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Lara's
Career Capsule
In
addition to her duties at The Fish, Scott hosts a weekly syndicated
radio program, The World Chart Show, which is an international
countdown. She has also appeared on Celebrity Justice, Inside
Edition, the KTLA Morning News, and Fox 11’s “Good Day L.A.”
Scott’s voice has been heard on programs for Bravo and WE, and she
is currently doing in-flight programming for Delta Radio’s and for
Air Force 1.
Born in
Southwest Florida, Scott headed west after high school. She got
into radio in Bend, Oregon, after randomly calling a local station,
and then continued her broadcasting career in Portland. After
graduating with a B.S. in Philosophy from Portland State University,
she moved to San Francisco to become the music director and
nighttime air personality at KZQZ. She was the afternoon drive host
at KIOI in the Bay Area, and also spent six years as the midday host
at KYSR/Star 98.7 in Los Angeles.
Although she has
a busy work schedule, Scott regularly makes time to work with animal
charities, such as Kitten Rescue, The Brittany Foundation, and Best
Friends Animal Rescue. She has also been involved with benefit
events for the Lili Claire Foundation and AIDS Project Los Angeles,
and is a mentor with the Broadcasters Training Network. In her free
time, she can be found snowboarding, biking, playing with her cats
and dog (all rescues), and attending lots of concerts and movies.
1.
Personally how do you keep the ministry in the “business”?
Since I’m still new
to Christian radio (I joined the Fish in May), I am still trying to
find that perfect balance between ministry and business. I can
certainly say, though, that I pray before, during, and after my
shift (there’s no way I could do this without Him!), with a special
emphasis on Psalm 141:3: “Set a watch, O Lord, before my mouth;
keep the door of my lips.” I want to make sure that everything I
talk about is family-friendly and positive. In general, we let the
music do the preaching here, so I don’t feel the need to rattle off
a lot of scripture over intros, but I never shy away from talking
about God if it fits the break.
2. Overall, how is Christian radio different today, from 5 years
ago?
I came back to my
faith about 18 months ago, which is when I discovered Christian
radio! It seems, though, that even in that short amount of time
things have begun to swing a bit more in the rock direction:
Kutless, Third Day, etc. I grew up Southern Baptist, so when I was
a kid it was all about listening to Amy Grant, Petra, Dallas Holm,
Bill Gaither, and all of that classic music.
3. What do you think are the main characteristics of today’s
Christian radio PD?
A heart for God! An
ability to really “get” the songs that are going to be big, and add
the records that will keep the proper balance on the station to
preserve the sound that they are going for. Being able to say “no”
to sales when it’s not something that makes sense for the station,
even though it might make dollars. One great quality that my PD,
Chuck Tyler, has is that he is able to aircheck me and give me
guidance without making me feel like I want to crawl under a rock
and scream, “Why did I ever think I could be in radio????!!!!”
4. What are some adjustments you've made going from secular to
Christian radio?
Luckily, I was
already doing a pretty clean midday show at my last station, so I
didn’t have a huge shift as far as my content. It is a little more
challenging to find artist info, since we don’t really see, say,
Rebecca St. James on the cover of Us Weekly, but I’m finding sources
where I can get it (see the next question!). One thing I am
definitely doing is triple-checking intros and outros! I knew most
of the songs in our library before I started, so I’m at least
familiar with how they sound, but I’m making sure to practice intro
breaks in cue (especially phoners on voxpro) to make sure I don’t
step on anything or get caught by surprise with a really cold
ending. And can I just say that our Fish listeners are the greatest
listeners in the world? It is a pleasure to chat with them every
day.
5. What are some of your best places for show prep?
I am a huge reader,
and I’m always ripping stuff out of magazines that I might be able
to use on the air: artist info, silly jokes, fun stories, trivia.
I LOVE CCM magazine, Crosswalk.com, and HisAir.net, of course!
I
have also signed up for a great family-friendly prep service called
OnAir Prep, and I subscribe to pretty much every artist newsletter
out there. Newspapers are great sources, too!
6. In your opinion is there a line you don't cross as Christian
radio personality?
The main thing I try
to do is keep it positive and family-friendly. I always try to
picture a mom in the car with her young kids, and how they might
react to something they hear on the radio. And the only person who
gets made fun of on my show is me!
7. In your opinion what are the biggest obstacles facing Christian
radio today?
I think a big one is
not feeling like we’re able to be competitive because we’re a
specialized format. You bet we can compete! What listener
doesn’t enjoy great music, tight and relatable breaks, cool
production, and fun promotions? Our MD, Bob Shaw, and I were just
talking about this, and he mentioned the importance of stations
using tools such as music testing to make sure you’re hitting the
target with songs that they care about.
8. What do you believe is the primary role of the Christian radio
air personality?
One thing I love so
much about radio is that it’s so personal. We’re with people as
they get ready in the morning, sit in traffic, try to get through
work, etc. I hope that I can be a friendly and encouraging voice,
introduce them to new music that they will love, and maybe give them
some information that they find interesting. I really believe in
getting out and meeting our listeners, too—it’s fun for me to chat
with them at promotions about their thoughts on the station, their
families, where they go to church, etc.
9. What (if any) Christian radio stations do you consider as
innovators today?
Since everything is
still new and exciting to me right now, and I’m still finding out
about so many awesome stations, let me give you a couple of things I
really enjoy! Hopefully this doesn’t come across as totally cheesy,
but I really feel blessed to be here at The Fish because I have been
a huge fan of the station and everyone on it for quite awhile now.
I LOVE listening to Lori Thompson on the way in to work on Sirius
Spirit 66—she is so friendly and natural that she sounds like she
could be your best friend. I really enjoyed hearing KLTY when I was
in Dallas recently, and I think that WAY-FM is doing incredible
things. They’re on in my hometown in Florida, and I was able to
spend some there in April with Jeff Taylor and his wonderful staff.
I think that Jayar, who does the night show, is such a creative and
compelling guy—I LOVE his show!
10. Where do you see Christian radio in 5 years?
Thriving!!! How
lucky are we that we are able to have fun jobs in a wonderful area
of ministry? I really see the format continuing to grow and
improve. It seems that people really are hungry for family-friendly
entertainment—did you SEE how much money Ice Age 2 and similar
movies have made? I hope that we can all continue to be a blessing
to our listeners, and the God will be glorified through what we do
every day.
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