Broadcasters Do Not Have To Wait for EMs
As a participating station, each station is authorized to originate an EAS alert at their discretion. The FCC Rules permit this and will back a broadcaster that takes the initiative when the local or state emergency officials fail to originate an alert or alerting infrastructure fails.
At KTAR in Phoenix we used Alert FM. It is an elegant, simple solution that operators can learn quickly. Our step by step guide left little room for error. In the newsroom we had 16 people trained to use it. While on the CSRIC full council we reviewed numerous software options that did a commendable job.
Broadcast EAS lacks the targeted alerting of WEA, but insures all the bases are covered.
State and local emergency management needs to step up and fulfill the purpose of their creation.