Did You Feel That?

[Bongwater]

We just had an earthquake in Northwest WA.

OK here's the latest score card from our action packed radio news teams.

KGMI 790/CFAX 1070 (near the epicenter of the quake) - George Noory talking to space aliens again.

CKWX 1130 - Right on it. wall to wall coverage.

KOMO 1000 - Running a happy heart touching story about a little girl who loves the Seahawks.

CBCV 90.5 FM (CBC Radio One, the highest rated station in Victoria.) A blurb at the top of the hour. But back to the Australian wombat odyssey.

 

[davideduardo]

While that was a pretty minor quake, one thing radio stations forget is that people who feel a small shake worry that where family or friends live it may have been worse. So they immediately want to know where the epicenter was and whether there was damage elsewhere, even if they felt only a minor shaking.

Thinking back to the 1994 Northridge shaker I remember that the first thing folks wanted to know was how things were in different parts of the area. Although the authorities asked people not to use the phone, at KHJ we alternated news items with calls from listeners from different areas reporting on the human experience. We lost about 8 seconds for the generator to go on and became all-earthquake for the next many hours. Within 15 minutes, four or five of us got to the station to help the overnight guy... so important is it to create a comfort zone for listeners.

With today's technology, a report can be originated anywhere almost instantly. With the quake map showing it was felt as far south as Everett and definitely felt all over Vancouver, it's surprising that there was so little immediate reaction.

 

[Bongwater]

While that was a pretty minor quake, one thing radio stations forget is that people who feel a small shake worry that where family or friends live it may have been worse. So they immediately want to know where the epicenter was and whether there was damage elsewhere, even if they felt only a minor shaking.

Thinking back to the 1994 Northridge shaker I remember that the first thing folks wanted to know was how things were in different parts of the area. Although the authorities asked people not to use the phone, at KHJ we alternated news items with calls from listeners from different areas reporting on the human experience. We lost about 8 seconds for the generator to go on and became all-earthquake for the next many hours. Within 15 minutes, four or five of us got to the station to help the overnight guy... so important is it to create a comfort zone for listeners.

With today's technology, a report can be originated anywhere almost instantly. With the quake map showing it was felt as far south as Everett and definitely felt all over Vancouver, it's surprising that there was so little immediate reaction.

Our whole place in Bellingham bounced around for 20 seconds. Helped the neighbour check his gas connection. Everything's OK. He even lit a cigarette. We're still here.

But you're right. Radio should be the automatic go-to place for instant news. But sadly, breaking news can and does happen with much more immediacy on social media than radio. And that's not good. If it stays like this, radio's argument that it's the medium to count on when the BIG ONE hits might not carry much weight for very much longer. I just seen some tweets from KOMO. That's good. But collecting information compiled from random sources on social media can only do so much. It should be better than this.

 

[Rob Piotrowski]

When the Oso landslide hit (during the day) KOMO stuck with the Tami Michaels "show" for at least 90 minutes before going wall to wall - and then with TV reporters only. So it should come as no surprise local news stations didn't cover a quake that happened overnight and didn't cause significant damage.

 

[Kelly A]

I thought he was going to follow up that subject line with: "There is a disturbance in The Force"..

 

[crainbebo]

Glad that the earthquake didn't cause that much damage. Nothing heard about it this morning in Yakima, until I went to KOMO's website.
It just reminds us that the "Big One" could happen anytime. And when that big one happens, and thousands die, and tsunamis destroy coastal towns in WA, BC and Oregon, and power goes out for weeks, will your little Facebook news feed be around most likely? Uh, NO! That's why we NEED radio in emergencies like this. In the Midwest, TV stations simulcast on FM stations during tornado warnings. KGMI should have stopped their little George Noory UFO fest and go to live coverage of the earthquake...take phone calls, etc.
In events like Katrina, it wasn't just United Broadcasters of New Orleans (WWL and several FMs) doing coverage - ham radio operators were helping people out who were stranded in the rising waters - getting them to safety.

