TRANSCRIPTION:
David Fair: If you listen to WEMU on Saturdays, you may have noticed a new, enthusiastic voice. John Stockwell has joined Team WEMU. And inside our studio walls, we're thrilled! I'm David Fair, and I'm going to tell you we're just as excited for you to get to know John. And we have a good deal to look forward to because John has arrived. John, thank you for choosing WEMU!
John Stockwell: David, thanks to you! It's wonderful to be here!
David Fair: Well, for those who have been living in the region for some time now, you may recognize John's voice from WJR. You spent 12 years at WJR over in Detroit, but it's been nearly 15 since you've been on the radio airwaves.
John Stockwell: Right.
David Fair: What made you decide to get back into radio?
John Stockwell: I was at work, and a thought popped into my head that I wanted to get back to doing radio, and I knew that EMU had a station. And it was ten minutes from my house, and I literally from work sent an email to Molly, your program director, and said, "If you're looking for help, I can help." And she responded right away. And here I am!
David Fair: And we were looking for help, to be sure.
John Stockwell: Yeah, I mean, it was like the perfect storm. Just the thought popped in my head. And, yeah, it's just working out great.
David Fair: Well, you mentioned you were at work. How have you been occupying your professional time since 2010?
John Stockwell: Well, in 2010, I started working behind the scenes doing digital media and video production.
David Fair: Oh, you wanted to make money?
John Stockwell: Yes! Well, and at that point, too, like around that time, our son was 4 or 5 years old. So, I was trying to find something with a normal schedule, as opposed to going in at three in the morning. So, I was really attracted to that. But, yeah, I started doing digital media. And eventually in 2015, I started working full time at Our Lady of Good Counsel Catholic Church in Plymouth, where I've been ever since. And I do video production, podcasting, their website. If you go to their YouTube channel, OLGC Plymouth, you'll see the thousands of videos that I produced.
David Fair: Well, you've been living locally for a while now, right?
John Stockwell: Yeah.
David Fair: I'm curious. As to being a resident of Ypsilanti, what do you like about the city? And what do you like about Washtenaw County?
John Stockwell: What I really like about the city and what I like about Washtenaw County is I find the people are friendly. The people are warm. There's great restaurants. There's great things to do, you know? And it's just a wonderful place just to drive around on the weekend and go to a park, go to a restaurant or do whatever you want. It's a wonderful location. And then, you're close to a bigger city like Detroit, where you can go for things like that. You're close to Toledo and Ohio. So, yeah, it's a wonderfully located place.
David Fair: We're talking with WEMU news anchor and reporter John Stockwell. He joined the news team and will guide you through your Saturday mornings and into the afternoons on WEMU. Now, what do you most look forward to covering as a reporter and discovering about Washtenaw County?
John Stockwell: What I look forward to the most, as a reporter, is reporting just on the everyday story. It doesn't have to be talking to someone super famous or talking to someone super important. For me, I think the most compelling stories are just your typical person you'll run into doing their daily job. And I used to teach at the Specs Howard School, which is now gone. But some of my students would have to put together a feature report, I remember. And they'd always want to go interview Huel Perkins and they'd want to interview Drew and Mike and they used to be on WRIF. But what I found the best stories were when a student would interview the guy who owns their local party store and tell his story. And I had a girl interview her nail technician, and it was just fantastic. So, those are the kind of stories I like where somebody is doing something locally and just just tell their story. Let the newsmaker tell their story and present it. And it can be much more fascinating than your typical run-of-the-mill talking to someone well-known.
David Fair: Yeah, For the older generation, there's a million stories in the naked city, right?
John Stockwell: There really is. There really are. Yeah.
David Fair: John is an award-winning broadcaster, by the way. He's taking home trophies from the Michigan Association of Broadcasters, the Associated Press even won an Edward R. Murrow Award for best newscast. Now, since it was unlikely that you were going toot your own horn, I didn't want to let you go untooted. So, there you go! I'm glad we could acknowledge that. But it is just another fact that WEMU is going to put forth the very best when it comes to news and information with the very best of people. Now, as we prepare to enter 2025, John, perhaps the biggest issue we face in radio, and in media as a whole, is disinformation and misinformation.
John Stockwell: Right.
David Fair: How do you characterize your role as a journalist in this age?
