January 15, 2024
On Martin Luther King Jr. Day, broadcasters brought news of community events, public service and local history to their diverse audiences. They helped explain what Dr. King’s legacy means to our country and to each of us.
With this year’s Martin Luther King Jr. Day falling on the date of the first primary vote of this year’s elections, CBS Evening News shared Dr. King’s words on the power of voting, broadcasting a substantial excerpt from one of his 1965 speeches about this important right.
TEGNA station 2 On Your Side in Buffalo, N.Y., shared coverage of local volunteers at work during the Day of Service, including interviews about Dr. King’s legacy of service with Buffalo Urban League President Darnell Haywood and former Buffalo councilman Clifford Bell. "That was the intent that people should always share try to help one another and lift each other up,” Bell told the station. “And that was his whole mission to set the stage for people to have that kind of outlook of our fellowship and helping one another. This is a great day to do it in the memory of a man."
Audacy Chicago’s WBBM Newsradio interviewed people who braved the bitter cold to serve the community in Chicago. One of those efforts, led by Illinois Rep. LaShawn Ford, was focused on creating a significant and lasting impact in addressing the opioid crisis and homelessness in Chicago, collaborating with Health Care Alternative Systems, the West Side Heroin Opioid Task Force, schools, community organizations, businesses and social services to distribute Narcan, perform community outreach training, and visit homeless tent encampments to deliver hot soup and sandwiches.
Fox 5 Atlanta shared live coverage and a full recap of the 56th Martin Luther King Jr. Beloved Community Commemorative Service at the historic Ebenezer Baptist Church in Atlanta. Tens of thousands of people tuned in online for the event, with the theme "It Starts with Me: Shifting the Cultural Climate through Study and Practice of Kingian Nonviolence." Rev. Natosha Reid Rice told the audience, "We want to invite all of you to celebrate; to celebrate with love, to celebrate with worship, to celebrate with words, to celebrate with bringing you fully in this space as the theme tells us. It puts the impetus on me, on each and every one of us, to shift the narrative.”
Meeting listeners wherever they are, iHeart Radio collected podcast episodes for Martin Luther King Jr. Day, exploring the history and impact of Dr. King’s work through perspectives. Episodes included the Oprah Winfrey Show’s “Martin Luther King, Jr. Tribute,” Charlamagne’s The Black Effect produced in partnership with iHeart, NPR’s Book of the Day and many more.
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