NEWS • TALK • INFORMATION
Those three words are a summation of my entire career.
I remember the day—November 28, 1980—when I received a phone call from a college classmate who told me of a job opening at the local news/talk radio station that he was working at. I told him that I didn’t want to work in news; that I was chasing a dream of being a morning show disc jockey.
Then I got a little talkin’ to…
“This is the number-one rated station in San Diego and we need you. Get your butt down here on Monday,” I was told. I applied for the job and started a few days later only to find out that I would happily maintain a 40+ year love affair with news, talk and information.
Sidebar: a 32+ year love affair also grew out of news, talk and information: I met my wife while working in news radio in San Diego. She was a reporter while I was a talk show director. But I digress…
Over the years working in San Diego I had roles such as: director* of the morning and afternoon drive news blocks, in-studio coordinator for the San Diego Chargers Radio Network, director of several talk shows, producer** of two talk shows, talk show production coordinator*** and talk show host. There’s nothing like the feeling of working in a newsroom when a major story breaks. Adrenaline hits and an eight-hour shift seems to pass in just a matter of minutes.
In September 2001 I left the radio industry (a week before 9/11) to start I Buy Time, an advertising agency that helps businesses place radio advertising all over the country. I have placed ads in almost every major U. S. market (New York City has eluded me) and a ton of small markets. And, as a rule, I only place advertising on news/talk radio stations (unless the client insists otherwise).
As the Internet grew, newspapers dwindled and, when I received word that the Mansfield News-Mirror was closing their doors at the end of December 2019, there left a void in town for news, talk and information. A podcast was born.
ABOUT MANSFIELD PODCAST
On January 2, 2020 I launched the About Mansfield podcast, a 30-minute (+/-) package of news, sports and weather, an in-studio interview, a weekly events calendar, listener comments and concludes with the trivia question of the week. It’s is currently the only source for news, talk and information in Mansfield, TX.
Since January, our all-volunteer on-air team has grown from one to five professionals who are dedicated to their craft, be it news, sports, science or home improvement.
How can you get involved? Submit:
News tips to news@aboutmansfield.com
Events to events@aboutmansfield.com
Comments to comments@aboutmansfield.com or leave a voicemail at 817-435-2938.
Thank you, Nicholas Sakelaris, for the newspaper article in the Fort Worth Star-Telegram. You can read it here.
I look forward to putting my lifelong career experience to work and hope that you will subscribe (it’s free), listen and participate. I’ll see you on the digital airwaves!
Incidentally, I never fulfilled the dream of being a DJ on the radio. I never thought that news/talk would be so exciting.
Sincerely,
Steve Cosio, host, About Mansfield podcast
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*A director controls the timing of the news or talk show; tells the announcers when to take a commercial break and when they’re back on the air. Directors are also responsible for the overall sound of the show by running the audio board.
**A producer is responsible for show content such as coming up with ideas, booking the guests and research.
***A production coordinator specializes in audio production, creating promos, news features that may require a lot of editing and/or mixing of sounds, bumper music, etc.
What People Are Saying
“After voting today in the primary, I realized I need to be more informed. I’m excited to listen to this podcast to be more engaged in my community..“
B. B., Mansfield, TX
“I do love listening and am trying to get others to do the same. It is fun to get to know our community better.”
K. M., Mansfield, TX
“Steve is quite skilled at putting people at ease for interviews, but he’s even better at recording, editing and all that engineering stuff I never knew was needed to produce a podcast.“
P. C., Mansfield, TX
“A wonderful option for advertising your business. Steve makes it so easy!”
M. R., Mansfield, TX
“Just listened to my first About Mansfield. Thoroughly enjoyed it. I have been missing the old Mansfield News-Mirror with actual news about Mansfield not Arlington! I feel this takes the place of the paper and is very informative “
W. G., Mansfield, TX
“The [candidate] interview was really well done. You’ve done a great job with these, guiding the interviewees in your subtle way to allow them to share so much of who they are and what they think. It’s been interesting.”
C. D., Mansfield, TX
“I really enjoy the podcast, especially the production value is amazing. I listen to a lot of different podcasts and you do a really good job of that.”
K. M., Mansfield, TX
“This podcast definitely keeps you in the know. Thanks for this much needed community source for information.”
T. H., Mansfield, TX
“I just discovered your podcast over the weekend, and just wanted to let you know I enjoyed listening to your episodes. I look forward to continue listening!”
A. W., Mansfield, TX
“[My boss] and I listened to the first podcast this morning. Great job! Can’t wait to hear more!”
A. M., Mansfield, TX