Well it happened this weekend.. a Tornado right in my backyard.. Mountaintop! The lights go out and everyone's in pancic.. no electricity, no cable TV, no internet... where do you turn? Turn on every radio and yes, you here the standard Emergency Broadcast messages, but what station picked up the gauntlet and served this community? WBHT is licensed to Mountaintop.. it's the station that should carry the greatest burden of serving the community it was licensed to.. but did that happen? No. Sure, during the daytime, if an emergency strikes, I expect WILK will be the station to turn to, but Friday night, weekends???? Nothing helpful. I finally got batteries and tuned in with little or nothing all weekend long.. Yes, I heard the Money in Motion Program.. but when you're without heat, lights, and telephone service (yes, we all have those wireless phones that don't work when power goes out), you're really at a loss. When a diaster stikes, rumors run rampant.. was the High School totally destroyed? Is there another twister sighted and on it's way? When is power comming back on? Don't tell me about what TV stations did.. radio is the medium that I turn to and it failed miserably!
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Where do you Turn in an Emergency?
- Thread starter emo474
- Start date
I'm not sure.. when all you get is the 80's at Eight and what you really want is a reporter with a mic in the face of someone with answers, you really don't stay with "all music" stations. Is there a station that would take the responsibility to say "get someone up there and let's get the work out on what's going on?" Or are they all too afraid to break into network programming to SERVE THE COMMUNITY.
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Nokmo True
Guest
C'mon, let's not kid ourselves. First of all, I think we all know that "community service" is really lip service, something we claim to do to satisfy the license. Second, like 32 registers at WalMart with 7 cashiers, remember you have to pay someone to stick "a mic in the face of someone with answers" instead of just letting the voicetrack run unattended as always and even if a pd did okay overtime (or even just extra hours) for someone, who would he send? Someone from the news department? Ahahahahaha!
You want the same song today within an hour of when you last played it the day before, count on radio. Don't count on it for anything else...at all.
You want the same song today within an hour of when you last played it the day before, count on radio. Don't count on it for anything else...at all.
But the thing is, a Bank and Wal-Mart is not obligated to serve better. If they don't serve they simply loose customers and maybe go out of business. Radio stations have a duty, or at least used to. Do you mean to tell me the people who run station are no longer accountable for the City they're licensed to? You can't just open a station for business.. you have to apply for that license and prove you're worthy of service the city you're licensed to. Is there one PD out there who will admit that we were let down in this emergency... or do you feel it's better to stick to format, ignore a natural disaster, and keep the O'Reilly Factor on the air, or the Hot 7 at Seven instead of providing a true service? Come on guys, it is better to sit at home and not pick up a phone and get something going or to really make a friend in the community by being the only place to turn to when it counts? This was a big let down and a huge opportunity missed here by all involved.
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Nokmo True
Guest
People who run a station may be accountable on paper, but who expects them to do anything of importance or service-related really? We say "blood drive today" on the radio, go there and hang a banner maybe, and hope someone kept track of when that blood drive took place so we can throw some kind of long-after-the-fact documentation in the public file on that 1 zillion to 1 shot that someone wants to look at that file.
On any station that isn't news oriented, really, who would go and stick a mic in anyone's face in a disaster? And do you need all the fingers on one hand to count news oriented radio stations in a particular market? In this one you need only one finger. You really don't even need the whole finger since even they are to a large extent smoke and mirrors when it comes to news.
Occasionally you'll see a station show up at a flooded neighborhood or some such occurrence, but be honest. Are they there because they want to help? Or are they there because there is promotional value in looking like you're helping?
On any station that isn't news oriented, really, who would go and stick a mic in anyone's face in a disaster? And do you need all the fingers on one hand to count news oriented radio stations in a particular market? In this one you need only one finger. You really don't even need the whole finger since even they are to a large extent smoke and mirrors when it comes to news.
