Local Coverage of Terror Threats

[XTalker]

Any thoughts from you guys on the local coverage of this morning's terror threats in the UK? Was driving to work between 8:45AM and 9:15AM - heard nothing on WSJS except brief report on CBS news. ZTK had local calls and off and on coverage from SkyNews. SJS had the money guys!

Just curious!

 

[CCAlumni]

I cannot speak for Triad but WPTF was amazing. Miller, Lemay & Co. took the whole market to news/talk school. Great radio.

 

[CCX]

Ever heard of NPR? Full coverage all morning, with BBC news starting around 9am. In-depth, awesome news reporting. You'll never get real news coverage like that on the local radio stations. That's why so many of WFDD's reporters have won the Edward R. Murrough (sp?) award.

 

[tropicanamedia]

I cannot speak for Triad but WPTF was amazing. Miller, Lemay & Co. took the whole market to news/talk school. Great radio.

Believe it or not "La Preciosa" had coverage in the morning show. I guess for the people that understand Español was good.

 

[XTalker]

Ever heard of NPR?

Sure .. but the question was about LOCAL coverage. What did WFDD do besides put the BBC on? Not being critical, just asking about what local stations did.

 

[allnews]

WSJS had cbs coverage, a lot of discussion in the earlier talk segments, with local angles in the news. I heard sound from the airport director, a local who had traveled through london and air travelers. I actually think their local news coverage was quite good. They also ran the president live

I heard network coverage on WFDD, as mentioned. I'm not sure that any of their local reporters are Murrow winners.

WZTK had network coverage as you mentioned. Their "news" people were reading wire copy.

The music stations....well, they're music stations....

 

[CCX]

In 2004, WFDD's Local Morning Show Host, Larry Schooler won the Edward R. Murrow award for a story he did on Viet Nam. He has since moved to a public radio station in Austin, Texas. In 2005, local Morning Show Host, Stephanie Martin won the Edward R. Murrow award for a story she did about a local National Guardsman who flies Black Hawk helicopters in Iraq. He submitted weekly audio tapes to her about his experiences and they were chronicled on WFDD. Stephanie was contacted by CNN to get permission to use portions of the audio diaries in a story they did about soldiers in Iraq. The grand finale' of this series was when Stephanie was one of about 6 journalists from around the country chosen to fly to Iraq and be embedded with our troops for a week. She flew to Baghdad in a Black Hawk helicopter piloted by the National Guardsman, Zane Zaninghi, that she did the story on. Zane is from High Point and was an employee of the YMCA there. Stephanie has since accepted a job with a public radio station in San Francisco. She'll probably work for CNN one of these days.

Yes, WFDD has quite a team of local journalists and reporters. You can't even get hired there without a Masters Degree in a journalistic field. They routinely cover local news stories and go out on location all of the time. They are winners of numerous journalistic awards for their reporting. I think they sound so professional that people think they are syndicated nationally. Of course their reports are mixed in with the network coverage, so unless you're a regular listener, you might get confused. Denise Franklin, formerly the News Anchor at WXII is the News Director for WFDD and she is very serious about the local news coverage.

 

[allnews]

That's why so many of WFDD's reporters have won the Edward R. Murrough (sp?) award.

Sorry, but TWO does not translate to "so many"! Sounds like you're buying into their hype, as opposed to the reality (or work there). And we all KNOW going to school and getting more letters behind your name makes you a good reporter. Like Edward R. Murrow, Peter Jennings, Anderson Cooper.... should I go on?

The Vietnam story was part of a University-sponsored junket with students to Vietnam, and how does THAT story serve the local community? Sending a local reporter to Iraq is also just self-serving hype, of the type that usually only TV indulges in, an excuse for a reporter to play soldier and wear a helmet. It would have been better to delve into what impact the war was having on the local community, it's infrastructure, tax base, jobs, political future, etc.

Every been in WSJS? (I was there recently). They have 'so many' awards on the walls, including Best Newscasts awards from the Radio TV News Directors Assocation of the Carolina, the Associated Press and others. The newscast is the acid test... how you do on a day to day basis... and winning those statewide or regional awards mean their news was better than WFDD (WBT, WPTF....) I saw for their 911 coverage, they got best Newscast, Best Newsblock, Best Spot News, now that was a day to measure news coverage! Certainly public (subsidized) radio has an edge with feature reporting, when you get as much time for one story as commercial radio does for a whole newcast, and work DAYS on it, it's easy to get an award. Find a sympathetic subject, uses lots of nat sound, etc.. But it's hard to get awards for local news, which is what serves the local community and is the real test for radio.

They told me WSJS's last hire came HERE from San Diego (as opposed to leaving), and they already have a former staffer working for CNN....

 

[XTalker]

So right about the local coverage! And the word "local" was key to my initial post in this thread. I also was interested in more than just the news readers. Really wanted thoughts on the overall LOCAL coverage!

My assessment:

WSJS news did an outstanding job. I would have thought the money guys would have been pre-empted for more coverage, but I understand who pays the bills.

