When the temblors (or as a caller said, tremblors... probably the same guy who suffers from an enlarged prostrate) rippled through Western New York just before 2 p.m. today, AM radio was the primary source of information and talk and on top of its game. After the twenty second shudder which measured 5.0 on the Richter Scale, a scan of the AM and FM bands revealed WBEN and WHAM going full-bore-earthquake-mode. Honorable mention to WECK, which offered frequent cut-ins during its satellite show. WBEN and WHAM listeners recalled their experiences. The stations also offering expert analysis from professors of Geology and Earth Science. WBEN tapped Buffalo State College while WHAM brought on a professor from Geneseo State. (Ironic, considering how Lonsberry often rants about "Geneseo drunkeness.") Hard to capture WYSL in Lancaster because of the splatter from 1050 CHUM, but it sounded like Bill Nojay was discussing the population decline in NY state. Surprisingly, neither WBEN and WHAM offered commentary from experts at the Multidisciplinary Center for Earthquake Engineering Research at the University at Buffalo. Equally strange, WBFO and WNED-AM stayed primarily with NPR, which was all over the President Obama-General McChrystal drama, but offered a few cut-ins when given the opportunity. Typically, the FM music stations were in 20-in-a-row mode. Hard to cover a news event of such proportion without a news department or live, local air personality. -9-
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Earthquake Coverage
- Thread starter Element9
- Start date
To be fair, there was little or no damage in WNY, and no injuries. I'd say that a lot of the coverage was overblown. It got mentions on the music stations, but how many times to you have to hear "We had an earthquake. Did you feel it?" before that gets tiresome. Hardly a reason to suspend normal programming.
What I found more interesting was the news coverage on TV, and the number of people who said that they went to Facebook or other social media to find out what was going on.
What I found more interesting was the news coverage on TV, and the number of people who said that they went to Facebook or other social media to find out what was going on.
Good points made about alternative media, Rox. But given that Western New York is home to a major fault-line, I contend this was an issue that was newsworthy. Much like blizzards and storms and ensuing power outages, it was an event that a large number of people in WNY experienced and held in common. You are correct, no damage, no injuries. But folks wanted to talk about it, listen to other people's experiences and most important, find out what the hell happened and what caused it. It was one of those "let's gather 'round the campfire" moments. The extremes would be "there's nothing to see here, let's move along" and "earthquake hysteria" but to their credit WBEN and WHAM walked that line, entertained and informed quite well.
Element9 said:
tremblor |ˈtremblər; -ˌblôr|
noun
an earth tremor.
ORIGIN early 20th cent.: alteration of Spanish temblor ‘shudder,’ influenced by trembler .
SirRoxalot said:
I found out about Michael Jackson on facebook! ..... and I'm sure you'll be hearing many of his hits tomorrow!
By the way, if you think earthquake coverage was overblown, then DO NOT come to Phoenix and turn on your radio or t.v. - if it RAINS!
Team coverage of the s-word-- SNOW-- is more likely the farther south one goes. And one doesn't have to go too far south from here...
What is the over/under on the number of reporters standing atop salt piles per major market per winter...
What is the over/under on the number of reporters standing atop salt piles per major market per winter...
ROFLMAO!! OMG!! So true! I arrived in Phoenix (Mesa) after a 5 hour flight from Buffalo...after 104 days without rain. The skies opened up (for about 3 minutes---nothing to us WNY's) They were bowing to me like I was a god...(and then blaming Buffalo for the weather!). But it sure was newsworthy at the time...I think!!
That is directly proportional to the number of snowfalls that ACTUALLY have an impact on driving conditions. In most cases, the reporters are OVER, in creating a panic through the media that driving is bad...
Thus creating an UNDER that the municipality was at fault because the roads weren't "black & snow free"" for drivers.
Food for thought (umtrr-author = +1)
HDBG
When I moved from Maine to San Diego, I was stunned to see that the first rain of the season in early November, warranted 10-15 minutes coverage as the lead story on the local TV news. I thought, what's the fuss? It's just rain.
There are a couple of differences, though. In this dry climate, when months pass with no rain at all, there is an invisible buildup of oil on pavement. When the first rain finally hits, the rain and oil together make roads really slippery.
The other issue is that because rain is infrequent, many municipalities have never built road drainage systems to handle even a moderate amount of rain. A lot of roads are flooded.
So, I guess the media frenzy is somewhat warranted, but it still seems strange to a native Buffalonian.
As for earthquakes, any noticeable quake, even very small, sends all-news KNX in LA into full quake coverage, which is great. Other stations sometimes do what little they can, but most, of course have no news people in place.
Here in little Palm Springs, I have heard news/talk KPSI's newsman Gene Nichols, to his credit, come in when he was off-duty to cover a quake.
Nick Seneca
Not listed in College Edition, Webster's New World Dictionary of the American Language, but in other references considered to be an amalgam of tremor and temblor; idiomatic and becoming as acceptable as "irregardless" and "supposably." Whatever works, really. Afterall, we ain't putting together the front page of theTimes.RockTheGlobe said:
A said:
I'll grant ya' that.
But remember, WBEN and WHAM are the news-talk stations in their respective markets. It's what they do. Callers were using the broadcast platform to communicate with each other. Listeners weren't being talked at. More like they were participating in a forum. Yeah, it could very well be attributed to "demographic choice of utility," but there were plenty of "Don on a cell phone" and "Betty in a car" calls too. Still, I'd concur that cell phones and texting were ablaze during the event.
True dat. But let's be careful when we generalize. Reason being, in listening to both WBEN and WHAM, a surprising number of "young" voices were heard, especially immediately after the tremors/temblors/tremblers... voices that you'd expect to hear on Kiss or Edge. While scanning the bands later in the afternoon while visiting clients, I neglected to check the Edge, where Shredd & Ragan (if not on vacation) very likely gave 18-34's their unique perspective. I can only imaging how long it took before the words "did the earth move for you too?" came up.TheBigA said:
I didn't hear Shredd & Ragan - who are NOT 55+ and doing VERY nicely in PM drive. Would have been interesting to hear what was going on with their callers. I'm sure that they had a unique perspective.
WBEN had excellent coverage. I am 41 and was not texting or FB'ing. I heard it on WBEN, bottom line. They were reporting what they knew. iT was good, appropriate coverage of a live breaking news story. Good radio!!
I can honestly say that I've very, very rarely seen any "planted" callers in Buffalo radio. I've sometimes seen too many of "the usual suspects" show up, but some regulars are worthy.
Shredd & Ragan don't seem to need "planted" callers. Heck, I'd bet that the vast majority of callers never make it to air - even after they're screened.
Shredd & Ragan don't seem to need "planted" callers. Heck, I'd bet that the vast majority of callers never make it to air - even after they're screened.
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