Amid Continuing Blackout, Medium Is the Only Game in Town

By: Michael Learmonth Published: November 02, 2012

 Batteries are drained, internet connections long-gone. For the nearly 5 million households muddling through a fourth day without power in the wake of Hurricane Sandy, there’s really only one medium that matters, and that’s radio.

Radio, the first electronic mass media.

It’s an incongruous feeling, in an era of status updates and hashtags, how quickly and how easily the tools that revolutionized communications — indeed, even fomented revolution — simply go poof! And what remains is a version of 1932: families gathered around the radio, waiting for a bit of information on where to go or what to do next.

That’s the reality this week for millions of residents of New Jersey, New York, Connecticut, Maryland, Delaware, Pennsylvania, Virginia and West Virginia. Websites went down and laptop charges ran down in hours. But most radio towers are built to withstand hurricane-force winds and have generator backups with 8 to 10 days of fuel on hand. And if your radio’s batteries die, you can buy new ones at the store.

Radio, the first electronic mass media, has become the only game in town.

Read the rest of the article here…

As one who’s managed through some hairy disasters, I don’t need to be reminded of this article’s premise… still I’m glad to share the successful presence radio can be when other media fail.