Memories are made of this

[Debaser]

You'll recognize a lot of voices from your past on this piece...which proves the value of radio.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m-gRb_MuUgg

 

[SirRoxalot]

I'd only make one small change...

You'll recognize a lot of voices from your past on this piece...which proves the value of radio the way it used to be.

 

[Philip_Airtime]

Rox, I usually agree with you 99 percent of the time. But WBEN, WBFO and WNED-AM proved in the October Surprise and in the November 2000 Thanksgiving week storm that radio IS just as good today, if not better, in providing information during storm situations. WBEN's round-the-clock coverage in the week after the October Surprise was outstanding. You didn't hear a DJ playing Abba during the middle of it. Indeed, radio is not what it used to be. But for ten days in October 2006, Entercom let WBEN be WBEN, and it showed. And the two public stations, despite their lack of personnel, performed admirably as well, especially on the Friday of the October storm. Same thing in November 2000, when all three stations provided wall-to-wall coverage for 24 hours after the storm hit. I remember a Buffalo News article that appeared on Thanksgiving Day that year when former radio reporter Tony Violanti described radio as a lifeline to the thousands who were stranded in their cars overnight. Again, there's a lot to criticize today. But in October 2006, you couldn't surf the web. You couldn't watch TV, unless you had a generator and rabbit ears. The newspaper didn't arrive for a couple of days. But radio -- well -- it was there!

 

[SirRoxalot]

Phil, I agree that a few stations rose to the occaision. I was without power for over a week, and radio was the only source of current information. The stations you cited were invaluable, but even WBEN was remarkably thin in the ranks compared to the Blizzard of '77.

How about the other stations? How many were even on the air with backup power? How many other even had a news department to track down official information? I remember listening to 97-Rock, who did a remarkable job with their regular personnel, but I still went back to WBEN, WNED-AM, and WBFO when I wanted the latest information.

I realize that this is a different time, and that the world has changed, but there are a lot of stations that have forgotten about the "necessity" part of serving the public.