WFDD put the BBC on. I admit, I didn't listen much, but didn't except to hear much local coverage.

WZTK hosts did a good job augmenting the network coverage from Sky. Newscasts were pretty bland.

Music stations continued to play music.

Maybe the next questions should be "What would it take for a music station to dump programming and provide news coverage of an event?" Remembering 9/11, the shuttle explosion, the first Gulf war - what is the next big event?

I guess foiling a plot to kill thousands didn't get it!

 

[allnews]

Yeah, citing the BBC coverage in a discussion of local coverage would be like one of the local TV stations joining their network (CBS, Fox, NBC , pick one) then crowing about their "local coverage."

I'd agree with your assessments.

WZTK's Brad & Britt are very topical. They're hampered by what appear to be the typical "news" staff these days, readers, but not journalists. They read the AP, they read the papers....

WSJS could have beefed up coverage with CBS long form, and more topical talk(even the money guys could have talked about the impact on stocks, etc.). They've always had first class news department, let's hope it isn't trashed during the sale.

 

[youtheman]

So right about the local coverage! And the word "local" was key to my initial post in this thread. I also was interested in more than just the news readers. Really wanted thoughts on the overall LOCAL coverage!

My assessment:

WSJS news did an outstanding job. I would have thought the money guys would have been pre-empted for more coverage, but I understand who pays the bills.

WFDD put the BBC on. I admit, I didn't listen much, but didn't except to hear much local coverage.

WZTK hosts did a good job augmenting the network coverage from Sky. Newscasts were pretty bland.

Music stations continued to play music.

Maybe the next questions should be "What would it take for a music station to dump programming and provide news coverage of an event?" Remembering 9/11, the shuttle explosion, the first Gulf war - what is the next big event?

I guess foiling a plot to kill thousands didn't get it!

Why should a music station dump programming and provide news coverage of an event? As an analogy, if a big news story happens, I'm not going to turn on the Comedy Channel, I'm going to turn on a news station. I wouldn't expect the Comedy Channel to dump programming to cover a news event, and I wouldn't expect a music station to dump programming to carry a news event. The only exception would be for an exceptionally big story such as another 9/11. And in fact, lots of music stations did temporarily dump their music for long form news on that day. But it was short lived as they soon went back to their regular programming. That is not to say that jocks on a music station should ignore the story, and depending on the size of the event, they won't.

But in this day and age of niche programming, radio is going to be a lot like cable TV in that there are way too many places out there for people to turn to for news, and music stations are going to continue with their programming because frankly, no matter how big the story, there are a huge number of people who just don't care and want to continue to listen to their music.

And I wouldn't give WSJS a pass on not pre-empting their money show to continue with coverage of the story. They promote themselves as being the news leader. They don't qualify that by saying we're the news leader...unless we have a show where we can make some money...in that case, screw the news. At least the music stations are doing just what they tell people they do, unlike WSJS.

 

[XTalker]

First, I don't give WSJS a pass - I just said I understand why - not that I approve of it. In fact, I always felt paid programming was subject to preemption for breaking news. Apparently management doesn't feel that way today.

As for why would a music station break in and cover a major news event - that was the basic questions I asked - would does it take. As I said, music stations scrambled to cover the first week or so of the Gulf way in, what 1991? They also broke format for coverage of 9/11. My question is what is the breaking point?

I would have thought, there would have been some coverage to a major break through in the war on terrorism! I guess the fact that hundreds, maybe thousands didn't die wasn't news enough.

By the way, I would expect the Comedy Channel to break for specially important breaking news - as they did for 9/11.

 

[allnews]

Yes, WFDD has quite a team of local journalists and reporters. You can't even get hired there without a Masters Degree in a journalistic field. They routinely cover local news stories and go out on location all of the time. They are winners of numerous journalistic awards for their reporting. I think they sound so professional that people think they are syndicated nationally. Of course their reports are mixed in with the network coverage, so unless you're a regular listener, you might get confused. Denise Franklin, formerly the News Anchor at WXII is the News Director for WFDD and she is very serious about the local news coverage.

I'm a regular listener. And I can tell the local reporters or hosts. George Bradly, Jennifer Curry, Audrey Fannin, Kathryn Mobley...

Other WFDD alums include former News Director Paul Brown, who regularly anchors for NPR out of Washington. And Michelle Johnson is a reporter and editor for the Winston-Salem Journal.

Both of them left several years ago, when then station manager Linda Ward ordered them to cease reporting on the flap at the University over the church that uses Wait Chapel for its services performing a gay wedding there. Both were so offended by the censorship and interference with the news, that they tendered their resignations.

Interestingly enough, Ward is still connected with the station. She's the person who voices many of the recorded sponsorships (ads) that run on WFDD. And instead of being either fired, or had her ties totally severed with the station, she is still listed as "Executive Director of Development" for the station.

Now that's being "serious" locally about news and journalistic integrity.