-crainbebo

 

[davideduardo]

Glad that the earthquake didn't cause that much damage. Nothing heard about it this morning in Yakima, until I went to KOMO's website.
It just reminds us that the "Big One" could happen anytime. And when that big one happens, and thousands die, and tsunamis destroy coastal towns in WA, BC and Oregon, and power goes out for weeks, will your little Facebook news feed be around most likely? Uh, NO! That's why we NEED radio in emergencies like this. In the Midwest, TV stations simulcast on FM stations during tornado warnings. KGMI should have stopped their little George Noory UFO fest and go to live coverage of the earthquake...take phone calls, etc.
In events like Katrina, it wasn't just United Broadcasters of New Orleans (WWL and several FMs) doing coverage - ham radio operators were helping people out who were stranded in the rising waters - getting them to safety.

Keep in mind that a hurricane gives advanced warning, so the media can prepare for the event. That includes setting up staffing at times of the day when normally there are no live people in a station.

Earthquakes come unannounced. Many stations run unattended or with just a board op at the time the Victoria temblor occurred. And KGMI is likely one of such facilities. To do live broadcasts, someone would have to get up and drive to the station and that might take an hour. In this case, not warranted with a little 4.8 shaker.

On another note, remember that many area AMs are on low ground subject to tsunamis, flooding and liquefaction. Few AM stations of that kind will be able to broadcast. WWL was an exception as it had hardened its site (I believe with FEMA dollars) to make it sustainable in floods and storms.

 

[bobdavcav]

I heard about it on KOMO just before midnight. One thing that annoys me is during a snowstorm, is that some stations won't run a full school closure and delay list. Last year was one that particularly stuck out to me because it was the first and only time I was in another market, Portland Oregon. Both KKCW and KXL just said Beaverton and Hillsburrow are closed, for a complete list go to our website. No, I should get the full list read on the air.

 

[TheBigA]

But collecting information compiled from random sources on social media can only do so much. It should be better than this.

I'm not sure exactly what you want. You already knew it was an earthquake.

It takes time to find out what happened, get comments from authoritative people, put together a story, and get it on the air. That's not going to happen instantaneously. If it does, it's probably wrong. Apparently, local radio reported the story within 15 minutes of the actual quake. I'd say that's pretty good.

The difference between radio and social media is that radio could get sued if nothing actually happened and people panic. So they have to be careful about what they say.

 

[AQH]

I'm not sure exactly what you want. You already knew it was an earthquake.

He got exactly what he wanted, a pot-shot at owners and managers of radio.

 

[fordranger797]

I heard about it on KOMO just before midnight. One thing that annoys me is during a snowstorm, is that some stations won't run a full school closure and delay list. Last year was one that particularly stuck out to me because it was the first and only time I was in another market, Portland Oregon. Both KKCW and KXL just said Beaverton and Hillsburrow are closed, for a complete list go to our website. No, I should get the full list read on the air.

It doesn't surprise me too much that school-closure lists have become less common from stations like KKCW. It takes too much time and announcers don't really want to bother with it.

 

[davideduardo]

It doesn't surprise me too much that school-closure lists have become less common from stations like KKCW. It takes too much time and announcers don't really want to bother with it.

And most school districts now have a text/cellular/landline based system to notify households where there are registered students. This avoids error and "I heard it on the radio" excuses.

 

[bossbill]

"Announcers don't want to bother with it"??? Since when do announcers dictate programming?

You want school closure information... come to Grays Harbor. We'll tell you every closure, late-start, no AM pre-school, etc.

 

[crainbebo]

KIT-1280 Yakima - Snowing or icy at 6AM? They have school delay information. Very useful to the thousands upon thousands of parents throughout the Yakima Valley. Most of the time, the schools get 2 hour delays...because we are more used to it here than in Seattle, where 1/4 inch means school closures and preemption of daytime programming on the local TV stations...
Although, just before Xmas we had 3 school districts in the valley CANCEL classes...due to treacherous, icy, snowy roads. That almost never happens here. The same day, Yakima School District stayed on a delay, and a lot of parents were furious.

The local stations usually air tickers, but KAPP/KNDO also display information for Tri-Cities and eastern Oregon. KIMA is Yakima/Kittitas County only.

 

[fordranger797]

"Announcers don't want to bother with it"??? Since when do announcers dictate programming?

