Local Radio Is Doing Heroic Things Every Day (No Cape Required)

Local radio is doing heroic things every day. Let’s not forget that.

Being sheltered in place and/or working from home, limits our opportunities to see the positive impact we’re having on our communities. Worse, reaching out to see what’s happening results in so much negative news that even the most optimistic of us has to pause.

But when we are able to look beyond this, there is plenty of evidence that what we do not only matters, but is lifesaving.

Walking the Walk

While not necessarily receiving the attention it deserves, local radio has organized food drives and created mental health initiatives for airing. Hometown stations have spearheaded and facilitated the collection of personal protective equipment (PPE) for their local medical facilities. And local talent have volunteered their time to participate in activities that are benefiting and uplifting their communities.

Take for example this story from the BBC. It’s about an elderly man trapped in his apartment with no food. Help arrived within 15 minutes of local radio sharing his story. Watch the video here.

As another example, consider the impact of this WYCT effort on behalf of health care workers in Pensacola.  They rallied listeners who drove to area hospital parking lots to flash their lights and pray for workers as a show of support.

Meanwhile in Knoxville, WCYQ afternoon show hosts Opie and Carina along with two techs spent their Easter Saturday bringing the Easter Bunny to listeners’ neighborhoods. All from an appropriate social distance of course. Previously they’d asked listeners to contact them via social and let them know which neighborhoods they should visit. They then spent the entire day bringing smiles to kids and their families.

But Wait, There’s More

And then there’s this. In Virginia, Flynn Broadcasting has donated a frequency to be used as a 24/7 local source of COVID-information. The air staff includes local medical experts who are volunteering their time to answer questions from listeners and provide ongoing local updates.

Yes, local radio is doing heroic things every day.

Spreading Information and Community

“There are two things people need right now: Good information, and a feeling of community,” said Ben Trefny, News Director at KALW.

Writing in Chief Executive Vince Beneditto observed, “In an era where trust in national news media is at an all-time low, local media and specifically local radio are a deeply trusted source of reliable, actionable, targeted information for our local communities. In short, local broadcast AM/FM radio was made for just these moments.”

Balancing Evidence and Emotion

You may have seen this from Nielsen. It’s a reminder of how we are helping both factually and emotionally.

While the top two needs are informational, the next three are about emotion and connectivity. Not only do these apply across all segments of our markets, they’re a strength of local radio.

Walking the Walk

A Strong Summary

Beneditto sums it up pretty well. “AM/FM radio is a rock that communities, small and large, coast to coast, are leaning on. The trust, the companionship, the familiar voices, the steady reliability seem obvious as to why we have always loved this medium.”

Local radio is doing heroic things every day. Let’s not forget that.

And let’s keep adding to our list of accomplishments.

We’re all enriched and encouraged by hearing what you are doing in your community. Feel free to share.

Related: Radio’s Speed and Connectivity Make us the Right Medium at the Right Time

Photo by TK Hammonds on Unsplash

© 2020, Mike O’Malley, O’Malley Media Group, LLC/A&O&B