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Where is the Coverage? Wildfires in N. Arizona

J

jeffinaz

Guest
I've read on this board about other cities not getting any radio coverage when there is a Local Emergency occurring, and now Flagstaff, Az is included in that. There have been 3 major fires in the area during this last week and the radio coverage is basically missing. I was listening to local radio on Saturday when the first fire, within the city limits, broke out. I never heard about it over the radio. Then the second and larger fire broke out, I could see it from my window. Again, no coverage. I got online and finally found some coverage from the local newspaper's web site. I remember a few years back when I lived in Prescott and there was a fire, KYCA dropped their programing and went to exclusive coverage of the fire that was with in the city limits. I can't say the same for KVNA AM, or any other station in the area. One would think that the local "News/Talk" station might jump in with at least some coverage, even with it being on a weekend. It sounded like all stations were on Automation. How come this doesn't surprise me at all. All I could do was sit here and shake my head. This isn't the only instance of no coverage, and I'm sure it won't be the last. Local Radio owners might want to wake up and step in. Out of 3 Radio Station Clusters, One local, one semi-local and the other one, had studios right down the road, Not one could give out any information? It makes me wonder why I even bother listening.
 
Maybe it's because the radio stations have abandoned that historic responsibility to TV.
 
landtuna said:
Maybe it's because the radio stations have abandoned that historic responsibility to TV.
Click to expand...

Since KNAZ-TV 2 Flagstaff is now basically a satellite of KPNX Mesa, has there been
any extended local fire coverage on channel 2 (RF 22), or just rebroadcasting what
KPNX has been airing in its newscasts?
 
I don't get 2 down here in the flatlands and don't watch 12 news at all but 3, 5, 10 and 15 have been covering the fires pretty thoroughly and frequently. That story has headlined every news program (and 10's morning show) I've watched the past two days.
 
I ran up and down the radio dial when I saw the smoke from the Shultz fire, then did actually check out KNAZ, it was running the Simulcast of KPNX. Same as always. Best local coverage so far as actually been the local newspaper, The Daily Sun. Yes all the Phoenix TV stations have sent teams up to Flagstaff, but as I said above, Local radio still is lacking in their coverage of the fires. The one thing I've always wondered about is how in the world do the people, that have to evcuate get any information on what is going one when radio stations have such limited coverage? The majority of those people don't have Internet or TV access. It just amazes me that a medium such as radio can just continue to run their regularly scheduled programing and leave the people, that actually need to know what's going on, in the dark.
 
landtuna said:
I don't get 2 down here in the flatlands and don't watch 12 news at all but 3, 5, 10 and 15 have been covering the fires pretty thoroughly and frequently. That story has headlined every news program (and 10's morning show) I've watched the past two days.
Click to expand...

Meaning the Phx TV news vans are back in the Target parking lot :-X
 
88.7 FM KNAU ( NPR ) reporting the fire (s) has been covering it - I heard some this morning (6/22/2010) - they do a small amount of Northern AZ reporting at about 5 past the hour. I heard a fairly long report of dis-placed residents at about 6:30 also. They have a bunch of translators - some have news and talk - a few do the long hair classical music during the dayparts other than morning and afternoon drive times...
 
desertv said:
landtuna said:
I don't get 2 down here in the flatlands and don't watch 12 news at all but 3, 5, 10 and 15 have been covering the fires pretty thoroughly and frequently. That story has headlined every news program (and 10's morning show) I've watched the past two days.
Click to expand...

Meaning the Phx TV news vans are back in the Target parking lot :-X
Click to expand...

Meaning that I thought TV coverage was adequate for everyone not threatened by the fires. Those folks better be in touch with the local fire/police/forestry agencies rather than depend upon a commercial radio station to air "RUN FOR YOUR LIFE!". I damn sure wouldn't put my safety in the hands of a "journalist" from either radio or TV.
 
KYCA did an amazing job during the Prescott fires a few years back, and it was as they say, compelling radio. It mostly takes a modest staff and a genuine desire to serve the community in an emergency.

Flagstaff simply lacks any comparable station or ownership, although back in the full-service AC days of KCLS and KEOS (I programmed the latter) we most certainly would have been all over it.
 
jeffinaz wow you must not listen to the radio as i know kaff kolt and wolf all had coverage which i am listening to right now amazing
 
I had the radio on the minute I saw the Smoke rising up from behind Mt Eldon, on Sunday. Local radio finally got around to bringing up what limited coverage they had Monday morning. I knew we wouldn't have any local TV coverage so I went for the next best thing.
 
I was busy listening to 780 KAZM in Sedona....."live, local, there is a difference", while they run the same canned newscast the entire day. 96.7 The Wolf is Voice Tracked, and they would say Now here's a live report on the fires, and another person would come on and give a report. KMGN was busy playing music, music, music like most everyone else. A national story goes almost unnoticed on local radio, and then they wonder why people aren't listening like they used to.

Radio used to shine in situations like this, it's sad to see what's happened to local radio.
 
David Owens said:
I was busy listening to 780 KAZM in Sedona....."live, local, there is a difference", while they run the same canned newscast the entire day. 96.7 The Wolf is Voice Tracked, and they would say Now here's a live report on the fires, and another person would come on and give a report. KMGN was busy playing music, music, music like most everyone else. A national story goes almost unnoticed on local radio, and then they wonder why people aren't listening like they used to.

Radio used to shine in situations like this, it's sad to see what's happened to local radio.
Click to expand...

That is exactly what I was talking about.
 
Listen for changes in the KAFF, KMGN group. They had a breaking news banner on their web sites during last weeks flooding and are doing some live reports. No, not 24 hour "yes, it's raining" coverage, but enough for people listening to know what areas were closed due to flooding.

Ryno
 
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