Ferguson observations

[JustinT]

Now that we're about a week in, any observations on local coverage of the Ferguson situation?

From my listening, "Old School and Today's R&B 95.5" is on fire. The now-wider playlist, occasional calls, messages from Staci Static and DJ Kut, along with the addition of Tony Scott, come together and show a station really connected to the community. I don't listen to Hot 104.1 very often, but as far as I can tell, they're on the same page. KWMU has sounded good as well, aided by the fact that nearly every show it airs has been discussing a local issue.

On the disappointment side: Tammy scored an interview with the Brown family a few weeks ago; as The Beat, I guess Tammy is still there... but the station is pretty close to a 24/7 jukebox. And 97.1... well, they're airing what their audience wants to hear... but as an open-minded person, anytime I try to listen to their local programs, I can't last more than 45 seconds without hearing a burnt-out point/borderline racist line that sends me running for the seek button.

 

[Kent]

I've been getting most of my coverage of Ferguson from KMOX. I've always found they do a good job, and I only tune them out when they have Limbaugh or sports programming. I've tended to find 550 KTRS doing a better job than KFTK 97.1 when KMOX is airing programming that doesn't interest me.

I checked out Old School 95.5 a little bit on Thanksgiving Day, but it seemed to just be running jukebox programming. I figured the staff had a holiday break, but not much had gone on the previous evening due to the snow.

 

[Silkie]

Coverage seems to have switched to body cameras on law enforcement officers, pointed at the suspects to show whether their hands are up, gathering some facial recognition on the community, you know, the solution.