Thursday, April 10, 2014

Documentary Profiles Out-Of--Work Radio Host Scott Alan

Scott Alan
53-year-old Scott Alan has been called natural entertainer. Fourteen years ago, he won a radio contest pretending to be a baseball announcer. The head of former Chicago station WJJG 1530 AM (now WCKG) saw him on TV, and turned Scott Vanderstuyf, a painting business owner in Bartlett, Ill., into Scott Alan, a local radio star.

His morning show attracted between 50,000 to 100,000 listeners a day, he said, putting him in the same league as much bigger stations. With a little hustle on the side, Alan was solidly middle class. He took his wife, a part-time dietician, and two kids on a vacation every year, to places like Florida and the Bahamas. He saved up enough to pay for his oldest daughter’s first year of college.


“The salary I made on the radio wasn’t top-notch, but it was decent,” Alan said. “But the perks I got were incredible. I ate at restaurants that right now, if I walked in, I would have to be the dishwasher.”

The work was also fulfilling. He interviewed Robert Redford, the late Paul Newman and then-state Sen. Barack Obama. And Alan’s shtick was blue collar: anti-corporate, pro-little guy. He gave weekly spots to local struggling musicians. He helped an ex-con listener get a job. His audience peaked during the worst of the recession.

Then, in October 2011, a new manager came in, more of a “bean counter,” Alan said.  After 12 years on air, they replaced him with a nationally syndicated host’s show. He said it was clearly a money-saving move.

“It devastated me,” Alan said. “…And that’s where my depression came in. You know, I’ve been battling depression since then.”


Alan's situation is the subject of a Al Jazeera America documentary 'The Other America'.