This past weekend, an alleged White Supremacist went into a Buffalo supermarket in a predominantly black neighborhood and killed ten people.
One of the news media outlets leading the coverage in Buffalo was Audacy “Newsradio 930” WBEN. The radio station jumped in to fill the nation and its residents as to what went on.
In an interview with Inside Radio, Brand Manager Tim Wenger, talked the website through its coverage as soon as the news broke about the shooting.
“I received a phone call from a source that I have within the Buffalo Police Department who said he thought it would be a good idea if we had someone at the Tops Market on Jefferson Ave,” Wenger said.
“I did a little bit of research while I was on the way and discovered there was an active shooting situation (…) We had heard eight, and then nine and then 10. It just kept escalating over the course of a couple of hours on scene before finally, there was official word from authorities in the form of a press conference.”
Wenger then discussed how the story was developing, keeping the entire station on high alert to what was coming out and why they needed to be on top of the information.
“This happened in a really close-knit community where people know each other. It’s not a typical urban environment where everybody just kind of goes about their business,” Wenger added.
“This is a community that fought for that store to be there years ago. And we’re just trying to give everyone a voice and not decide for anybody what needs to happen but listen to everybody and let the community decide what needs to happen.”