Monday Memo: Why Local Media Still Moves Communities
By Holland Cooke
Consultant
In “When Everyone Knows That Everyone Knows” (Scribner) cognitive scientist Steven Pinker unpacks a deceptively simple idea: Society runs on common knowledge. Not just what people know individually, but what they know OTHERS know-they-know.
Read that again, aloud. It describes the invisible wiring that drives humans to coordinate, trust, cooperate, and sometimes revolt.
If that sounds abstract, it shouldn’t. Radio and television are the most powerful common knowledge machines ever invented. And in an era when media fragmentation has turned audiences into isolated microtribes, broadcasters who understand Pinker’s point gain a strategic advantage.
Broadcasting creates the “Shared Reality” communities run on
When a radio or TV station says, “Schools are closed,” that’s not just information. It’s a signal that everyone else in town heard the same thing. That shared certainty is what lets a community move in sync. Pinker reckons that this is the essence of coordination: people don’t just act on facts – they act on what they believe others believe.
This is why broadcasters remain indispensable during storms, emergencies, elections, and civic moments. Digital platforms can inform individuals. Only broadcasting can inform everyone at once, and – crucially – make it known that everyone else heard it too.
Trust and legitimacy flow from common knowledge
Pinker notes that institutions derive their authority from shared understanding. Money works because everyone knows everyone else accepts it. Laws work because everyone knows everyone else knows the rules.
Local broadcasters occupy that same psychological space.
A trusted anchor or morning host doesn’t just deliver news – they confer legitimacy. When they say, “Here’s what’s happening,” they’re not merely reporting; they’re establishing the community’s shared frame of reference. In a fragmented media world, that’s gold.
Dueling Realities: FOX News vs MSNow
Inside each bubble, people know what everyone-like-them knows. When national narratives clash, local broadcasters become the last shared reality left.
Local radio and TV, by contrast, still operate in the realm Pinker describes: weather, schools (and EVERYTHING ELSE that triggers a parent’s concern), roads, emergencies, local elections, shared rituals and routines. These are not ideological. They’re lived. Local broadcasters still produce the kind of common knowledge that makes a town function. Cable networks and partisan talk radio produce the kind that makes a tribe feel coherent.
Local broadcasting is still where a community becomes a community.
Holland Cooke (HollandCooke.com) is a consultant working the intersection of broadcasting and the Internet. Follow HC on Twitter @HollandCooke and connect on LinkedIn
In ongoing discussions about the dwindling relevance of radio in the modern world, the medium is grudgingly defended as a reliable “first responder” during times of public emergencies.
of modern-day media Sterno.
The recent shutdown of CBS News Radio isn’t just another media headline – it’s a wake-up call. A clear example of what happens when decisions about our information, our communities, and our voices are made in corporate boardrooms disconnected from real life.
If you work in radio, you’ve heard every flavor of AI anxiety. Some fear it will wipe out jobs. Others treat it like a super shortcut – cranking-out spots, promos, and proposals faster and cheaper. Kate O’Neill’s 
provides important benchmark measures for usage and behavior around streaming audio, podcasting, radio, smart audio, social media, and debuting this year, never-before-seen data on AI usage. Annual results and trending data from The Infinite Dial are relied upon by its audience of content producers, media companies, agencies, and the financial community.” The webinar will feature Edison vice president of research Megan Lazovick with special guest James Cridland, editor of Podnews.
dominant spoken-word audio listening platform, but it was fully sixty-five percentage points higher than podcasts, which accounted for 10% of listening time back then. Quarter by quarter and year over year, time spent using AM/FM radio to listen to spoken-word audio has declined significantly and shifted to time spent with podcasts. As of Q4 2025, 40% of time spent listening to spoken-word is now spent with podcasts and 39% of time is spent with AM/FM radio. Not only does radio not beat podcasts by a significant margin, it now trails the on-demand platform for spoken-word audio listening.”
If you work in radio, you’ve heard every flavor of AI anxiety. Some fear it will wipe out jobs. Others treat it like a super shortcut – cranking-out spots, promos, and proposals faster and cheaper. Kate O’Neill’s “
TALKERS magazine, the leading trade publication serving America’s professional broadcast talk radio and associated digital communities since 1990, is pleased to participate as the presenting sponsor of the Intercollegiate Broadcasting System (IBS) conference for the second consecutive year. The conference is currently underway in New York.
radio industry (and its related fields) seeks to connect with and develop a next generation of professional practitioners as well as engaged audiences. TALKERS is honored to again provide financial support, encouragement, experience, and advice to the dedicated organizers of this very special event.
I am pleased to be speaking this weekend at the IBS New York 2026 conference in New York City. Thank you, TALKERS magazine, for being the presenting sponsor of this important, timely annual event along with the Intercollegiate Broadcasting System (IBS).
Every radio conference agenda and much of what’s-up in the trade press and chat groups is about exploiting Artificial Intelligence. Often these conversations land in one of two places: fear (“Will this replace us?”) or fascination (“Look what it can do!”). Both miss the point.
Adventureland’s family-friendly guest experience. The partnership further solidifies JVC Media’s growing role as Long Island’s leading out-of-home and place-based advertising company, building on its successful advertising programs at Long Island MacArthur Airport and the Catholic Health Amphitheater at Bald Hill.” JVC president and CEO John Caracciolo says, “Adventureland is a Long Island institution with a loyal, multi-generational audience. This partnership gives brands the opportunity to connect with families in a positive, high-attention environment while giving Adventureland a professionally managed sponsorship platform.” He adds, “Out-of-home advertising is most effective when it’s part of a larger local media strategy. By combining physical venues with radio, we help advertisers build frequency, trust, and real community impact.”
