Quick short take: The Monterey Park shooting

 



I had trouble sleeping on Saturday night, so I turned on the radio. I was surprised to hear Pete Demitriou offering what sounded like a live report. It took me a few minutes to understand the tragedy that had happened. Having worked in nearby Alhambra for many years, I'm rather familiar with the area. 


I can't really add to everything that's already been said elsewhere about the horrific news and how it's particularly painful to have this tragedy occur on Lunar / Chinese New Year, in of all places Monterey Park. It would be as if a mass shooting happened on the 4th of July, what should be a time of family and friends celebrating together. Right now I'm conflicted as I have some gatherings this week to commemorate the "Year of the Rabbit," yet the thought of 10 people killed, 10 people wounded (at this writing) makes me pause. 


Mike Simpson, Steve Gregory, Chris Sedens

I want to offer my props to what radio did with this story. I think KNX was the only radio station to cover the 4 a.m. press conference, later bringing in weekday morning anchor Mike Simpson to help Larry Perrell anchor the station's comprehensive coverage, Simpson later joined by Chris Sedens. KFI interrupted their scheduled programming for the 8 a.m. and later press conferences and provided updates throughout their talk programming. KFI's Steve Gregory is also a true pro, particularly with breaking news.

The local TV stations, most notably KCAL, stayed with the story in the middle of the night throughout Sunday morning, joined a couple of hours later by KTLA and other local stations. Yet the advantage of radio is an emergency can be covered almost immediately with just a mobile unit and a microphone. When it comes to breaking news, I'm glad I still have my radio.

ayodaradio@gmail.com



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