Occasionally you'll see a station show up at a flooded neighborhood or some such occurrence, but be honest. Are they there because they want to help? Or are they there because there is promotional value in looking like you're helping?
O
odomski
Guest
None of these stations serve the community any more. They are just worried about throwing the satellite on, and cashing the checks. That's it. We can't turn to local radio any more (because there isn't any)...and we can't turn to local television either...because they get knocked off the air. The only TV station to remain on the air was WNEP...that's who people are going to anyway...because nobody is watching WBRE or WYOU. Thanks Sook the Schnook.
No iffs, ands, or butts...the radio performance Friday afternoon, evening, and throughout the weekend was embarrassing and shameful, especially "Newsradio WILK." Please. It makes me sick. Television was almost as bad. WBRE and WYOU fail to have the common sense to have a back up generator at the transmitter. I saw on the HDTV message board that WBRE's chief engineer says they couldn't justify the expense for something it would use only a few minutes a year. Disgusting. Public interest, necessity and convenience? Hardly.
You are all correct... we've lost the dedication to our listner and our local audience. Except for a few local plugs.. "This is for the gang at Geisinger.. workin' hard!"... we're no better than satellite radio.. except satellite is better.. no commercials and listenable talent. I personally, hate satellite radio, because I feel local radio has the ability to be so much better. But the owners don't want to put a dime back into the community.. and have turned their back on the cities they have an obligation to serve. Not with a PSA or two but with presence and commitment to that area. If, God forbid, another disaster strikes this area, it better not happen after 6 pm on Friday.. we'll never know about it until Monday's Times Leader's headlines: "Powerplant Goes Critical more on.. page 3".
It'll never happen, but here's my nickel on this - we need grassroots lobbying efforts to get serious about challenging FCC licenses, both TV and radio. Start collecting signatures on petitions, find an attorney(s) that might want to make a name for her/his self, then mobilize like it's your job. Start a website devoted to license challenges, and work at it non-stop.
FCC licensees are holders of a public trust, and clearly they are no such thing. Hell, they don't even go through the motions nowadays. You want their attention, go after their licenses. It'll never happen, I know, but it really is about the only course of action left. Someone could emerge as a real hero in all of this, should they want to really have at it.
FCC licensees are holders of a public trust, and clearly they are no such thing. Hell, they don't even go through the motions nowadays. You want their attention, go after their licenses. It'll never happen, I know, but it really is about the only course of action left. Someone could emerge as a real hero in all of this, should they want to really have at it.
O
odomski
Guest
Nigel: what you read on the other message board about the WBRE Chief Engineer is just more drivel spewed out by Sook the Schnook. Sook doesn't want to spend money on necessary equipment for any of his stations. They don't give a damn about serving the public/community. As far as I know, that's why the FCC grants them a license...so they can serve the community. Perhaps, when WBRE and WYOU's licenses are up for renewal, someone should petition the FCC to not allow Channels 50 to be renewed...simply based on information that Mr. Wick provided to us...via the moron C.E. at WBRE via Sook the Schnook's venomous brain. I'm glad I left WBRE when I did.
Funny story from "the old days" of emergency radio:
I worked at WILK in 1989 when it had really started positioning itself as "Newsradio 980." Basically, they ran CNN Headline News audio most of the day with local news mixed in every half hour. But on to the story...
Anyway, one night there was an emergency at the Berwick nuclear power plant (some alarm went off when radiation got leaked, but nothing terrible). This happened around 10:30 on a Saturday night. I was coming in for the 11PM-7AM shift (board op) and the guy on before me - a nice but dense kind of dude - does his usual :30 of weather filler at the bottom of the hour. This is what I heard as I pulled into the parking lot:
(Monotone voice) "Tonight will be partly cloudy with a low of 37 degrees. There is a level two emergency at the Berwick nuclear power plant. Currently it is 41 degrees in Wilkes-Barre. We now return you to CNN Headline News."