TALKERS magazine, the leading trade publication serving America’s professional broadcast talk radio and associated digital communities since 1990, is pleased to participate as the presenting sponsor of the forthcoming Intercollegiate Broadcasting System (IBS) conference for the second consecutive year.
FAN Sports Network. Audacy Portland SVP and market manager Ryan Cooley states, “We’re extremely excited to partner with the Portland Timbers as we continue delivering the best local sports content and growing the FAN Sports Network. Together, we’re committed to delivering high-quality coverage and meaningful access for fans, so The Fan becoming the radio home of the Portland Timbers was a natural fit. We look forward to working closely with the club to enhance the matchday and season-long experience.”
end-to-end, cloud-native operating system designed specifically for radio… powered by a suite of proprietary AI technologies that master, schedule, produce, and deliver each station directly to a Super Hi-Fi playout device at the transmitter.” Warshaw says, “Our mission is to have the best live and local radio experience in every market across America and Super Hi-Fi’s unique capabilities will allow us to do that in ways the industry just didn’t have before. We’re excited to work with them to drive forward and deliver the most compelling radio products in the industry.”
politics! If you live and breathe politics, this is not the job for you. This is an 8-hour-a-day, full-time job doing prep, research, and living life that translates and relates to a 35-64-year-old. Must have an extremely strong work ethic, be sales department and client friendly, a team player and coachable, embrace all social media platforms daily, be a great interviewer, and have a proven track record of radio ratings success. The right fit for this job is extremely reliable, flexible and passionate about radio and digital audio mediums. 
The plague of pessimism about the future of radio is fueled internally by radio employees. Doomsayers are logically found in the sales department. All day, salespeople meet with buyers. A buyer’s job is to negotiate a lower price by arguing radio’s negatives. The wall of negativity thrives within the work environment of a seller. Tough. But there is little or no reason for pessimism.
gathering – will take place February 19-21 at the Sheraton Times Square Hotel in midtown Manhattan.
serve in the public interest, the FCC yesterday issued a Guidance on Political Equal Opportunities Requirement for Broadcast Television Stations. While the memorandum is written to television stations, it obvious applies to radio stations as well. The memo ultimately addresses the 1959 order that exempts broadcasters from providing equal time to qualified candidates on any: (1) bona fide newscast; (2) bona fide news interview; (3) bona fidenews documentary (if the appearance of the candidate is incidental to the presentation of the subject or subjects covered by the news documentary); or (4) on-the-spot coverage of bona fide news events (including but not limited to political conventions and activities incidental thereto). Programs such as “The Tonight Show” and “The View” are cited as entertainment shows in which an interview segment can qualify as a bona fide news interview. Regarding this, the memo concludes with two important paragraphs:
$12.54 billion – with $10.15 billion from over-the-air revenue and $2.39 billion from digital revenue. NAB president and CEO Curtis LeGeyt comments, “No other industry gives more to Americans for free. Local stations provide trusted journalism, life-saving emergency alerts and the sports and entertainment that bring our communities together. This report reinforces that broadcasters are not only essential to our democracy and daily lives, but to the strength of our economy, as well.” The study goes on to reveal that “local broadcasting’s economic ripple effect extends deep into other sectors — from construction to retail — adding another $134 billion in GDP and supporting nearly 776,000 additional jobs.” LeGeyt adds, “Broadcasting is more than a business model; it is a civic model. This industry stands alone in its mission to inform, protect and uplift every community in America, regardless of zip code or income level.”
Evidence that your correspondent is a nerd: my airplane read for my CES back-N-forth was Successful AI Product Creation: A 9-Step Framework by Shub Agarwal (Wiley). If you haven’t got time for all 307 pages, here’s what I gleaned, pertinent to radio:
we are coming back for three years. Thanks to the good folks here at SiriusXM, who I told you, I really do adore. I was able to create Robin [Quivers] a more flexible schedule and so we’ll be back. I know you and I have talked about it privately Robin, even though you’re pretending you didn’t know the announcement. But I did check with my Robin to see that she was up for it as well because if Robin wasn’t up for it, then I wasn’t going to do it. I still do love being on the radio. I think the show is better than ever, I really do believe that in my heart.” Stern’s five-year, $100 million contract ends this month and speculation about whether he and SiriusXM would be able to come to terms on a new deal or even if Stern wanted to continue began last summer with many media pundits predicting the end of their relationship.
Lochridge entered the business in the sales department and by 1970 became the general manager of WRIF, Detroit. He was promoted by ABC to general manager for WPLJ, New York in 1973. He would serve at KAUM, Houston before returning to New York to serve with ABC Radio Networks. He later joined NBC’s The Source. In 1988 he and his wife purchased a small station in Wickenburg, Arizona.
them achieve their business objectives through effective radio and digital advertising. The ideal candidate will possess excellent communication skills, have an enthusiastic and outgoing personality, along with a drive to succeed. Most importantly – we are looking for hard-working salespeople who want to have FUN at work, make money, and help local businesses grow. 
WGN VP and general manager Mary Sandberg Boyle says, “From joining WGN Radio in 1985 during the Wally Phillips era to anchoring news on the ‘Lisa Dent Show’ today, throughout his 40 eventful years here Steve has faithfully maintained the highest standards of journalistic integrity, combined with his own unique gift for playful on air banter which is sure to be missed by colleagues and listeners alike.” Bertrand comments, “I feel like I’m the luckiest guy in the history of radio. As a kid, I dreamed of one day living in Chicago. I never imagined I’d be part of her daily conversation. I will forever be grateful to the legends I worked with and, most especially, the listeners who made it all happen. I’ve had the privilege of being part of a pretty amazing family for 40 years.”