When Tragedy Happens in Your Market

On December 16, 2024, a school shooting occurred at Abundant Life Christian School in Madison, Wisconsin. Three people, including the perpetrator, were confirmed dead. Six were injured. 

We reached out to Northwestern Media station WNWC/Madison (Life 102.5) PD morning host Dave Conour to see how his station handled the tragedy.

HisAir – Dave take us through the timeline of when and how the station first found out about the shooting.

Dave – We have staff that are alumni of Abundant Life Christian School and many friends in our circles that have children there. We heard about it within minutes of it happening from people within the school.

HisAir – How did the station handle it on the air? How is staff affected by the news?

Dave – My morning show cohost Natalie Gross and I immediately went on the air and stayed on until we handed over to our afternoon announcer Mikayla exclusively at 4:30 pm.  We are all Christmas music right now and have some of our highest percentage of new listeners.  I stopped playing songs like “Most Wonderful Time of the Year” and others and focused on the music that pointed to healing and hope.  Natalie is a former TV journalist, so we were able to lean into her skills to get accurate and timely information and relay it to our listeners.  Most of all, we committed to a real, raw approach.  We shared anger if we felt anger, we shared confusion if we felt confusion, we said our faith was shaken when it was so.  We strived to echo back to the listener what they were feeling and give them space to call and share.  We aired some very difficult phone calls (Dec 16), but also some very sweet and heartfelt ones.  The overall message was “we are in this together.”

HisAir – How are listeners responding to your programming and the shooting?

Dave – It has been an incredibly meaningful and difficult 24 hours.  December 16 will be etched on our calendars every year for all time.  Listeners are in the same shock and pain that we are as announcers.  The real, raw approach has resonated deeply with them.  Comment after comment on Facebook, Instagram and texting prove that people don’t want platitudes.  They want a safe place to hurt and process.  One listener drove here instead of home because “we were her closest safe place” to go.  She just wanted a hug and a shoulder to cry on.  We are more than just airwaves.  We are people.

HisAir – Are there any announcements being aired in the days after the shooting took place?

Dave – We have not formulated that plan yet. On the second day we open phone lines for sharing and hurt. That’s as far as we’ve gotten in the planning.

HisAir – Please pray for Madison and for our friends on Life 102.5 as they comfort a town rocked by this tragedy just before Christmas.