The Morning Show With Jim Gearhart: Back Then…The Unofficial History Of NJ 101.5

I have been anchoring the news for Jim Gearhart on the morning show, off and on now for all of these 22 years. I anchor, of course, when Eric Scott is off for any number of reasons.

I anchored the news back then, off and on before Eric came to New Jersey 101,5. And I have been filling in for him off and on ever since.

I can tell you, it has been an interesting, no, WILD ride!

Working in the morning with Alan Kasper, Bob Williams, Jill Myra and a small host of others is totally different from any other time of day. We know for one thing, that more of you listen to us during what is known in radio as, "morning drive" time, from 6 to 10AM. So the entire crew always tries to put its best foot forward for New Jersey 101.5.

A lot is going on, with Bob and Jill's traffic, Alan's weather...oh yeah, and then there is the news. I have been the anchor on some very different and challenging mornings.

Sometimes the challenge involves the weather. Sometimes there is a breaking news story and its complexion and content is constantly changing. Sometimes Jim is talking about a topic in anticipation of what will happen later in the day...a big announcement from Trenton or Washington.

And there are times that involve tragedy. As we say in the newsroom, something has blown up, and the story is constantly changing, constantly evolving. If the news event is big enough, it will dominate everything we do in the morning, and that includes Jim Gearhart's show.

On mornings such as those, Jim will just simply allow the flow of events to dictate where he goes with his show, and it usually involves some insightful contributions from callers...you the listeners.

In my little footnote to history back then, I anchored the morning 9/11 tragically broke over all of us. With a little effort, I could easily write several installments of this little blog, on the myriad of thoughts and emotions that came pouring forth on that morning.

Anchoring the morning news on New Jersey 101.5. It has been an amazing kaleidoscope of thoughts and information...from back then right up to... now!

You can read all of Joe's stories anytime by checking out our "Back Then..." archive.