‘The Reports of My Death are [Not] Exaggerated’: Why The End of an NYC Radio Station Hurts Us All

Around 11:50 p.m. August 25, 2024, New Yorkers tuned in to hear WCBS 880 AM radio anchor Wayne Cabot report the news for the final time on that station. Then at exactly midnight, he signed off while John Lennon’s "Imagine” played, and the air at WCBS 880 went silent after 100 years — 57 of them as an all-news format.

Many were likely saddened to listen to the end of an era. Others were probably chagrined about the loss of yet another local news source. The employees there were no doubt worried about their futures in one of the worst media job markets in history. I don't know any, but I still consider them colleagues.

Then, at 12:01 a.m., ESPN Radio took over the signal and nobody gave a damn.

It was late, but within minutes social media was filled with posts that had recorded those last moments of a broadcast legend. One that had started out as the property of an obscure radio manufacturer, went on to broadcast global news like the end of World War II in 1945, national news like the assassination of President John F. Kennedy in 1963, and local news like the assassination of Malcolm X in 1965.

Two years later, the station began to focus solely on news as New York City became the focal point of so much of what was happening throughout civilization. It joined 1010 WINS in broadcasting 24-hours of news to listeners in New York, New Jersey, and Connecticut with a signal that carried much farther. With the advent of the internet, there was no place the station could not reach.

But on August 12th the end was announced. Station owner Audacy would be changing the format and allowing operator Good Karma Brands to switch the signal to ESPN New York, which already operates on another AM frequency. 1010 WINS, also owned by Audacy and operating as a sister station, became the only local, all-news source in New York, a metropolitan area of more than 19 million people.

“New York has always been proudly unique in supporting two all-news radio brands, but the news business has gone through significant changes,” said Chris Oliviero, New York market president at Audacy in a statement. "The headwinds facing local journalism nationwide made it essential to strategically reimagine how we deliver the news for the most impact.”

A little while after the 880 sign-off, I tweeted my protest of the loss of the news source.

But Olivero is right. In so many words he said the news business has nearly collapsed. Over the last year, thousands of journalists, including reporters, editors, producers, photographers, managers, support staff and many others have lost their jobs due to the downsizing or outright shutdowns of newspapers, magazines, websites, and other media. The industry is asking itself, why?

Is it because social media is taking the entire audience and locking them into a tempest of algorithms and misinformation that doesn’t allow them to know what news is anymore?

Is it because accurate, responsible and well-written and reported news has been increasingly expensive to produce and executives have had to make difficult cost-cutting decisions while doing more with less in an equally increasingly complicated world of current events?

Is it because a handful of corporations run by wealthy, powerful executives own most of the media and largely dictate what the public reads, listens to and views, essentially controlling narratives in what’s supposed to be a democratic society, making people cynical and untrusting?

It’s probably a combination of all three, and a few other things. The demise of WCBS 880 is ultimately a reflection of our collective regard for media as a whole. People have always been critical of the news business, and of journalists, but considered it a necessary service.

The First Draft of History

In 1892, Ida B. Wells self-published her own investigative reports about lynching of Black men in the South. Black newspapers beginning in the 1910s informed southern African Americans of relatively better opportunities in the North, helping to spur the Great Migration. It was Walter Cronkite that we trusted in 1963 when we learned that Kennedy had died on the operating table of a Dallas hospital. Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein toppled an entire presidency after they learned in 1972 that a young security guard named Frank Wills busted the guys breaking into the Watergate Hotel. On Sept. 11, 2001, we didn’t go to celebrities or athletes to find out about what happened to a couple of office towers in Lower Manhattan — we went to the news. And one of those sources was WCBS 880.

This isn’t to say that the media is above criticism. Ever since I can remember, there have been media outlets that espoused biased and racist talking points. There are many that make simply incompetent errors because of sloppy work. Many media outlets have poor leadership, make decisions based on superficial and empty guesses on audience demand, unfairly scrutinize entire demographics, and do more to dumb down the population than they do to inform it. And I’ve personally met journalists who were truly a displeasure to know (not saying any names, but IYKYK).

But for me, at least, the positives outweigh the negatives. I’ve had some of the best experiences of my life writing the stories of people to give to other people. This business has taken me across the country and to other parts of the world. I’ve met and made acquaintances with and befriended some of the best people I’ve ever known through this craft. I’ve learned much about the world and about myself because of it, and through the risks I’ve taken, it has certainly taught me what I’m made of.

Personal Objectivity

For audiences, though, the needs are changing, as well as their methods of consuming media. We can’t ignore that most people get their headlines while looking at social media on their cellphones, whether they are credible or not. Tik Tok is taking over the market of young people as a source of news and information. Those of us who learned how to do this job using a Dixon Ticonderoga No. 2 pencil and a notepad are scratching our heads about how people believe half the things they hear on the internet.

But I also remember the same bewilderment from older journalists when I tried to introduce them to newsgathering for a digital audience not even 20 years ago. Times always change. That’s the only true guarantee.

Still, the changes we’re witnessing hardly warrant the deliberate dismantling of the Fourth Estate. This nation finds ways to keep other institutions profitable and operating. Ivy League and elite universities pretty much have nothing to worry about for the foreseeable future. The pharmaceutical industry, which many accused of profiting off of illness rather than helping people to heal, is making more money than it ever has. We’ve seen similar results for hedge funds.

Maybe I’m naive, but to me a nation that can keep them afloat can keep a media that informs them of the best and worst of their society afloat as well. The demise of WCBS 880 indicates that we aren’t paying attention.

I wrote my very first news article when I was 15. It was for my high school newspaper and from that moment I was like graffiti on bricks. So much has changed since then, and there’s nothing wrong with that. But I would like to someday write my last paragraph to an audience that can’t wait to read it.

Madison Gray is a New York City-based writer and editor whose work has appeared in multiple publications globally. Reach out to him at madison@starkravingmadison.com.