[SBE] Working the kinks out of EAS

[McGlothen, Darryl]

The intended effect of EAS system is to inform the public of a serious
and potentially dangerous event that could affect them. It is not a
'news service'. Rather, the listener/viewer is advised, in a real
emergency,  to tune to an appropriate news broadcast source for more
information. When the WTC was attacked, the event was of such a
widespread interest, news broadcasters all over the nation became
immediately involved in providing information to the listening/viewing
public. 

 

That being said, there is no provision in the EAS protocols for a public
Terror Alert (TRA) or Terror Activity Warning (TAW). The news media was,
and is, the only means of informing the public of an event such as the
WTC attack. Admittedly, the focus of EAS is weather event warnings and
alerts. In order for the public to benefit from the system is to have an
installed, working and fully tested system. EAS Committees in most, if
not all, the states are working to assure such systems are in place and
some have managed to put together something that 'works...mostly...'.
Others, such as the Inland Northwest EAS Committee, have managed to work
out most of the kinks in their system but only regular testing can
reveal hidden bugs in the system. No system is perfect, yet but, when
there is one, I hope it can be copied everywhere so that the warning
system can be relied upon to perform to the benefit of the public. Just
my 2 cents...

 

Darryl

 

From: sbe-bounces at sbe.org [mailto:sbe-bounces at sbe.org] On Behalf Of
Urban, Brian L
Sent: Friday, October 09, 2009 10:08 AM
To: sbe member discussion mail list
Subject: Re: [SBE] Working the kinks out of EAS

 

But in reality, 9-11 was a LOCAL event, not national.  National impact,
yes.  As far as who needed to know immediately, it was LOCAL to New
York.  I'd argue that the news media provided more than enough warning
to the nation.


On 10/8/09 3:03 PM, "Dan Mammone" <dmammone at muskingum.edu> wrote:

Not to rehash a controversy about this event, but if 9/11 wasn't
important
enough for a national announcement, what is? Only the President knows...



-- 
Brian Urban
Chief Operator
KUT Radio
The University of Texas at Austin
TEL 512-471-1085

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