Voice in 2 mediums part of blessed life

I’m a lucky guy.

I never forget I have a blessed life.

In terms of my career, I really have the best of both worlds.

On my NewsTalk760 WJR radio show — though certainly facing frequent time constraints — I get to express myself unfiltered and unedited.

Don’t get me wrong, there are many, many times I want to ask guests another question or respond in a more in-depth way to something they have said.

No matter what, there are only 60 minutes in an hour, as I am reminded (often) by my on-air team.

Still, whatever I do get to say on the air is coming directly from my mouth to your ear.

That’s not the case when I write this column.

In the newspaper business, there are a number of people who have a hand in what I say each week.

For example, I have nothing to do with the clever headlines above my columns. There are other people in charge of that.

I don’t even know what those headlines are going to be until I grab my first cup of coffee and sit down with my newspaper on Saturday mornings.

Also, when I get “long winded” in print, there is an editor who has the tough and often thankless job of trying to interpret what I am saying, more succinctly, and fit in the very clearly defined space my column must fit into.

Last week’s column on our governor, Rick Snyder, and the Flint water crisis was a long one.

However, it was way too important for you not to “hear” in my own words.

(See Smith’s Jan. 29 column in The Detroit News online: “Don’t forget Snyder’s good

work”).

Paul W. Smith is host of “The Paul W. Smith Show” on WJR-AM (760) from 5:30-9 a.m. Monday-Friday.