'Our news desert is getting bigger and drier'

 

 

        By Reginald Johnson 

   As many of you have heard, the fine all-news station WCBS Radio 880 in New York has been shut down to make way for sports talk, which is a disgrace.

   In the final sign-off for the station on Sunday night, anchor Wayne Cabot talked eloquently about the decline of news in our society and “the fight to stay informed.”

 Here is his statement:

“All of us here knew our audience is engaged and smart and we treated our audience with the respect that a well-informed, well-educated news consumer deserves. That’s right, deserves. Our news desert is getting bigger and drier. It’s like we should get a second medical opinion. 

  "We need to seek out more, and more varied news sources that we trust, because getting your information without the lies and brainwashing in one place has given way to a fight to stay informed. With each closing newspaper, radio newsroom, TV newsrooms, magazines and now even digital news operations, the country we love is diminished.

“So as we leave the news ecosystem after 57 years and 100 years of service on New York radio, we implore you to find that next trusted source , use it, support it in word and in deed. It’s the most patriotic thing you can do and the most satisfying. To paraphrase a CBS News legend (Edward R. Murrow),  “Good night, and good luck.”