[BC] WXXI-FM Mishap

[Scott Fybush]

Paul B. Walker, Jr. wrote:
> This came from another mailing list I'm on..(not posted by me, came from
> another member)

(snip)

> *Within about 20 minutes, an extremely chagrined announcer quietly 
> explained
> that all the sounds heard earlier were his doing.  It seems the XXI
> transmitter had gone off the air, and he was just piddling around while 
> they
> were off.  But, as he noted, he had forgotten that the on-line listeners
> were still connected.*
> 
> **
> *It could have been worse, much worse*

As a part-time WXXI newsperson (on the AM 1370 side, not on the FM), may 
I step in for just a second?

Yes, I suppose it COULD have been worse - but I'm pretty sure I can 
speak for the rest of my colleagues at WXXI, all of them with many years 
of experience in the business, in saying that this is precisely why we 
all know to ALWAYS assume that any mic in the air studio is hot!

Now, if this had been my college radio station umpteen years ago, it 
might have been a different story - but it's hard to imagine much of 
anything going on in the rather sedate WXXI studios that would have been 
all that embarrassing if it had gone out over the airwaves (or the net).

s