Re: WTAG coverage of Fire

[Donna Halper <dlh@donnahalper.com>]

>regarding WTAG it was written--
>
>Also on Thursday while the coverage during the Memorial was well done, WTAG
>was very quick to go to Rush Limbaugh and subsequently Dr. Laura after the
>service, this while (out of towners)  WBZ continued coverage, and WTKK
>opened the phones to people to talk about the Memorial.  WTAG did open up
>the phones several hours later during the Jordan Levy show, but that gap
>IMHO was a major error in programming...

Unfortunately, one of the downsides of having fixed and scheduled 
syndication is how difficult it can be to dump out of it for a breaking 
news event.  It sounds to me as if nobody at WTAG is in a position of 
authority anymore, and the failure to make the decision to dump the 
syndication means a fear of losing revenue as opposed to what Eddie 
Andelman at WEEI called "Doing the right thing"-- I didn't expect the 
sports station to cover any of the memorial, for example, yet they did 
carry some and they talked about what a "hero" is.  WTAG no longer has a 
local focus the way it used to, it seems to me.  Has anyone tried to talk 
with the GM or the PD?  Their hands might be tied... (WBZ might have a 
similar problem if a major news event happened during a Bruins game, 
although I think Peter Casey would in fact "do the right thing" and cover 
it...)