Don't Give Up On AM Radio
15/05/23 15:14
May 15, 2023 (Vol. 17 No. 23) - The Washington Post reported this past weekend that major automakers are eliminating AM radios from new cars. This move comes despite protests from radio stations, their listeners, first responders and, well, me. My professional life began in AM radio and everything that followed sprang forth from that experience. Not only would I have not gotten the progression of jobs I have had over the past 50 years - broadcast-related or not - because of my radio background, I wouldn't even have the life I enjoy now. There's no way I end up in Hawesville, Kentucky, and meet my first wife if it hadn't been for a job offer at country music station WKCM. Frankly, I probably would not have met my second wife: Without a broadcast news background (see 1978 photo above of me with N.C. Governor Jim Hunt), there's no way I would have taught journalism at the University of Kansas for nearly three decades. Sentimental reasons aside, there are very valid reasons to preserve AM radio in cars. First and foremost, radio remains the most portable of mass media, even in the digital age. It is more adept at providing credible localize information - especially that of an emergency nature - than most other media. It is also important that it is still the medium of choice for much of rural America. Outside of metropolitan areas, no one is providing information vital to the health, safety and quality of life than local radio - which is still mostly AM radio. Hey, I'm not a luddite. I actually listen to satellite radio in my car more than AM radio. But Sirius-XM isn't going to do me any good when there is tornado on the ground or the local schools are being dismissed early for whatever reason. There's only so much information you can get from text alerts - and you shouldn't be reading your phone when you are driving, anyway. I know that commercial AM radio is more than 100 years old and, in so many ways, cannot match the versatility of other media. But - and this is my main point - for millions of people, it still can. The time has come to tell Ford, Tesla, BMW, VW, Mazda and others that since the Americans taxpayers have bailed them out on numerous occasions, act which merit their consideration of our pleas to keep living-saving AM on their radio dials. That's it for now. Fear the Turtle.