I almost drove through the building! I was laughing so hard that I had to sit in my car for 15 minutes in the cold so I could go in and see that guy and keep a straight face!
My students at CSB always got a chuckle out of that story. I hope you did too...
I worked at WILK in 1989 when it had really started positioning itself as "Newsradio 980." Basically, they ran CNN Headline News audio most of the day with local news mixed in every half hour. But on to the story...
Anyway, one night there was an emergency at the Berwick nuclear power plant (some alarm went off when radiation got leaked, but nothing terrible). This happened around 10:30 on a Saturday night. I was coming in for the 11PM-7AM shift (board op) and the guy on before me - a nice but dense kind of dude - does his usual :30 of weather filler at the bottom of the hour. This is what I heard as I pulled into the parking lot:
(Monotone voice) "Tonight will be partly cloudy with a low of 37 degrees. There is a level two emergency at the Berwick nuclear power plant. Currently it is 41 degrees in Wilkes-Barre. We now return you to CNN Headline News."
I almost drove through the building! I was laughing so hard that I had to sit in my car for 15 minutes in the cold so I could go in and see that guy and keep a straight face!
My students at CSB always got a chuckle out of that story. I hope you did too...
O
odomski
Guest
That is a great story. What an [EDIT] idiot that board op was!!!! That shows right there that companies are just worried about filling positions, instead of finding quality people. It's a joke.
Nigel: that "Barry" guy from that other message board is no longer the Chief Engineer...as far as I know. He was the chief when I was there. "Barry" and the assitant chief traded positions after I departed. As far as I know, Todd is the Chief Engineer there now.
[EDIT-profanity]
Nigel: that "Barry" guy from that other message board is no longer the Chief Engineer...as far as I know. He was the chief when I was there. "Barry" and the assitant chief traded positions after I departed. As far as I know, Todd is the Chief Engineer there now.
[EDIT-profanity]
Talk about idiot "board ops", when I worked at WQEQ in Freeland, I started into work at about 4 AM one morning because I knew the weather was bad. When I left my house in Mountaintop it was pouring and about 38 degrees. By the time I hit the bottom of the Freeland Mountain on Rt 309 is was comming down in buckets, but with some ice crystals. As I'm comming up the mountain it totally changes to all snow and at about 2 inches an hour. Now I'm listening to the overnight board op all the way in and all she's doing is drop-ins and quick weather reports talking about 'heavy rain in the morning". By the time I got to the top of the mountain it's a blizzard and there must have been 8 to 10 inches on the ground.. still I'm hearing "havy rain, tapering off by mid-day", I'm fuming, but this is before cell phones! I had to abandon my car 3/4 of a mile before the station and walk knee deep in the show to the studios. When I get there I look like I'e been standing in front of one of the snow guns at Big Boulder. I walk into the studio where she's stitting there reading a magazine and scream at her to "LOOK OUT THE $#$#$# WINDOW!!!!!" She's totally amazed that this happened and apoligizes. I didn't keep her long after that, but yes, you're right.. the quality of what we have to settle for is not "Marconi Award" material.
Of course, today we have automation and stations that never give wx updates...
Though, I have to say, my last station (in southern MD) had a great system where two of the staffers (myself included) were "on call" for any such events. We were able to record a voice track from home and upload it into the computer automation system via a secure site. That way people around the area were able to hear some up to date information.
Gosh, isn't technology wonderful? (Well, except for that whole putting people out of work thing...)
Though, I have to say, my last station (in southern MD) had a great system where two of the staffers (myself included) were "on call" for any such events. We were able to record a voice track from home and upload it into the computer automation system via a secure site. That way people around the area were able to hear some up to date information.
Gosh, isn't technology wonderful? (Well, except for that whole putting people out of work thing...)
The damndest thing I ever came across with a board-op was one who actually had an air-name. She did one two-sentence forecast an hour, followed by, "And now back to Larry King..." And for that, she had gone and picked a fictitious name, one that essentially sounded like her own given name. Uhhh, any wonder radio developed a reputation for being home to some really strange people?
