Just The Facts, Ma'am
It appears that Wayne Robins was on to Lynette Holloway's, shall we say "lazy", journalistic style way back in April. He writes:
The news that one-time rock radio pioneer WNEW-FM was switching from its failed talk format to focus on "Free-Form Music" got big play in the Metro section of Thursday's New York Times. But the hope that the new format would in any way resemble the anything-goes, free-form format that made the station's reputation in the late 1960's was immediately dashed. And it raises questions of a reporter's gullibility.
It seems that east coast music business reporter Lynette Holloway bought the hyperbole, and lacked the awareness or skepticism to question what "free-form" really meant. And where were the editors who should have been watching her back?
Wayne also points out an amazing gaffe, considering that the woman spent a good amount of time writing about music:
Holloway reports the station will sport new call letters: BLINK. That's very doubtful. Radio stations can nickname themselves whatever they want...it would be a violation of international radio treaties for the FCC, which has the sole authority to assign call letters, to name a station BLINK. Radio stations in the People's Republic of China are authorized to have a call letter beginning with "B" or "BL," but in the United States, broadcast stations get a prefix beginning with "W" east of the Mississippi River and "K" West of the Mississippi.... It's been that way since 1923.
Lapses such as these may be expected for, say, the Peoria Weekly Shopper, but this is the New York Times for crying out loud. Check your facts.
No comments:
Post a Comment