Re: EAS on Maine Public Radio

[Dib9@aol.com]

In a message dated 3/28/00 6:44:38 PM Eastern Standard Time, Chuckigo writes:

<< me?  i'd rather deal with the interuption and know something was up than 
to wind up facing dire consequences after.
 
 - -Chuck Igo >>

You make some valid points but when the message says localized flooding to 
particular to the Penobscot River, I don't see how it helps anyone in 
southern Maine.  (And if you need EAS to tell you that it rained today, 
you're already in big trouble!)  I also think that EAS on MPR may become the 
boy that cried wolf and people will stop paying attention if they broadcast 
warnings that do relate to the local broadcast area.  I remeber hearing 4 EAS 
warnings in one hour on MPR last summer, all for storms outside of the 
listening area of the station that I was listening to.

I know that when I worked at WMGX, they had the system set up so that any 
warnings for Cumberland County went on the air automatically but others did 
not.  Sometimes the NWS would screw up and a non local message would be 
broadcast but not very often.  

Don't get me wrong.  I think EAS is a good system but I think it should be 
used only to provide relevant local information to listeners.  People in 
South Portland do not have to hear about flooding on the Penobscot River.  
(If they care about such things they can watch Channel 6 on the weekends when 
the cheapskates save money by producing one newscast for two stations.)

I wonder if the situation with MPR has do with them originating the messages? 
 Do they have to run them all on all stations?

-- Dan Billings, Bowdoinham, Maine