Did radio in US report Capital city shooting in Canada?

You may have heard by now about the shootings in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. Did any US stations break format to report the breaking news as it could be considered a national security issue in Canada, the US's largest trading partner... in which case could be considered a security issue for the US. In any case, this isn't a discussion about the worthiness of the issue pertaining to the US. I am simply curious if you know of stations that broke their format to report the breaking news...

I'm mostly curious about the music stations.. I would assume any news outlet would be on it. : )

Not they they stopped format completely... but that they did cut in with breaking news.. Or are the listeners too numb to care? (NUMB to care.. not dumb... please read correctly)

RDGeneralManager said:

I'm mostly curious about the music stations..

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Why would any music station report this story? Unless Bryan Adams was killed, it's not really on their radar. Sorry, but it's typical US provincialism. Yes, national security is an issue, but I don't see it as having an impact on US security. Music stations here stick with music unless there's a local security issue related to this.

If a shooting happened in Washington... the music stations in Canada would likely have made mention of it. It's important news, for various political reasons. That's why I ask.

It takes an absolute act of Congress to get our music stations to break away for any serious news, unless it's an approaching hurricane. I heard nothing about this on the morning commute in, only finally seeing the story on CNN once I arrived. Of course, look at where I live. Ottawa might as well be on the other side of the globe down here. I'd be surprised if very many Houstonians could even place Ottawa on a map.


If it was mentioned, I suspect it was a brief notice on air, with direction to the station website for further information. That's become pretty standard fare from our stations.

Sorry, Boz. This side of the NAU has ebola on the mind currently, and as harsh as this will sound, that's all the US media seems very focused on right now.

RDGeneralManager said:

If a shooting happened in Washington... the music stations in Canada would likely have made mention of it. It's important news, for various political reasons. That's why I ask.

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I bet you're right. When I did news, there were two types: US news, and everything else. Think of the disasters that hit Haiti. That's pretty close, and yet it got very little coverage.

It seemed to be the top story on ABC News at the top of the hour. Even then, the clock radio didn't come on until a few seconds after 3:00, so I only knew there was a shooting of some sort.

I have a clock radio set to come on for Mike Huckabee. It used to be set for Paul Harvey's "Rest of the Story".

landtuna said:

It all depends upon who was shot and where it happened. I submit people in WashDC are shot all the time but unless they are members of Congress or are shot on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial they are not reported.

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Considering we are discussing a shooting on Parliament, it would be safe to assume when say "If a shooting happened in Washington..." we are talking about on Capital Hill, where the politicians could be targeted. I apologize for not being more specific.

Npr

It's the lead in both hours of All Things Considered.

In my area, music stations don't do any news and it's been years since they were required to do so.

RDGeneralManager said:

Considering we are discussing a shooting on Parliament, it would be safe to assume when say "If a shooting happened in Washington..." we are talking about on Capital Hill, where the politicians could be targeted. I apologize for not being more specific.

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On the same day as the shooting in Ottawa, there was another fence-jumper at the White House. Did music stations break format to announce that? None that I know of. Although it was probably mentioned in some way during the morning show. It's just not how we roll in music radio.

On the other hand, the Ottawa shooting was the top story in all newscasts all day, it lead Nightline, was the primary subject on the cable channels, and is still the top story on the main online news pages.

Goat Rodeo Cowboy said:

Apparently to do MUSIC RADIO today, it is necessary to to see MUSIC RADIO as a separate industry.... with little or no connection with other radio genre.

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Some would say the folks in music radio have little or no connection with the real world. But I digress.

The assumption tends to be that if you're listening for music, that's what you want to hear. If you're listening for news and information, there are more than enough adequate platforms for news and information along the radio dial. One needn't be all things to all people.

I saw that the White House jumper was a trending topic on Twitter, so I looked at the posts there, and they were mostly of the humorous variety. I guess they don't think a security breach at the White House is a serious subject.

Goat Rodeo Cowboy said:

RD Gen Mgr: How do the citizens of Canada react to the behavior of U.S. citizens? Do they expect us to be more open and concerned about Canadian happenings than we appear to be?

Walking around to the other end of the telescope and looking in: How does Canadian radio handle reports of shooting events in the U.S.? Can U.S. broadcasters learn something by paying attention to how Canadian broadcasters deal with news from the other side of the border?

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I'm led to think most Canadians believe Americans to be arrogant and self-centered.

When shooting "events" happen in the US (such as Sandy Hook), many in the Canadian media will make remarks about gun control.. even though more people are killed by doctors, there's no call for doctor control. I digress..

But there is a definite difference in how the reporting is done.. I saw this image on Twitter (did a Google search to find it on the Telegraph UK website) that shows CNN coverage vs CBC coverage (click it to make it larger)



which coverage do you think is more appropriate?

I agree...news is the US tends to be more sensationalistic. Just the fact that there's so much coverage of Ebola, when there have only been two confirmed cases, tells you all you need to know.

The CBC is really obsessing about this. Apparently, they have decided nothing else is happening anywhere - just this. They really are into over-kill. And they are completely buying to whatever the politicians are saying.

As a matter of course some music radio stations had it on their regular news, but did not discuss it otherwise; however, talkers on AM and FM did discuss it, since Canada knew what to call it, and Washington is still thinking about it one time, not wanting to hurt or offend the sadistic perps who live to tell about it and go on with their international networking.

Sixty years ago a band of Puerto Rican nationalists opened fire on the United States Congress, wounding five representatives.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Capitol_shooting_incident_(1954)

I don't know how Canadian broadcasters handled it but in 1954 it was at the top of both American print and broadcast outlets. But in those days stations weren't automated and everyone had st least a teletype, Unless an all music station today shares studios with a station having a news department how as a practical matter could they break format if they wanted to? The answer to the OP's question therefore must be "it depends."

I know of very, very few music format stations that have the means to break into their programming with news of any sort. When a station is automated and voice-tracked, if some breaking news comes along, there's seldom anyone in the station who could even crack open a mic to talk about it. I recall when there were news stories that were not only important, they were critical for people to hear the warnings of impending disaster so that they could actually do something to avoid danger or rick. Most stations didn't have the means to break into their canned programming to do that. If they couldn't break in for something along those lines, how would they be able to break in with flash reports on an attack in a foreign country?