March 30, 2020

Radio’s Finest Hour!

By: Gail Ponti

Radio’s Finest Hour

Radio Ink
March 30, 2020

(By Vince Benedetto) Most Americans fondly think of their local radio stations as a fun, friendly and free source of music and entertainment tailored to their geographic area.

During moments like these, however, local radio becomes their indispensable support and refuge. Radio stations, from sea to shining sea, quickly reverted to their critical ‘other role’.

This ‘other role’ is to become a part of our all-important national, regional and local communications infrastructure. In an era where trust in national news media is at an all time low, local media and specifically local radio, is a deeply trusted source of reliable, actionable, targeted information to our local communities. In short, local broadcast (AM/FM) radio was made for just these moments.

Providing the perfect balance between timely information and an escape from the anxieties of the hour, live and local broadcasters are helping to connect and hold the nation and our communities together at the very moment they’ve been forced apart. No other medium can do this as well as AM/FM radio.

As our fellow citizens are shuttered in their homes, out of touch with the world and their community like never before, their local radio stations are their trusted neighbor, always ‘on’.

Local DJs and news departments are a source of stability and comfort, riding out and talking through the crisis with their listeners; not above or below them but alongside them. Like so many crises over the past 100 years, 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. We know deep down during moments like these, when we push the ‘on’ button, we will find exactly what we need right now. After all, local broadcast radio was made for moments like these.

This may be radio’s finest hour…!

Vince Benedetto is the President & Founder of Bold Gold Media Group. He is also an Air Force Academy Graduate, former Air Force Captain and Air Force O.S.I. Special Agent. He can be reached at vbenedetto@boldgoldmedia.com