There’s something about walking into a radio station and settling into the studio for a live show.

Whenever I can, I visit client stations, just so I can tour the facilities (and of course, get some SWAG ;)).

But nowadays studios are hard-pressed to find folks who want to jump over. I can relate, to both sides.

I just took an online tour of stations in various states who are looking for news folks in what I would characterize as small to medium markets. The pay is abysmal ya all. I completely understand why they can’t find people, especially if they don’t pay moving expenses like the days of yore. Jobs in the 20 – 30 thousands range will not pay for someone to live anywhere. Take taxes out and you have nothing. Rent is high, food prices have been soaring, and let’s not forget, insurance and other basic needs.

So what can we do to continue attracting young people into this fantastical world we get to work in?

When I started Remote News Service, the idea was to provide news at a reasonable rate because I had just been moved across the country for a job that went away after 8 months.

I knew stations couldn’t always afford quality individuals, and that some folks really wanted to work from home. Some stations happily work with people remotely, others are still trying to bring them in. We need to pay talent more, after all without talent, you don’t really have entertainment.

Still, today was a true wake up call, how can we entice young people over, at the same time provide them a real income they can survive on?

What say YOU?