I‘m a little ashamed to say I wasn’t aware of his historical relevance in broadcasting until I read his AJC obituary (login). I always knew him as the guy whose columns showed up on the Marietta Daily Journal’s opinion page next to Bill Shipp and Dick Yarbrough. Truth be told, I didn’t think his columns were all that great. But it’s hard to deny him a spot in local history as the man most single-handedly responsible for making WSB radio into the powerhouse it was for a long time. He apparently originated some of the concepts prevalent in talk radio now, including frequent weather reports and audience call-ins. From the WSB History page:

If one person can be called the most influential person in radio broadcasting in the Southeast in modern times, it would have to be Elmo Ellis. In his years working with WSB in Atlanta (1940 through 1982), Elmo Ellis was a man who recognized that radio had two roles. Yes, radio was a business but radio also had a responsibility to inform and guide listeners. In his roles as program director and later as the General Manager of WSB, he balanced those two roles to preserve WSB’s position as a dominant source of news and information – while also providing listeners with memorable entertainment programs.

His AJC obit had a few choice quotes I think are worth mentioning here.

“America is being short changed and endangered simply because the government has stopped policing the airwaves and requiring holders of audio and video licenses to provide their communities with all the alerts and warnings they should have.”

There he was complaining about his inability to find reports on the crummy weather conditions during an ice storm — something that apparently never would have happened under his watch. The tone of that quote lead me to believe weather wasn’t the only area he was disappointed in when pondering the evolution of talk radio in the years following his 1982 departure from WSB.

“We did talk radio, not hate radio.”

I read that as an unmistakable rebuke of the Sean Hannitys, Michael Savages, Bill O’Reillys, and Rush Limbaughs of the world. But, it’d be a stretch for me to put words in a dead guy’s mouth, so interpret that any way you’d like. While it might be an exaggeration to believe the good old days of broadcasting were really all that good, I can’t help but get the feeling that every time one of the old guard dies the phrase “ethical broadcasting” inches a little closer to being an oxymoron.