We kind of picked up where we left off when I was at WAUB. We kind of picked up that mantle and continued on in a longer form. I always enjoy talking to him. Sheriff Skank, as you know, you've taken over those conversations. He is tremendous, a great asset to the Sheriff's Office, and a good person to talk to. One of the great joys of interviewing people is you can talk to anybody, because everyone has a story, and it's our job as the interviewer to get as much information and as much interesting content out as we can. And of course, in terms of talking to Mayor Quill, it's easier for you because he likes you.
Paul Szmal: He does like me, yes.
Joe Salzone: I think he finally warmed up to you after he left office and didn't have to worry about you anymore.
Paul Szmal: Oh, good. He says very nice things about you away from microphones.
Joe Salzone: Oh, well, terrific. That's great.
Paul Szmal: So, are you looking for anybody else on the board?
Joe Salzone: We would like to add some more people with different backgrounds. I mean, a lot of us have media backgrounds, education, theater. We'd like to invite people on who have maybe experience in the world of fundraising, experience in underwriting, marketing, and things along those lines. Stuff that will help us grow and move to a new level.
Paul Szmal: And that leads to my next question, which is, how are you funded, and do you take public donations as part of your support?
Joe Salzone: We have not solicited donations in the past. A lot of the funding comes from the City of Auburn and these franchise agreements that we have between the City and the cable companies. We have another discussion on that coming up, actually, in just a few weeks, a big meeting about it. But, you know, we are exploring different possibilities that will allow us to expand and maybe one day in the future have a much larger operation than what we've been able to accomplish so far.
Paul Szmal: Now, we mentioned your on-air media gig. Tell us about your teaching gig.
Joe Salzone: Ah, yes. You've been kind enough to be a guest speaker a couple times. I have been, this is my third year as an adjunct professor, adjunct instructor. I don't like the word professor. I don't think legally I can say that. At TC3, Good Community College out in Dryden. And, you know, I love it. It was not something that I ever had on my bingo card. It was not something I thought I would ever be able to do. But to be able to talk directly and very frankly with 18 and 19 and 20-year-olds who have a good interest in working in new media or old media, being able to share with them my experiences and bring people in that I've either worked with or know personally to share their experiences as well, it's really wonderful to see that there are still so many people that want to continue on with what we've worked on all these years.
Paul Szmal: And I know you're like me. You like to give back. That's why I've spoken to a couple of your classes. If anything I've done or any of my education or experience can be helpful to the next generation, I'd love to share that. I have said this to anyone who has asked and to people who haven't, every ounce of confidence I have as a broadcaster comes from working with you. And you've been a big part of my life since you hired me. And it was also a joy watching you impart some wisdom on students last year who, by the way, still ask about you.
Joe Salzone: Wow, that's great. I appreciate that.
Paul Szmal: So I know you have a great affinity for Auburn and this position must be really rewarding in terms of just being able to stay in touch with the city and get maybe some different people some camera time who might not otherwise.
Joe Salzone: It is still my adopted hometown. I get out there as much as I can. Auburn will always be a special place to me and it's the first place I've lived and I've moved around a lot in the last 10 years. It's the first place that really welcomed me and made me feel like I was at home in a way that I never really experienced actually having a home for years on Long Island. So it's always a very special place. I follow it very closely. Mayor Gina Tino has been on the radio with me a couple times since he took office and I always keep an eye on what's going on there in history's hometown.
Paul Szmal: All right, Arma is Auburn Regional Media Access, local TV made by you. We've been talking with Joe Salzone, the board president, our former colleague in WAUB. Always good to talk and there will be a brew pub soon with our name on it.
Joe Salzone: I love it and Ted, always a pleasure.
