The Big One: A Scenario. In a country where people only get their news from social media, here's what happens when a major quake hits Los Angeles. Read, share, and subscribe 👉 www.therobarcher.com/p/the-big-on...
Rob Archer 🎙️
@robarcher.bsky.social
Voiceover Artist. News anchor. Media critic. 25+ years in LA radio (KNX · KFI). Murrow & LA Press Club winner. Writing about what's happening to broadcasting at Archer's Line → therobarcher.com
What would happen if the only news came from podcasters and social media, and a major earthquake hit Los Angeles? Read The Big One: A Scenario: www.therobarcher.com/p/the-big-on...
At 10:17 a.m., the Big One hits Los Angeles. At 10:24, people call it a hoax. By 11:03, the White House claims Trump has been briefed. No one has seen him in months. This is what disaster looks like after the news media disappears: Read & share it: www.therobarcher.com/p/the-big-on...
While the communist fear-mongering has reached a full boil, the government under Trump has taken stakes in dozens of private companies. www.mediaite.com/media/news/h...
House Republican Rips Trump Admin Taking Stakes In 30 Private Companies: ‘Not the Conservative Position’
"Since last June, we've gone from the government owning zero shares in zero private companies to now owning equity stakes in 30 different companies."
mediaite.com
BREAKING: The FCC scrapped the national TV ownership cap. Deals will now be judged case by case—which smacks of: “If Trump is okay with it, you’re golden. If he doesn’t like you, no deal.” Read and subscribe: www.therobarcher.com/p/breaking-f...
"The dawn will break on the darkening world... and once again our mistakes will be forgotten."
Not the actions of someone who's the most transparent president in history. www.rawstory.com/trump-financ...
Trump declares 'emergency' one day before deadline to reveal his finances in court
President Donald Trump declared an 'emergency' to block the release of his financial records to the BBC one day before a court-ordered deadline.The BBC sought the financial information after Trump sue...
rawstory.com
I’ve been in radio for 46 years. I thought KNX would be the station I retired from. Then, one Monday morning, a Zoom invitation appeared. The firings, layoffs, format changes and lucky breaks that brought me here: www.therobarcher.com/p/who-gets-t...
Christopher Nolan didn't make a movie about Odysseus. He made a movie about us. Plus: • ABC fights back against the FCC • 150,000 public comments • Paramount's $7 billion headache Watch: www.youtube.com/watch?v=OiWO...
The Odyssey, The View, and a $7 Billion Problem
YouTube video by Archer & Feldman
youtube.com
Trying to imagine what the WW2 generation would think of an American government that says people who are anti-fascist are terrorists.
The final number of public comments to the FCC about ABC’s station licenses exceeded 150,000, with more than 95% supporting the stations. More here: www.therobarcher.com/p/145000-voi...
145,000 Voices vs. the FCC
Public comments overwhelmingly defend ABC's local stations. Brendan Carr appears ready to ignore them.
therobarcher.com
"The test of our progress is not whether we add more to the abundance of those who have so much," President Roosevelt said in his inaugural address in 1937, "it is whether we provide enough for those who have too little."
Annie Jacobsen's book, "Nuclear War," scared the living daylights out of me. Her new book, "Biological War," is scarier.
More than 145,000 comments have now been filed in the FCC’s case against eight Disney-owned ABC television stations -- brought mainly because Trump is displeased with The View. The response is unusually large. www.therobarcher.com/p/145000-voi...
145,000 Voices vs. the FCC
Public comments overwhelmingly defend ABC's local stations. Brendan Carr appears ready to ignore them.
therobarcher.com
Always an exciting day when a new Annie Jacobsen book arrives.
A radio nightmare... a short story of horror from the wrong end of the dial. It started out pleasantly enough... www.therobarcher.com/p/come-in-pa...
Come In, Patmos
A revelation from the wrong end of the radio dial. A short story.
therobarcher.com
More measles cases have been reported in the US in the last two years than in all the years from 2000 through 2024 combined. Meanwhile, vaccination rates are way down because of conspiracy theories. We live in the stupidest timeline.
Gas prices aren't coming down anytime soon. The whole "no new wars" and "gas will be so cheap" things don't seem to be going so well. wapo.st/4fd7tbW
Oil prices leap to $100 a barrel after attacks in Red Sea
The price of Brent crude, now up about 40 percent this month, surged Thursday after Iran’s Houthi allies in Yemen claimed strikes on Saudi tankers.
wapo.st
Killer who targeted Democrats gets life in prison. apnews.com/article/hort...
Man who killed Minnesota lawmaker Melissa Hortman sentenced to life as family describes trauma, loss
The Minnesota man who killed Democratic state lawmaker Melissa Hortman and her husband has been sentenced to spend the rest of his life in prison.
apnews.com
Which is it? Radio companies are lobbying the FCC to raise ownership caps so they can buy more stations. Meanwhile, others are surrendering licenses because no one will pay a viable price. If the caps are lifted, who will buy—and with what money? www.therobarcher.com/p/radio-stop...
Radio Stops Making Sense
Give up licenses, or buy more stations?
therobarcher.com
It's amusing when you think of how much of today's conspiracy thinking has its roots in old movies. As if someone watched the movie and can't tell the difference between fantasy and reality. www.youtube.com/watch?v=vey4...
Did a Secret "Stargate" in Iran Cause Trump's Endless War? Josh Johnson Finds Out | The Daily Show
YouTube video by The Daily Show
youtube.com
If the court decides the Paramount/WBD merger should remain on hold, the calendar starts to matter, because the agreement calls for Paramount to pay WBD shareholders a “ticking fee” if the deal isn't finished by September 30. That’s about $7 million a day. www.therobarcher.com/p/the-clock-...
The Clock is Running on Paramount's Biggest Deal
A judge didn't kill the merger. She may have made it negotiable.
therobarcher.com
It only takes a second to check that Trump post before you share it. The more people share the fake ones, the more people ignore the real ones -- which may be why so many fake ones are being shared. To drain our ability to be outraged. www.snopes.com/fact-check/t...
Did Trump say he'd turn on 'giant faucet' in California to extinguish Canadian wildfires?
The president allegedly wrote, "Sometimes the simplest solutions require a very stable genius!"
snopes.com
WATCH... AND PLEASE TICKLE THE LIKE BUTTON! L.A. radio legend Bill Handel joins Archer & Feldman to talk about Paramount, radio, mergers and layoffs. Somehow, we managed to squeeze a few opinions out of him... www.youtube.com/watch?v=g51C...
A Wellness Check on the Media: Bill Handel on iHeart, Audacy, CNN, and the Future of Radio
YouTube video by Archer & Feldman
youtube.com
Our electronic chickens are coming home to roost. Global uncertainty and AI data centers are eating into the supply. 9to5mac.com/2026/07/18/h...
Apple is raising prices on more than just Macs and iPads - 9to5Mac
Apple’s hardware price increases in June were costly and unwelcome. They were also just the start of a wave of...
9to5mac.com
The world ends in one week. It's a metaphor for how everything feels right now. www.therobarcher.com/p/sun-day-a-...
Sun Day
In one week, the world ends. A short story.
therobarcher.com
I'm currently reading this translation, and it's terrific. The text feels like it's alive today.