You want school closure information... come to Grays Harbor. We'll tell you every closure, late-start, no AM pre-school, etc.

Depends on which station we're talking about. It's great that there are community-oriented radio stations (that are not news or talk formatted) that still provide school closure information. I can't recall ever hearing closure lists on stations other than KIRO or KOMO.

 

[semoochie]

I heard about it on KOMO just before midnight. One thing that annoys me is during a snowstorm, is that some stations won't run a full school closure and delay list. Last year was one that particularly stuck out to me because it was the first and only time I was in another market, Portland Oregon. Both KKCW and KXL just said Beaverton and Hillsburrow are closed, for a complete list go to our website. No, I should get the full list read on the air.

If he said "Beaverton and Hillsboro", he meant the entire "Beaverton and Hillsboro school districts. If any other school district was closed, it would have been mentioned. What was not mentioned was probably outside of the immediate coverage area and some inside the area, individual schools or public meeting places and certain private institutions. I must say though that when it was required for every station to run regular newscasts, every station aired full school closures, but I believe even that was mostly based on being called by the school district.

 

[Rob Piotrowski]

If he said "Beaverton and Hillsboro", he meant the entire "Beaverton and Hillsboro school districts. If any other school district was closed, it would have been mentioned. What was not mentioned was probably outside of the immediate coverage area and some inside the area, individual schools or public meeting places and certain private institutions. I must say though that when it was required for every station to run regular newscasts, every station aired full school closures, but I believe even that was mostly based on being called by the school district.

What in the WORLD does Portland school closures have to do with an earthquake in Canada? Frank, c'mon, please stop this nonsense.

 

[davideduardo]

I must say though that when it was required for every station to run regular newscasts, every station aired full school closures, but I believe even that was mostly based on being called by the school district.

It was never a pure requirement to run "regular" newscasts, let alone run any newscasts at all.

There was an "expectation of renewal" if AMs ran 8% non-entertainment programming and if FMs ran 6%. The non-entertainment programming could be any mix of news, public affairs, educational and "other".

Quite a number of stations ran 4 AM to 10 AM on Sundays with everything from local Public Affairs to the shows produced by the Southern Baptist Convention. And many ran 10 minutes of news from 1 AM to 5 AM to blow off part of the quota.

And then others took network news and did no local news. My favorite was a competitor in a Top 15 market that got very good ratings (2nd or 3rd) and took all their news from "News of the Weird" and other National Enquirer-like radio station services.

But in those days, school closings were an audience attraction. Today, the sources for the data are far more immediate and specific.

I remember that several entrepreneurs sold software for school closings that allowed for input of a list of your local schools and contact numbers and then a status for each for any specific date. Before the Internet, that was a hot thing to do in cold climates.

 

[Rob Piotrowski]

"Announcers don't want to bother with it"??? Since when do announcers dictate programming?

You want school closure information... come to Grays Harbor. We'll tell you every closure, late-start, no AM pre-school, etc.

You hiring?

 

[semoochie]

It was never a pure requirement to run "regular" newscasts, let alone run any newscasts at all.

There was an "expectation of renewal" if AMs ran 8% non-entertainment programming and if FMs ran 6%. The non-entertainment programming could be any mix of news, public affairs, educational and "other".

Quite a number of stations ran 4 AM to 10 AM on Sundays with everything from local Public Affairs to the shows produced by the Southern Baptist Convention. And many ran 10 minutes of news from 1 AM to 5 AM to blow off part of the quota.

And then others took network news and did no local news. My favorite was a competitor in a Top 15 market that got very good ratings (2nd or 3rd) and took all their news from "News of the Weird" and other National Enquirer-like radio station services.

But in those days, school closings were an audience attraction. Today, the sources for the data are far more immediate and specific.

I remember that several entrepreneurs sold software for school closings that allowed for input of a list of your local schools and contact numbers and then a status for each for any specific date. Before the Internet, that was a hot thing to do in cold climates.

So, are you saying that what changed was the requirement for "non-entertainment programing"? Am I to take it that if stations ran news every half hour, they would still have to run some public affairs, educational or other to make up the 8% and by doing the former, they wouldn't have to drive listeners away with additional hours of PA, E and O?