John Stockwell: The way I would characterize my role as being a news anchor or a news reporter is that my job is to tell people what they need to know. Because I think a lot of news today has slipped into telling people what they want to hear. And that can be a danger because that puts kind of a slant on everything. So, my job really is just to present the facts. I will just tell you what happened. The mayor said this. The President said this. The sports team did this. I'm just going to present the facts to you.
David Fair: Stand with the facts!
John Stockwell: Just staying with the facts. It's always a head scratcher for me when a news organization is labeled liberal or conservative. I say, "No, you should just be telling me the facts." They can be different on the same story, but you really should not have a slant. And that's what I do. I just tell you what's going on.
David Fair: Well, you are more than a broadcaster, John Stockwell. You're a family man. You have hobbies and interests. Tell me about your family.
John Stockwell: Yeah. My wife Michelle and I have been married for....almost 27 years.
David Fair: I hope she didn't hear that.
John Stockwell: Let me do the math on that. There we go. And then, yeah, our son is majoring in chemical engineering at Washtenaw Community College. He's taking the pre-recs, and then he's probably going to transfer, like to EMU or to Michigan. And I grew up in Toledo, Ohio. My dad was a World War II Bombardier. He got air medals for dropping bombs on Hitler, I like to say. And my mom was an English teacher. And they're two just really, really great people. And I grew up also with three older sisters.
David Fair: Family is obviously important.
John Stockwell: Oh yeah!
David Fair: And here in your little Ypsilanti/Washtenaw County bubble, what does the Stockwell family like to do together?
John Stockwell: One thing I enjoy doing is, well, I grew up for many years playing in rock and roll bands in the evening, right? So, I'm very familiar with sound and with lights. And I have a state-of-the-art karaoke lounge in our basement. And it's not like you're going to the local bowling alley for karaoke. I have really good speakers and a really nice mixer that I sit and run and really nice automated lights. So, when friends come over and sing, I make it sound like you're at a concert. And luckily, I do know how to sing too. So, when I get up and sing, I'm not frightening people.
David Fair: I also understand that you like to cook.
John Stockwell: Yeah, this started during COVID.
David Fair: This is going to be of great benefit to me here at WEMU. I expect you to bring things in.
John Stockwell: Oh my gosh! Believe it or not, this started during COVID. When I was at home a lot, my wife started ordering meal kits online where they send you the ingredients and then you start cooking. And it just kind of took off from there where I really started developing a skill for just making these spectacular dishes. I made a shepherd's pie last week that my wife and I are still talking about. So, she comes home from work every day, and I prepared like this tremendous food. So, it's a very wonderful and relaxing thing to do that kind of started just as a spur-of-the-moment. But I discovered I did have a talent at it.
David Fair: So, you mentioned the karaoke studio, and it's just kind of stuck in my head, even as we're talking about cooking and food, which is among my favorite subjects.
John Stockwell: Oh yeah.
David Fair: What is your go-to song when you sing karaoke?
John Stockwell: Oh boy! So, here's I can sing a wide range of things. A lot of times I might kick the night off with Frank Sinatra to kind of keep it mellow. But then, I might just go into some rock and roll, like with The Cult or Led Zeppelin or something like that.
David Fair: Well, there's some different vocal styles!
John Stockwell: Well, and the other thing, too, I was trained as a singer. I got my bachelor's degree in theater. And I had this great vocal teacher, like over 40 years ago, who taught me how to sing. And believe it or not, at my age, I can still bring some of the notes. But one of my go-to songs is "One for My Baby" from Frank Sinatra. And I was lucky enough to see him, I think, in '92 and '93. And so, when I do "One for My Baby" at home, I get out. I have a stool next to me with a little glass of whiskey. And then, I even have a fake cigarette that blows smoke like Frank used to wear.
David Fair: You wear a hat?
John Stockwell: I don't wear a hat, but everybody has to be completely quiet. I make the lights dark, a dim blue. And I sing "One for My Baby" with Frank Sinatra with whiskey and a fake cigarette. It is truly an amazing thing!
David Fair: Well, as I take us out, you feel like providing a little acapella serenade?
John Stockwell: It's a quarter to three. There's no one in the place except you and me. There we go.
David Fair: Well, we're looking forward to the weeks, months and years ahead, John, and we look forward to all you going to bring to WEMU and, more importantly, to the listening community!
John Stockwell: All right!
David Fair: That is John Stockwell, your Saturday morning news anchor and feature reporter--one of the newest additions to your live and local community NPR station. I'm David Fair, and this is 89 one WEMU FM Ypsilanti.
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