After what some consider a brief run here at West Tennessee’s TJ Network (about 3 and a half years)…..Mike Slater has left the building, the “shining station on the hill” (as he referred to it), and West Tennessee. He starts in his new on-air position at a San Diego radio doing the morning show on Monday, January 3.
Now that the dust has settled, so to speak, and Mike is another in a long line
Mike Slater
My first encounter with Mike came while checking my company email in the early spring of 2007. I had just taken the position of program director of our AM talk station, WTJS that would later become the flagship of what is now known as West Tennessee’s TJ Network. I received an email from a kid that was about to graduate college and interested in garnering his first job in radio.
Three things intrigued me about Mike’s email that later became the impetus for putting an effort in motion to hire him at WTJS. First of all, I was intrigued at the fact Mike was about to complete his education at one of the most prestigious schools in the country, Yale University. Now, for the record, Mike never built this fact up. Actually, he always played down the fact he was a “Yalie” which, I learned later, was indicative of his humble nature and desire to fit in wherever he was at the time.
Secondly, I was intrigued (and impressed) at the audio demo online he pointed me toward in order to check him out. While at Yale (where Mike jokingly used to say he was the “only conservative on campus”) he produced an Internet radio show called, “My Mom’s a Democrat”. While his overall “polish” as a broadcaster left somewhat to be desired I really liked his “believable” persona on the show that came off as being extremely genuine and relatable. Considering his environmental surroundings (political as well as geographical) the show had a real “voice of one crying in the wilderness” quality about it that stood out.
The third, and perhaps most intriguing, thing about that original email from Mike was the fact he expressed a desire to “specifically” move to West Tennessee and go to work for WTJS. I am certain he sent multiple emails to many stations and broadcast companies about this time because he needed to land that first job. But, there was a genuineness about it that let me know he may really be targeting our local area as a place to hang his vocational hat for a while.
As is known, we did go on to hire Mike for the morning show on the stand-alone AM station that caused him to be in to work weekday mornings very early. This was something that would later impress me as well how he never complained about having to come to work so early and being only 23 years old at the time. Let’s face it, a kid just out of college could easily opt for a job that didn’t require getting up before the chickens every day, but not Mike.
Upon his arrival here in Jackson at WTJS Mike immediately thrust himself headlong into his new position and approached it with a passion that, unfortunately, is rare among many people young and old today. He exhibited drive, talent and desire to excel beyond his years and never looked back.
For the next three and a half years Mike built a foundation that, in my opinion, will serve him for the remainder of his career. Yes, he will go on to bigger and greater things but whatever he achieves in the future had its grounding here at the TJ Network. It was during his time here our company, Forever Communications, Inc. decided to add and simulcast an additional two FM stations (WTJS-FM 105.3, WTJJ-FM 94.3) creating the TJ Network. This only helped to build the Slater army and further the movement known as “Slater Raiders”.
From there things mushroomed for Mike. He was able to acquire the friendship of several influential political personalities, strategists, bloggers and the like that helped make the whole Slater reign larger than life and create additional credibility for himself and his radio stations. Another thing that marked the time Mike was on the air here is the fact he never sacrificed the integrity of West Tennessee in order to pad his own reputation and career. He always had the interests of his listeners and West Tennessee as a whole first and foremost before him.
Perhaps one of the most impressive qualities about Mike Slater to me personally was the way he genuinely met and related to people of all ages. Whether he was meeting or talking with a small child, a seasoned politician or simply a common citizen he always naturally seemed to be in awe of the opportunity to do so and get to relate to the individual. That is a quality many politicians would kill for but with Mike it seemed to come natural.
There are plenty of individuals that have national political influence that will readily tell you Mike singled-handedly changed the political climate of West Tennessee with his campaign to promote the unseating of a long-time congressman in our area that Mike believed to be out of touch with his constituents. Whatever position one takes on this statement truth is truth and change has come to the region as well as other areas of the country as witnessed by the outcome of the last election.
I feel Mike’s overall and greatest achievement while living among us here in West Tennessee was simply to cause us all to become more aware of our political surroundings (there’s that “voice crying in the wilderness” thing coming through again). Whether Republican or Democrat, Libertarian or whatever the case may be awareness and actively being involved in the “system” is a good thing. That’s what I credit Mike Slater with helping to facilitate though it all never would have taken place without the help of his Slater Raiders.
Here’s how I will remember the Slater legacy. I will continue to realize Mike came to us and was able to rally a portion of us to aspire to work toward a better life for West Tennesseans and Americans alike. He reminded us to be involved, vocal and proud to have the opportunity to take part in the process. I, along with many others, believe Mike is destined for great things. I also believe he met the purpose for which he came to West Tennessee, and told him so.
We will always remember Mike and for a lot of reasons that won’t be difficult to do. One reason is that I’m sure we will be hearing a lot of good things about him and his career for a long time to come. Good success, Mike Slater, and God Speed.
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