Summer can present challenges for radio news/talk stations. Repurposing staff to cover vacations can be challenging. Add a weekend to the mix and managers have to be creative. That’s the situation KGO PD/OPS Manager Lee Hammer found himself in when the tragic events unfolded at the Garlic Festival in Northern California.
Radio Ink: How close is your operation to the festival site?
Hammer: Gilroy is about 75 miles south of San Francisco. About an hour-and-a-half drive. The Garlic Festival is a well known and a very popular event.
Radio Ink: When the shootings occurred how did you cover it?
Hammer: We were in our weekend talk show mode. We immediately started tweeting and using other social media to get the word out about what was going on. We continued updates with the latest information through the late afternoon, evening, and overnight.
Radio Ink: What type of coverage are you doing today (Monday)?
Hammer: Reporter Bret Burkhart went to Gilroy first thing this morning and he has been providing live updates, at least twice an hour, and more if needed. We are carrying news conferences live.
Radio Ink: What kind of challenges did this incident create?
Hammer: Being the summertime we have a lot of folks on vacation. Today (Monday) is a complete back-up day for me as I have three local hosts on vacation and I’m covering their shifts with news people.
Radio Ink: Going forward, what will your coverage entail?
Hammer: We will continue our live reports and carry any news conferences live. We are working other angles; asking officials if they are comfortable with security for festivals and other outdoor events now that a shooting like this has unfortunately hit close to home. We are asking people if they will be going to future festivals? Do you feel safe?
Thanks to PD/OPS Manager Lee Hammer, KGO Radio.
Rumor is KGO is next in line for a Cumulus desperation fire sale by their Bankrptucy Queen Mary Bener. KGO has suffered in recent years by a series of missteps, not the least of which was putting perennial failure, fired in disgrace Randall Bloomquist in charge of the station. It was decisions like the Bloomquist hire that finally led to Mike McVay being put out to pasture.
And …? KGO was once a first choice for people to tune to. So KGO did what any responsible News-branded station would do. But … who knew? Tweeties? Social media superfans? The people listening to whatever is on a Talk station on a weekend these days? I would have gone to KCBS, the radio news leader, because they took the “go-to” mantle. Or, if I had DirecTV actually giving me KRON4, to that station. In the absence of KRON4 and a smartphone, where did I go? SFGate.com, since the Mercury News sucks. It’s great to be honoring KGO here, but they did what any station should do — but doesn’t due to years of slashing budgets and giving away the audience in the name of investors.