By Eric W. Schoen
There was excitement in the world of local news last week with the prestigious Pulitzer Award for Public Service going to The South Florida Sun Sentinel for documenting the massacre of 17 people at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Fla., in February. The paper’s in-depth articles revealed a series of failures by local officials and law enforcement that, the paper wrote, contributed to the loss of life.
Friends, this prestigious award only goes to show that local news in the newspapers and radio stations of our country is not dead. This, despite mass layoffs in local newsrooms and our loss in Westchester of radio station WFAS – that station we listened to growing up to find out if inclement weather would close our schools, and filled with local news programming and commentary about our town and neighbors.
And contests. How many times did I win tickets to the Westchester Premiere Theater courtesy of WFAS, by listening to the station in the middle of the night?
Now, the only station to provide you with local news brought to you from a host of perspectives is WVOX 1460AM, a regional community station heard mainly in suburban Westchester County, the Bronx, Queens, the North Shore of Nassau County, Fairfield County, Connecticut and northern New Jersey. The station president is William O’Shaughnessy, and its current owner is Whitney Broadcasting, Inc., along with WVIP 93.5 FM. Its studios and transmitter are located in New Rochelle.
Many people in Westchester can’t pick up the WVOX signal on their terrestrial transistor radios so the station can reach more listeners, worldwide, by streaming live online. This is done at WVOX.com or via the excellent WVOX app available free of charge from the app store. Folks throughout the world can listen to the station online and via the app.
Programming is primarily locally-produced information and talk, including programs presented by local citizens and special interest groups. O’Shaughnessy hosted a daily talk show on the station for more than 50 years, featuring interviews with major U.S. politicians, authors and entertainers. O’Shaughnessy, who has been called “the voice of Westchester,” is fond of calling WVOX the “quintessential community radio station in America” – a label first applied to the station by the Wall Street Journal.
WVOX is affiliated with “Music of Your Life,” which airs overnights, weekends and in time slots not occupied by local programming. “Music of Your Life” is a syndicated music radio network delivered over the internet to AM/FM and high-definition radio stations across the U.S. Created by record executive and jingle writer Al Ham, “Music of Your Life” has been in continuous operation since 1978. On Jan. 26, 2012, it was announced that stations owned by Multicultural Broadcasting in the top 20 markets of the country would air “Music of Your Life” from 6 p.m. to 6 a.m.
“Music Of Your Life” is hosted by well-known celebrity DJs including television game show host and singer/entertainer Peter Marshall. On-air personalities include Lorri Hafer, a recording artist and member of the Hillside Singers, who is also the daughter of the format’s founder, Al Ham; as well as Al Hardee; Johnny Magnus; singer Steve March Torme, son of legendary entertainer Mel Torme; and Telarc Records artist Tony DeSare.
“Saturdays with Sinatra with Sid Mark,” an institution on New York radio and throughout the country, brings the relaxing joys of Sinatra to listeners Saturday nights, so you can cuddle with your loved ones with a bottle of wine in front of the fireplace.
In 2005, O’Shaughnessy was one of the first 25 people to be inducted into the new New York State Broadcasters Hall of Fame by the NYS Broadcasters Association. He was honored for his long record as a champion of free speech under the First Amendment. He is an interesting man with a unique perspective in these days of corporate conglomerates just looking to make a buck.
Now we get to these newspapers that you read every week, either by picking them up at your local library, grocery, Town Hall, or at your local diner to enjoy while you eat your eggs and pancakes. As people tell me all the time, they read more local news in these papers than in the daily paper serving Westchester and Rockland counties.
Corporate conglomerates are trying to purchase the local daily paper, just as they have purchased the local cable station. The staff of the local daily has gone through layoffs, downsizing, and stretches of time when workers were furloughed or forced to take vacation.
Two to four local stories on the front page continued inside; big exposés vs. beat reporting about things people want to know about; longtime reporters retiring, with newcomers who don’t know the communities they are reporting on; a non-profit hosting an event open to the community, like a concert free of charge, mentioned in the local paper’s weekend section? It ain’t happening.
The local cable news station has moved its broadcasting studios from Yonkers to Long Island, terminating longtime employees who knew their beats. Bringing in cub reporters to cover stories in Yonkers without any local background often leads to mistakes. The 4:30 p.m. weekday local Yonkers news program – which, behind-the-scenes News 12 folks told me would never end – is gone. And we hear so many stories that are not local. That’s not what folks looking for local news want to hear.
So what role do you play in the protection of local news broadcasts and in print in your communities? First, you have to support the businesses who advertise in this newspaper. They are all quality businesses offering you good prices and the local service money can’t buy. The same local support of advertisers must go to companies who advertise on the radio and on cable television. If local folks support local media, they will continue to produce a local product.
If you see or hear mistakes in your local news broadcasts or in print, call those in charge or tweet them. This will remind them that someone is listening and wants local news that is accurate.
Let me take this opportunity to thank you for reading this newspaper, listening to the Westchester Rising Radio Show, and supporting advertisers. And to wish you and your families a Zissen Pesach and a happy Easter. Don’t forget to say a prayer for the Cathedral of Notre Dame, where a terrible fire occurred earlier this week. The cathedral means a lot to the people of France – and folks all around the world. May the cathedral be blessed with donations to fund its restoration.
Reach Eric Schoen at thistooisyonkers@aol.com. Follow him on Twitter @ericyonkers. Listen to Eric Schoen and Dan Murphy on the Westchester Rising Radio Show on Thursdays from 10 to 11 a.m. on WVOX 1460 AM, go to WVOX.com and click the arrow to listen to the live stream, or download the WVOX app from the app store free of charge.
