It’s a little after six in the morning when the starting queue comes on: “It’s the Vinnie and Icky Morning Show on Rock 97.9 NRQ,” the automatic recording echoes throughout the room. Headphones on, microphone in its correct position, newspapers sprawled across the desk with Metro Source online news stories mixed in - - he’s ready. Vinnie Hasson’s loud voice booms into the microphone, sending a surge of energy throughout the station’s room and into people’s cars - - the day has begun.

    Sure Hasson is still waking up from his five a.m. alarm, but he is used to this lifestyle. Hasson has been a part of early morning radio since he was a teenager, calling in the morning surf report from the beaches in San Diego, he says. “A guy who worked in the wet suit business lived next to a guy who worked in the radio business… and that’s how I got into radio,” Hasson says as he explains how it was never a conscious decision to pursue a career in radio.

    For not being a conscious decision though, it took him a lot of places. “A random string a events,” as Hasson describes it, allowed him to travel throughout southern California, to Philadelphia, back to California in the Bay Area, to his current residence of Eugene, Oregon. The extent of Hasson’s experience gives him confidence behind the microphone and the ease to be able to entertain an audience no matter how tired he is feeling.

    The 6-to-10 a.m. show is broken up into segments of news and sports with a lot of room for discussion and commentary. With commercials and music also breaking up the show, Hasson and his partner, Icky, have a chance to prepare for the upcoming news and sports by reading the newspapers, finding up-to-date stories online, and going over ways in which they can report current events, and while making them entertaining at the same time. No show is prerecorded.

    “I have a preference for doing things spontaneously and live,” Hasson states. Because of this, attention to detail is important since there is only one chance to get the facts right. Getting the facts right, however, is only one aspect of reporting in radio. There are also rules to be aware of, which are based on certain words the hosts can’t say. These rules are very specific without a lot of room for interpretation. An obvious example would be the word ‘fuck,’ however, the host can say ‘the f-word.’ When it comes to the subjects that the hosts can discuss, there is a gray area in the rules. “I can’t talk about the action specifically of sex, but I can talk about sex. I have to stop when it gets to the graphic point of putting something of me into a woman because that is an action,” Hasson explains.

    While there is a 20-second delay between the recording room and what listeners hear on their radios, the corporations who own the radio stations are not willing to put up with any mistakes from the hosts.

    There are times though, when lawsuits are brought against a radio station over what radio hosts say. Hasson recalls the time he and his co-hosts in the Bay Area were sued for calling one of the women on the show, Who Wants to Marry a Millionaire, a “skank.” He describes the incident very casually, saying that the woman, local to the bay area, didn’t think that they should get away with calling here that name. However, the lawsuit never went anywhere because she gave away the rights to the protection of her name by signing up for the show, and now is as a type of celebrity.

    Luckily for Hasson, that was the only time he has been sued for anything he’s said; shows usually proceed normally. After the show is over, Hasson goes home and turns on his television and computer. “I’m connected at all times. And that’s the way that I stay up on current events,” he says. “What I usually do is stay aware of everything that’s going on in pop culture, news and sports, everyday. What makes it work for the show is our take on it. I might deliver a story somewhat straight and see what my partner has to say about it. Or I may have a way of delivering it that will make it somewhat entertaining.”

This routine seems to have worked, because in spring of 2005, the show was the top-rated morning show in the Eugene-Springfield area according to Abitron, an international media and market research firm.

    Although his five-foot-six frame and bald head wouldn’t automatically give it away, his distinctly loud and energetic voice shows passion for entertaining. With an extremely outgoing personality, it seems that nothing can stand in the way of his dedication to radio, however, it isn’t always as easy as it seems. While the talk show host does like to think of himself as fairly thick-skinned, criticism is surprisingly harder for him than others: “I’ve never cared about what other people thought about me. I’ve always done my own thing. But I’m also pretty sensitive. It’s only human to have that [criticism] come up later in the day and go, ‘God that sucked. That really wasn’t fun at all,’” he laughs.

    Fortunately that harsh criticism doesn’t happen very often, and Hasson’s smashed ego usually recovers quickly. He also tries to maintain a humble attitude throughout the show and isn’t afraid to apologize for going too far to make a joke at someone else’s expense. “In an effort to be funny I’ve said things that turned out mean spirited, which isn’t me, and so I just look back on it and know: I’m an asshole. You have internal conflict, and after the fact, if you can make it right, you do,” Hasson says.

    It is those moments, though, in which the talk show host really questions his career. Once a joke has gone too far and Hasson realizes his mistake, he is able to come back and apologize for crossing boundaries. However, it isn’t about regretting anything, but more having the logic and sense to have the perspective that someone might have been hurt, he says.

    With this outlook on life, Hasson is one of the few lucky enough to get paid to do something he loves. Trying to live for the moment, he takes it as he comes: “I had a fun show today, and tomorrow’s Friday, and I hope to have a lot of fun tomorrow and then I’m into my weekend,” Hasson says.

    As he leans back into his chair and props his feet up on his desk, still covered in newspapers and stories, he takes a deep breath and says, “This is for sure being part of something bigger than myself. I love it… if anyone asks me advice on what they should do, I always say, ‘If you can, find a way to take your natural pleasures, the things that you love the most, and work with them. Then you’re home free, and you’re going to love what you do everyday.’”