The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), the
Federal Communications Commission (FCC) and the National Weather Service
(NOAA/NWS) need to update the U.S. Emergency Alert System. Currently the system is used to broadcast emergency
messages over: broadcast radio and
television; cable and fiber optic television; and satellite radio and
television.
However, as time passes those audiences are
shrinking. Many people in their homes or
cars aren’t listening to broadcast or satellite radio, they are instead
listening to a streaming service such as Pandora, iTunes, Stitcher, or Spotify through
their smart phones. Similarly, many
people at home aren’t watching broadcast, cable, fiber optic, or satellite
television, rather they are watching streaming services such as Netflix, Hulu, Amazon or iTunes.
So I propose that the Emergency Alert System (EAS) is
updated such that it includes broadcasting over internet streaming audio and
video services such as those listed above.
Otherwise sooner or later we will have an emergency that many people aren’t
prepared for or react incorrectly to simply because they never got the
word. There’s always someone who doesn’t
get the word let’s make sure that when it comes to Emergency Alert System
messages that doesn’t become the case.
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