After its first week debut, highlights are rolling in on content delivered up on the first of five live three-hour news blocks brought into national syndication via Talk Radio Network Syndications, Ltd. It certainly picked a good week to debut, given Egypt, the superstorm, etc. Co-anchored by Lori Lundin and Chris Salcedo, they delivered tight, informed conversational news segments (we hear them on WTNT-AM in DC) with plenty of on-the-scene clips and interviews. “This is where the nation’s news breaks” is the tagline.
Special in-depth segments focused on the changing events in the Middle East. For instance, one single three-hour news block guests included, among others, K.T. McFarland, a former deputy assistant secretary of Defense and chief Pentagon speechwriter; Michael Rubin, resident scholar at the American Enterprise Institute; Fred Barnes, executive editor of The Weekly Standard; Dr. Andrew Bostom, author of The Legacy of Islamic Anti-Semitism; and Professor Walid Phares, who penned The Coming Revolution: Struggle for Freedom in the Middle East.
One guest spoke of a “chaotic quagmire of unforgiving choices for [President] Obama” in dealing with the Egyptian crisis, while anchors next went live to Istanbul, Turkey, where a Middle East observer examined the extent of military aid provided by the US to Egypt, and why this should be of concern to every American while Egyptian unrest grows.
In the subsequent hour, a renowned national security expert commenced a “Terrorism 101” lecture-of-sorts for listeners on the Muslim Brotherhood — and more specifically why the organization should be feared globally (in short, while thought to have renounced violence, the wide-reaching element “has inspired more jihadists” than any other radical group in the world). Anchors next went live to a foreign correspondent who delved into the resume of Mohamed El Baradei, the Nobel laureate and favorite of the Muslim Brotherhood to lead the overthrow of President Hosni Mubarak.
Seconds later, anchors went live to 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, where a White House correspondent brought President Obama’s response to the Egyptian crisis.
Other stories this week included the unlikely resignation of the U.S. ambassador to China to the Senate push to repeal so-called “Obamacare” (anchors went live to Capitol Hill) to the developing historic winter storm that was about to bury one-third of the country and bring everyday life to a standstill, plus much more.
Mark Masters, CEO of America’s Radio News Network, and its representative Talk Radio Network Syndications, Ltd., reminds us that programming is guaranteed to be a “safe island” for advertisers: “Opinion radio can be, in rare cases, a boycott-laden space of ‘super sensitivities’ for certain agency buyers. Because our anchors are just reporting the news, breaking news stories or interviewing news makers, they won’t be offering opinions, just great energy and focus on the important topics of the day. News radio is a ‘safe buy environment,’ the type of environment which is usually bought by music or top of the hour news buyers, making it the best of both worlds for our affiliated stations’ revenue needs.”
America’s Radio News Network’s first 3-hour live news block will soon move up to 15 hours.