E
ElectricNoodle
Guest
masterg said:
Hey!! .... I resemble that remark!
Actually, I resemble that remark too...
One of the reasons I loved working the overnight shift was that I could mess around and try to get some airtime. I used to do sports reports, live commercials (I loved doing my own take on a national spot for the "Car-puter" service), wx, news ... anything to get some mic time. I airchecked everything, and it was a great help when I tried out for the on-air spot at KRZ I ended up getting. While the rest of my board-oping buddies didn't have any "live" tape, I had a reel-full.
Of course, giving myself an air name was pretty dumb, but in hindsight it probably prepared me for what was to come.
One of the reasons I loved working the overnight shift was that I could mess around and try to get some airtime. I used to do sports reports, live commercials (I loved doing my own take on a national spot for the "Car-puter" service), wx, news ... anything to get some mic time. I airchecked everything, and it was a great help when I tried out for the on-air spot at KRZ I ended up getting. While the rest of my board-oping buddies didn't have any "live" tape, I had a reel-full.
Of course, giving myself an air name was pretty dumb, but in hindsight it probably prepared me for what was to come.
Well, I'm sorry to hear if the situation was as you guys have been describing it. But, even with board-ops
and today's technologies (voice tracking, etc), it is possible to get local information out. You just have to have people at the station that care enough to take the time to set it up and do it.
Our stations are all voicetracked, or jukeboxed at night, and the news-talker has a board-op. But, all of them are trained and have a 4 inch thick manual of what to do for weather/news or other emergencies.
If a weather (or other emergency) exists, either someone in our newsroom (which is staffed basically around the clock) or the board-op themselves reads the update onto a computer file, which is then hand-inserted
into the computers on a periodic basis (depending upon format specifications). Tornado warnings, for example, air every 5 minutes (yes, we interrupt the satellite feeds) on the news-talker. The FM's air such a warning after every other song, and at commercial breaks. And this continues until the emergency has
ended.
The board op is also required to notify the Ops Manager, APD and Chief Engineer by telephone in the event of such storms. (Day or Night.) And, if the emergency were severe enough, people would be called in and the news-talk station would be taken live, and possibly even the FM's too if needed.
A real "Newstalk" station has to protect its' image. News is a big part of that equation. Even if you're in a smaller market, it should be expected that the PD or News Director would come in and handle emergency coverage. That's what I had to do when I was PD of a small market station. It's sad so few operators care enough.
However, don't impune everyone. There are still operators out there who believe in "interest, convenience, and necessity".
and today's technologies (voice tracking, etc), it is possible to get local information out. You just have to have people at the station that care enough to take the time to set it up and do it.
Our stations are all voicetracked, or jukeboxed at night, and the news-talker has a board-op. But, all of them are trained and have a 4 inch thick manual of what to do for weather/news or other emergencies.
If a weather (or other emergency) exists, either someone in our newsroom (which is staffed basically around the clock) or the board-op themselves reads the update onto a computer file, which is then hand-inserted
into the computers on a periodic basis (depending upon format specifications). Tornado warnings, for example, air every 5 minutes (yes, we interrupt the satellite feeds) on the news-talker. The FM's air such a warning after every other song, and at commercial breaks. And this continues until the emergency has
ended.
The board op is also required to notify the Ops Manager, APD and Chief Engineer by telephone in the event of such storms. (Day or Night.) And, if the emergency were severe enough, people would be called in and the news-talk station would be taken live, and possibly even the FM's too if needed.
A real "Newstalk" station has to protect its' image. News is a big part of that equation. Even if you're in a smaller market, it should be expected that the PD or News Director would come in and handle emergency coverage. That's what I had to do when I was PD of a small market station. It's sad so few operators care enough.
However, don't impune everyone. There are still operators out there who believe in "interest, convenience, and necessity".
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