Skeptics Question Disappearance of Alabama Radio Tower.
Some observers doubt WJLX‘s tower was stolen, but the general manager stands by his account.
Did the general manager of WJLX fake the theft of the station’s own 200-foot AM radio tower? Some online skeptics think so. Brett Elmore says it just isn’t so.
The alleged theft of that tower in Jasper, Ala., which we told you about earlier this month, gained attention from national and international media outlets (USA Today, The Guardian, South China Morning Post and many others). But it has also generated a lot of snarky comments from some observers, including several radio engineers, who doubt the plausibility of the story.
General Manager Brett Elmore says thieves stole the tower from its rural transmission site. He reported the incident to police on Feb. 2. He said the theft of the tower and other equipment, including its transmitter, took the station off the air.
Elmore says he was unaware the structure had gone missing until a land clearing company made the discovery and called him. The station had no remote monitoring equipment, Elmore says, so personnel were unaware the AM station was off the air prior to the discovery.
However, questions about how a 200-foot tower could “vanish without a trace,” as Elmore described it, swirled.
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https://www.radioworld.com/news-and-business/headlines/skeptics-question-disappearance-of-alabama-radio-tower?utm_term=CA316074-A1D7-49B8-AF83-B04729A190FA&utm_medium=email&utm_content=82E25870-71FE-48D5-834B-A3894F7D314F&utm_source=SmartBrief
Ydun Ritz (2024-02-15)