Barely eight months old, iHeartMedia’s Black Information Network was also ready to take on one of the biggest events in our nation’s history. As head of the network Tony Coles points out this was a new experience for his young team and he’s proud of how they performed.
Coles tells Radio Ink that in addition to the network of All News stations, the Black Information Network is the breaking news source for all 91 of iHeartMedia’s Hip Hop, R&B, and Gospel stations. “We also provide breaking news to a number of Black-owned broadcasters through Premiere Networks. Fortunately, our full team was already working overtime due to the Georgia run-off election, so we had the team on duty to pivot to this story.”
Coles goes on to describe the reaction of BIN listeners. “Beyond the shock and sorrow that something like this could happen, there were many who could not help but to contrast what happened versus how the authorities responded to the protests that happened over the summer.”
He says he’s very proud of his team on the very young network. “Sharing the news of the day on a 24/7 basis, from a Black perspective, is something that has never been done before, so I know that we will learn and improve from every experience. We want to make sure that we are a trusted and credible source of news and we will constantly strive to serve our listeners and our communities when they need us most.
