That's not the point. There are thousands of live & locally staffed music radio stations, and I doubt many of them break format either. I personally don't expect the same guy who introduces music to flip a switch and become a serious news presenter. They are simply two different functions.
-
Get involved.
We want your input!
Apply for Membership and join the conversations about everything related to broadcasting.
After we receive your registration, a moderator will review it. After your registration is approved, you will be permitted to post.
If you use a disposable or false email address, your registration will be rejected.
After your membership is approved, please take a minute to tell us a little bit about yourself.
https://www.radiodiscussions.com/forums/introduce-yourself.1088/
Thanks in advance and have fun!
RadioDiscussions Administrators
That's not the point. There are thousands of live & locally staffed music radio stations, and I doubt many of them break format either. I personally don't expect the same guy who introduces music to flip a switch and become a serious news presenter. They are simply two different functions.
That's all why the EAS system exists. It breaks into programming without station intervention for truly important things that are "critical for people to hear the warnings of impending disaster". And it's activated by civil defense and government authorities who theoretically have the best information.
As BigA says, even at stations that are live and manned 24/7, if the format is music based there is generally not anyone present who could handle breaking news. I think back over the last 30 years or so, and outside of morning drive, there was never anyone at the station who could assemble a newscast. In the event of things like hurricanes, we planned in advance. In the case of major earthquakes, we got as many people into the station as fast as possible.
A
Avid Listener
Guest
Right. It's run by the government, who is there to help us.
Actually, EAS is a beast without a head. It is not run by anyone, but rather, coordinated at committee level, by broadcasters, the FCC and civil authorities.
It is simply a standardized way of making sure that as many people as possible hear emergency messages that are appropriate for their location and area.
A
Avid Listener
Guest
Broadcasters do what the FCC tells them to do in order to avoid having to deal with license challenges. The FCC is the FEDERAL Communication Commission, which is obviously a branch of government. And all "civil authorities" are state and local elected officials and/or hired managers and staff who work for the state or local government. And guess what? State and local governments ARE PART OF THE GOVERNMENT. So, all three sides of that triangle you described are either part of the government or controlled by the government.
So tell me, how is that not "the government"?
You can barely get music stations in the U.S. to cover any big story, much less one in another country.
I seem to recall that both CBS and AP radio news gave the Canadian story fairly prominent coverage, including "lead story" on several hourly newscasts during that "news cycle." CBS is heard here on a talk station, AP on an oldies station; I assume some stations in both the news and music categories around the country carry these services.
Fox News Radio also gave it pretty good coverage in their TOH news. Pretty much the same as for US side events of similar magnitude.
The CBC coverage is, to me, more appropriate. CNN has the philosophy that if it bleeds it leads, and then bleeds it for all it is worth, and expands upon whatever will keep people watching their pathetically rated network. CBC just calls it what it is, and the perp is dead.
- Status