Talk Radio Rides to the Rescue in Tuscaloosa

How Clear Channel stations promoted a remarkable network of volunteers for tornado relief

From David T. Beito for wsj.com:

Much of the strength of Tuscaloosa's extensive mutual aid comes from an unlikely source: right wing talk radio. The four Tuscaloosa Clear Channel stations have pre-empted their normal fare of Rush, Hannity and top 40 songs to serve as a relief clearinghouse through simulcasts. Gigi South, the local market manager for Tuscaloosa Clear Channel, says that it was her decision to begin the simulcasts.

It was hard to do otherwise. Employees saw demolished neighborhoods outside their windows and the desperate calls for help came in almost immediately. Because many residents lost power and were unable charge cell phones, battery-operated and car radios often became their only form of communication.

These stations have only 12 full-time employees among them, but they've have had a vast impact. The on-air jocks have taken on grueling shifts, sometimes working 10 hours straight.

The goal of the simulcasts is simple: Connect givers and victims and allow them to exchange information. According to Ms. South, "this whole thing has been about connecting listener to listener. They are the ones doing this. We're just the conduit."

Ms. South is being modest. In many cases, people have dropped off goods—sometimes dozens of cooked meals—at the station's door. The on-air jocks have rushed them to those in need. The higher-ups at Clear Channel have fully supported the local initiative to pre-empt normal programming and have provided generators and engineers to keep the stations on the air round the clock.

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Mr. Beito is a professor of history at the University of Alabama and is author of "Black Maverick: T.R.M. Howard's Fight for Civil Rights and Economic Power" (University of Illinois Press, 2009) and "From Mutual Aid to the Welfare State: Fraternal Societies and Social Services" (University of North Carolina Press, 2000).

TomzTake:  Kudos on a job well-done to the staffs making it happen at Clear Channel, Tusacloosa: Sports WACT-AM, News/Talk WRTR-FM, Country WTXT-FM and CHR WZBQ-FM