After an assassination attempt against former President Donald Trump Saturday, 95.5 WSB went into breaking news coverage that included hosts Erick Erickson and Mark Arum hosting for several hours. Erickson believes the situation proves the value of radio in breaking news situations.
In a post to social media, Erickson noted that to begin last week he recorded six hours per day for an audiobook of a book he authored, while also doing a three-hour nationally syndicated radio show. Meanwhile, he hosted five hours of live radio coverage on Saturday evening as the events at the Trump rally unfolded, and another five-hour block on Sunday.
He then shared his view on the importance of radio compared to other forms of media.
“This is why live radio is so much more fun than a podcast. I got to cover the news as it happened, let the news speak for itself, and analyze it before doing commentary. I slid in and out of news conferences, interviewed people, and tried to cover the news accurately before opining,” he wrote.
“One reason I love my job is that I can do it across states over a network of stations, fielding phone calls from listeners nationwide asking questions when otherwise those local stations would be without live content for such a historic moment.”
Erick Erickson added that this week — despite the Republican National Convention, Trump naming a Vice Presidential running mate days after being shot, and the classified documents case against him being dropped — “is going to be easy.”
