Why Charlie Brennan is the best media person in St. Louis

Submitted by Patrick Grote on Tue, 10/07/2008 - 11:30am.

Charlie Brennan is a media personality in St. Louis and he's been on the air for 20 years. His show is The Charlie Brennan show on KMOX from 9:00am to 11:00am CT. His show is a mixture of news, interviews, entertainment and opinions.

He's the best media personality in the St. Louis area hands down. Why?

Focus on the region: Charlie is focused on the St. Louis region with a high priority. He's started a non-profit to help make St. Louis city a better place and he co-wrote a book on walking through the downtown area. Many of his topics are confrontational in simple ways. Many times he'll say, "Why can't St. Louis do what (fill in city) does?" Simple ideas are also discussed such as ensuring trash is picked up in vacant lots downtown.

He isn't just a cheerleader for the St. Louis area, as many of his ideas bring a frank truth to the state of the region.

Tough interviewer: Since he hosts a morning show many people might think his interviews are breezy and light. They aren't. He prepares well and brings excellent questions to the interview. His interviews focus on drawing new information or perspectives from his subjects. He doesn't shill and won't back down.

Fair: Among any local, regional or national media I observe, Charlie Brennan is by far the fairest. By fair I don't mean he always has two sides of an issue. He doesn't need to. He constantly plays devil's advocate.

Past this, though, he calls it as he sees it. This includes considering the gray areas of an issue. He admits when he changes his mind, but also explain why he does it. You may not agree with him, but you understand him.

Pitchman extraordinaire: This one is fascinating. Radio is driven by advertising sales, so it's critical the host is doing their part to make the advertisers happy. Charlie does this in many ways, but his most successful method is transitioning from an interview into an advertisement. He actually involves the interview subject into the live ad spot. Brilliant.

This is Charlie's 20th year on the air in St. Louis and the region benefits from his participation. He's truly an active treasure in our area.