The Need to Keep Officials Honest
With major television networks, cable news channels, YouTube, Amazon, or social media outlets as options, chances are not many of you listened to election results Tuesday night via radio.
I understand. I didn’t either. Yet with the ever-present prospect of electricity outages—we have two or three a year—we keep a battery-powered radio at the ready.
What’s scary is the thought that when we tune in some day in the future to get a read on weather conditions or emergency updates, there might not be a station close enough to broadcast local news.
Radio and News Threatened
Now, there are likely to be stations. The corporate behemoths that already direct much of the activity on your radio dial will still be around.
However, according to this CNN story that appeared in mid-August, the biggest threat is to local outlets.
Presaging disaster was the disappearance of New York’s WCBS as an all-news station at the end of August. The 880 AM station was a favorite of mine during periodic drives to visit family on Long Island.
Parent company Audacy said it planned to replace the news channel with ESPN (aren’t they everywhere on TV and radio already?)
“The headwinds facing local journalism nationwide made it essential to strategically reimagine how we deliver the news for the most impact,” said New York Market president Chris Oliviero.
Cutbacks Galore
Nor was WCBS alone in its misery. At the same time of the announcement of its demise, powerhouse Toronto station CHML revealed it was shutting down after nearly a century in business because of continuing financial losses.
I got depressed reading further and discovering that San Francisco-based KQED laid off 34 staffers in June. The following month Southern California Public Radio slashed 17% of its staff.
It would appear that local radio is going the way of local newspapers, fading into oblivion and taking with them the valued check-and-balance on local elected officials.
In the hysteria-hyped, conflict-ridden atmosphere where too many have turned into partisans for one stripe or the other, we can forget that we still need journalists. We need those pesky reporters to ask embarrassing questions of those entrusted with the public purse.
In too many cases, officials react with no comment, obfuscate with vague terminology that would make George Orwell blush, or simply ban the offending questioner from their press briefings.
Outrageous Behavior
Everyone who helps pay their salaries (be they governors, congressional representative, or highly-paid football coaches), ought to be outraged by such behavior.
The problem is that with diminishing local outlets for letters to the editor or local call-in radio shows the public’s voice gets ignored. Sure, you can vent on Facebook or Instagram, but in my estimation much online activity is lost in a sea of “stuff.”
I’m not sure what the answer is, since advertising dollars support traditional media and they are flowing in a different direction these days.
Still, just as political conventions continue to play an important role in America’s public life, so do local news organizations. Sadly, many folks won’t know what they’ve lost ‘til they’re gone.
