Charles Osgood Anchor, CBS Radio

For almost 40 years, the voice of Charles Osgood has graced the airwaves of American radio. His daily news commentary, The Osgood File, is broadcast on the CBS Radio Network. In 1994, he succeeded Charles Kuralt as anchor of CBS News Sunday Morning. He is also the author of six books, including See You on the Radio and The Osgood Files. His honors and awards include three Peabody Awards and three Emmy Awards.

Q: What's the draw to radio after almost 40 years?

A: Well, it obviously beats working for a living. It's fun to meet the people I meet and do the things I do. It has a lot going for it as a livelihood. It is really more fun than anything else I can think of that I might possibly do.

If I didn't do this, I wouldn't miss it because I wouldn't know that it was a possibility for me. I think that's how a lot of people choose career paths; for every door you open, you close a lot of other doors behind you. You start off with infinite possibilities, and then as you make choices, you close off your options. What you choose to do as a career automatically involves eliminating other possibilities.

Q: It's very different for people entering the broadcast journalism industry today, but what shouldn't be forgotten about the business?

A: The thing to keep in mind is basically what you're doing is storytelling. You have to talk to an audience, whether they can see you or just hear you, and you have to treat them with respect.

I never took a broadcasting course. I never took a journalism course. I majored in economics in college; Fordham had an excellent journalism program, but I didn't go that way. They did have a radio station, and that was what I did between classes. I hung out there because I just liked the idea of being there. So what was supposed to be a side thing turned out to be the main event for me. When I graduated from Fordham in 1954, I went to work at a radio stationactually, I started before graduation day, and I've been mostly employed since then.

Q: Where do you get your inspiration from for the Osgood Files?

A: In radio you are talking to one person at a time. It doesn't matter how many millions are listening, they hear it one at a time. You're just talking to one person, probably sitting in a car, maybe in their kitchen or when their alarm clock goes off. You have to remember what their situation is and what they might like to know about what's going on in the world.

The great thing about doing news as opposed to just sitting around on your bum every day is that it is a constant source of material. Things keep happening in the world and you can sort through it to find what might interest you and therefore might also interest someone else.

You have to apply journalistic standards, but that's not something you have to go to journalism school to do. I've never even taken a course in writing or any of the other things I do, and some people might say that explains a lot. On the other hand, I think a certain amount of creativity gets drummed out of you. I think somebody might look at what I would do and say, "No, that's not what people want." Maybe they are right, but they also might want it if they had it. Don't anticipate a censor too soon. Do things the best way you can think of to do it, and then later if you have to make a change, go ahead and do it.