A call came in the other day from a New York hip hop radio station asking whether I would be interested in doing an interview plus a call in segment about criminal law.  The caller explained to me that they were long on street cred and that their listeners, of which he told me there were many, were very interested in learning what to do when stopped by the cops.

Having done call in radio in the past, I wasn’t thrilled at the prospect.  For many of the same reasons that Avvo Answers sucks, responses to caller’s questions tend to be at best worthless and at worst dangerous.  I told the fellow that I’m not inclined to provide glib responses to half-baked questions that someone may rely upon one day to his detriment.  What I said was, I don’t want any kid getting shot by a cop on the street because he listened to something I said and didn’t understand that the time to forcefully assert his rights wasn’t when he was staring down the barrel of a gun.

This was when the caller started getting excited, telling me what a great thing that would be to tell the audience.  Maybe they could just do an interview without the call-in part.

Then the caller started explaining to me how their listeners had a tendency to be in need of a criminal defense lawyer.  I was shocked to learn that his inner city demographic of young, hippy hoppers of color might occasionally need a criminal defense.  His enticement, I explained, was of little interest to me.  My days of representing kids for marijuana busts were long past.  His listeners didn’t fit my client demographic, so there was little benefit to me in doing his interview.

However, the opportunity to provide some basic legal advice, such as exercising the right to remain silent and refusing to submit to the shield despite the trickery used to obtain consent for a search, interested me.  I could offer these kids some critical advice about their rights, stuff that would actually be understandable in advance and perhaps save a few from making a huge mistake.  This was something I would be happy to give if we could work out the details.

The caller was elated, and told me he would send me an email. It came within minutes of my hanging up, with an attachment.  The email itself said nothing of consequence, so I opened the attachment.  It was a price sheet.

I was stunned.  At first, I thought he must have made a mistake, sent me the wrong attachment.  But as I looked at the price sheet, I realized that it was no mistake.  This radio station, broadcasting to young people on the streets of New York with very large speakers in the car, radio cranked up to bone crushing volume, expected me to pay them for the privilege of being interviewed.  Not only would I provide content for their show, but they would get some cash in exchange for “advertising” my services.

I’ve done a lot of interviews in pretty much all media.  Some paid me for the service.  Some gave me a meal and sent a car to drive me around.  Some gave me nothing.  Some followed me through hallways, streets and elevators.  But no one had ever asked me to pay before.

It really makes perfect sense.  For those lawyers willing to buy adwords like marijuana or pot or the like, this was a perfect opportunity to buy their way onto the radio to reach the crowd they seek.  In fact, it’s quite brilliant, and I’ve no doubt that many criminal defense lawyers would jump at the chance of buying some air time for themselves.  The price, actually, was quite reasonable, if you’ve interested in paying for it.

But this most definitely wasn’t for me. 

Historically, the media loves lawyers.  They can always get one to show up and talk at the drop of a hat.  Lawyers love to get their faces on the screen, their voices on the dial, their names in the paper.  As if this makes them famous.  It doesn’t, but they don’t care.  They will drop everything to run in front of a camera.  Lawyers are such media sluts, even when they know nothing about a case or are asked to speak to a subject about which they are wholly ignorant.  Media sluts don’t are about such things as ignorance. It’s all about becoming famous.

Finally, a radio station has figured out a way to make a buck off it.