Disappearance of local news leaves county listeners unserved By JIM SCHUH of The Gazette Another petal has fallen from the local radio rose. WIZD's operators apparently have concluded that nobody wants to hear serious news in the morning or during the noon hour, so this week, they dumped their local news programs. Instead we now receive recorded news snippets and sports headlines from Wausau and much more oldies music. Just what we need. The station's noon obituary report remains on the air - it's now at the more convenient time of 5:30 in the morning. Unfortunately, most of us aren't going to set the alarm clock to catch the obits. (Here's a shameless plug: The Gazette posts obituaries on its Web site as soon as we receive them.) News junkies like Mayor Gary Wescott and me, both former radio newscasters, and many others - judging from other comments I've already heard - feel cheated. WIZD had offered what was Portage County's only remaining real local news broadcasts. "You've got to give people a reason to listen," says the mayor. For many, the reason is now gone. The mayor is concerned about the loss of local immediacy. He told me that without a local news department, it will be more difficult to get emergency information on the air and out to people - such things as storm warnings and as an example, an overturned tanker truck that threatens a particular area or blocks a bridge. The demise of radio news has become a self-fulfilling prophecy. The consultants tell the broadcasting lemmings that nobody is interested in listening to radio news, so they pare it back or ditch it altogether. That causes the audience to stop listening to the radio for news, because there's none (or very little) there. Then the broadcasters justify their actions by saying, "See - nobody listens to news on the radio." The current owners purchased WIZD two-and-a-half years ago, when it had 25 percent of its target audience during the morning - an enviable listenership by any yardstick. They've made programming changes - some for better, some for worse. They've streamlined programming, but in the process, they've lost sight of much of what made the station popular. They've muzzled the morning air staff and eliminated what made the station unique. They've abbreviated and emasculated newscasts and turned the station into little more than an oldies jukebox. Radio was a superb local medium even before TV took over the living room and pushed it into the kitchen, bedroom and car. But the new crop of people in charge hasn't studied their broadcast history, and may be sewing the seeds of radio's demise. Their focus has changed from serving their communities of license to the bottom line. To reduce costs and produce high profits, they now use a cookie-cutter approach to programming, so that with few exceptions, similarly formatted stations across the country now all sound alike. Often, the only distinguishing features are different call letters and spots on the dial. Later this year, two new satellite radio services will begin competing for their audiences. If you like what they offer, you'll never have to change the dial, no matter where in the country you drive. Radio hasn't faced such a threat since FM broadcasting challenged and stole most of the AM radio audience 30 to 40 years ago. Today, FM's audience share is about 80 percent. The new sky services will have no commercials, at least in the beginning. Instead they'll charge a $10 monthly fee to listen to their 100 or so different program formats. What they won't offer is the localism so unique to radio's capability. Satellite radio customers will need new receivers, and that could hinder growth at the outset. But it won't take long for the new radios to appear in vehicles. It's quite possible we could see a repeat of what cable and satellite television did to land-based TV stations - they stole about 60 percent of the audience. Maybe then radio operators will see the light and return to providing service to their communities. It not only is good business, but done properly, it's very profitable. But by then, it may be too late, because the audience will be gone. Broadcasters know the toughest thing is to get listeners to come back. * * * An acquaintance thinks I was too tough on StoraEnso, when I criticized a recent quarterly report printed in black and white. He wants me to make amends. He sent two other company publications - one a quarterly magazine for employees in North America, and the other, a publication the company calls, "Global." Both are replete with color pictures and graphics - in fact, there's color on every single page. I'm happy to see the company using color in some of its materials - after all, it helps sell their beautiful coated papers. But I stand by my remarks concerning the dull-looking quarterly report - and my suggestion that the company translate euros into dollars for its American shareholders, so they don't have to read the report with a calculator alongside. I heard via the grapevine that someone posted a copy of my column on a bulletin board at a StoraEnso facility, but someone else took it down. Employees suspected management. Then somebody posted two copies and they disappeared, too, whereupon several more copies went up. I don't know how long the game continued or who won, but it sure gave extra publicity to the column. My thanks to all involved! By the way, I've talked to some StoraEnso representatives, and they understand I meant my earlier column to be in good fun. You may reach Jim Schuh at The Gazette, or by e-mail at jpschuh@excite.com.