TGIF...

Jimmy Carter in his homebase Nashville

Could there be any more stress this week? The flu scare on top of one group's unpaid days off and another's continued downsizing! Don't know anyone not emotionally connected to some stressful event in April.

Death, taxes and crazy weather. The return of knee socks and Michelle Obama's $ 500 tennis shoes.

This world is, as we have seen, simply the stuff of bad dreams. It's not all doom and gloom, but there were tears, fear and despair among more than a few broadcast media TV & Radio this week.

Firings at WBBM-TV/Chicago to hundreds at various Clear Channel radio stations. Over 1,000 broadcasters put on the street in the last few days. Can't see how all or most of these people will ever find broadcast work. It's the ugly reality: There are only so many slots in a perfect world and those slots are shrinking.

Replacements? New and cheaper or maybe syndicated folks. The syndicated show model has a shot at working if it's a Ryan Seacrest, but most of these things fail when you trot them out locally. The novelty wears off ... the local public is NOT served and poof, you are done.

For every Rush Limbaugh, how many _________ have you heard? There are even fewer examples outside morning-drive shock jocks and cornpone-named country programs.

The very few genre-specific shows, such as Tom Joyner and Howard Stern, are/were basically talk shows. Music-driven syndicated shows? Who is going to make an appointment to hear them? No one ... but from a money standpoint it may be the only way to achieve a lower overhead.

I still contend if listeners want a jukebox with some out-of-town guy reading liner cards, they will listen at work to Pandora and not have to put up with the liner cards and commercials.

Sales people who can't sell, off-air PDs who spend their time doing God knows what. Off-air music directors. Those days are gone and gone forever, you would think.

It's back to the basics. For radio, TV and Music Row. (I think the record companies have fired everyone they can fire and still function.) Radio is close to ground zero and TV is executing anchors on a daily basis. (On a side note: Aage discrimination is a huge factor in getting rid of people in all of these broadcast firings. In TV, the older, more experienced, high-paid folks are out or are going out. Tenure and longevity in TV markets seem to mean little to nothing. For now, radio seems to be ignoring that trend.

If we don't all croak from the flu and keep our jobs for a while longer, we all better be keeping up with technology.

Radio folks who I know are pretty good at this. TV people ... maybe a little worse, but still good. It's the Music Row people falling down here.

Not the execs, really; it's the artists! The ones who should be in sync with their customers. A few of the artists get it. Taylor Swift should be all the school anyone needs. I do not understand how any signed artist can not have a frequently updated web site ... not to mention My Space and Facebook -- and on their OWN do a Twitter and blog. I know a few who still don't e-mail or even answer their cell phones.

You need help and it takes time, but this is the FUTURE as far as anyone can tell. Social networking is more than a term; it's a lifestyle. The 50-plus and 30-below women are all over this stuff. Others will catch up.

I can name some very big artists who are going to regret their decisions to ignore these products, or simply hire someone to update them with canned sounding comments. These kids -- and I, for that matter -- know the difference ... or you see it very shortly.

On the positive ledger side, t is great to see Brook & Dunn in Australia with Dierks Bentley. International is virgin territory. Taylor off to the U.K. next week is the right thing, too...

Chuck Wicks off DWTS is a good thing for both of them ... enough already ... it served its purpose. Chuck is now known by every woman in America, but who let him wear that leotard? Are other men watching going to say, "Yes" to a show that has you do that?

Kellie Pickler is opening for Taylor, but the reviews early on focus on the very bright bulb headlining. I hope she is cutting through with the fans in person. Love this girl! Kellie is a vegan now, by the way. Says she feels better than ever .

The Derby seems to have lost some luster this year. The Miss USA pageant got horrible ratings. Everything is changing. What worked in the past doesn't necessarily anymore. Taylor Hicks going country with his new song? I don't think so...

Clint Black still getting a beating on "Celebrity Apprentice." What will his lasting image effect be from this show for him?

NBC just renewed "The Apprentice" for another season.

I am sad for the folks who lost their jobs ... sick for them ... very sad....