[don-code]

My take is that the article argues for keeping it on the grounds of technical merit, not of purpose.

Senator Ed Markey makes (https://www.markey.senate.gov/imo/media/doc/letter_to_automa...) some better points about it:

> Broadcast AM radio remains a crucial, cost-free source of news, sports, and weather, and, more importantly, is an essential medium for public safety officials — including the president — to communicate with the public during emergencies,

There are several "clear channel" AM radio stations in the United States - that is, they are guaranteed no interference from FCC assignments to other stations elsewhere in the country, unlike the majority of stations which share the spectrum based on their geographic location. Because of that, they're allowed to broadcast at power levels considerably higher than other stations. This makes clear channel stations incredibly useful in the event of a public emergency (war, natural disaster, etc.).

WBZ is based out of Sen. Markey's home state of Massachusetts - specifically a suburb of Boston - and I've personally been able to pick it up as far away as Erie, Pennsylvania.

[wkdneidbwf]

a <$10 battery or crank-powered radio for emergencies would work just fine.

integration in the car’s system seem unecessary.

[dylan604]

>>Broadcast AM radio remains a crucial, cost-free source of news, sports, and weather, and, more importantly, is an essential medium for public safety officials

One of these things is not like the others. When has sports been considered crucial? Are we catering to bookies now?

[WorldMaker]

Sports help bind communities and shape regional narratives.

Whether you are a sports fan or not, I can recommend the documentary series "Welcome to Wrexham" as a fun look into the people and community of sports. (The show is about how while everyone was watching Ted Lasso, Rob McElhenny of It's Always Sunny and Ryan Reynolds of too many movies to name bought the Football Club of Wrexham, a Welsh city.)

[dylan604]

I guess we have different definitions of critical. We'll have to agree to disagree on sports being critical. More important to some than others, but hard sell on making it critical. Knowing if there's a tornado coming--critical. Knowing if there's horrendous traffic accident--critical. Local sports team got their arses handed to them--interesting. One of these things is not like the others

[WorldMaker]

If you are only interested in disasters, I suppose, but even then: knowing that there's going to be a sports-related "riot" in local bars and venue-adjacent streets can be pretty critical information that is useful when it is timely. There are definitely cities where you need to know every time there is a local game and roughly what the mood of the crowd is, because crowd physics and mob mentalities. There are "sports-related disasters" in the weather of those cities.

[yrro]

Digging into that document a bit it seems that AM travels further and pass through solid objects more, making it more suitable for emergency broadcasts.

[doubleg72]

I am near Erie, might have to give this a whirl