Reporting by Adam R Jacobson and Cameron Coats
For millions of truckers, vacationers, “snowbirds” and daily commuters, the Francis Scott Key Bridge in Dundalk, Md., is a vital connector bridging the gap created by the Patapsco River between this east-of-Baltimore community and the city of Glen Burnie and Baltimore-Washington International Airport, to the south.
At 1:30am on Tuesday (3/26), the 1.6-mile bridge that is a part of Interstate 695 collapsed as a container ship accidentally struck a bridge pier after losing power. Vehicles on the bridge fell into the water; two individuals have been rescued while six remained unaccounted for as of 10am.
As listeners across the Baltimore region began their day, local radio and television stations were actively covering the story — as a community member actively engaging their audience to share stories and photos.
Hearst Television-owned NBC affiliate WBAL-11 has been offering non-stop coverage of the Key Bridge collapse across Tuesday morning, with live helicopter shots being broadcast to viewers from SkyTeam 11.
In fact, it is WBAL-TV that shared via X (formerly Twitter) video showing the moment the cargo ship, in distress, smashed into the bridge’s pier. Within moments, the entire structure crumbled, sending cars into the cold water below.
Later, WBAL-TV updated viewers with word from Maryland Gov. Wes Moore that between a mayday call from the ship and the bridge’s collapse, officials blocked traffic from entering the bridge, potentially saving lives.
“This is an unthinkable tragedy,” Baltimore Mayor Brandon Scott said at a news conference early Tuesday morning. “This is a tragedy you can never imagine. Never did you think you would see the Key Bridge tumble down like that. It looked like something out of a movie … Our focus should be the preservation of life.”
Scott issued an Executive Order declaring a State of Emergency in Baltimore City in response to the collapse starting at 9 a.m. and will remain in place for thirty days. This could impact Opening Day for Major League Baseball’s Baltimore Orioles, who are scheduled to play Thursday at Camden Yards. The possibility of a delayed opening day was shared by Colleen Carew, midday host at Times-Shamrock Communications Rocker WZBA “100.7 The Bay.” Carew invited Bay listeners to share any information or photos they may have had regarding the bridge’s collapse. This followed Huber in the Morning‘s discussions on the Key Bridge disaster.
Across Audacy Inc.‘s Baltimore cluster, a similar on-air focus was seen, with WWMX “MIX 106.5” particularly poignant in opening the phones to listeners across the Kramer & Jess morning show. Additionally, two updates were provided via their Instagram feed.
At Sports Talk sibling WJZ-FM “105.7 The Fan,” the normal banter was paused to discuss the Key Bridge tragedy as well on The Big Bad Morning Show, shelving Orioles talk. Audacy’s WLIF “Today’s 101.9” was also comforting listeners during its Greg & Gina morning show.
With WBAL-11 offering continuous coverage, Rock ‘n Roll radio sibling WIYY “98 Rock” was also delivering the news, with morning team member Josh Spiegel sharing the news with coverage from the TV station interspersed with the radio team’s report.
Later in the Justin, Scott and Spiegel show, electrician and IBEW 24 member Gavin Kelly called in to talk more about the Key Bridge collapse. Kelly himself has a history with the span, as he once worked on it for repairs.
At 11:34am Eastern, midday host Amelia noted that listeners had shared pictures on her Facebook page, noting that she “was right there with you with my arms stretched out” after playing a string of music capped by Metallica. Over at WBAL-AM, audio of the police band conversation at 1am detailed how a work crew was on the bridge as traffic stops were being put into place, while the mayday call and head-on pylon crash were aired by midday host T.J. Smith.
As the Noon hour progressed, “The Rob Carson Show” discussed potential traffic challenges over the coming week with Traffic Team Networks President Chuck Whitaker on locally owned WCBM-AM 680. Carson also pondered on how the bridge collapse will impact the Port of Baltimore and the U.S. economy. The two Urban One FM stations — WERQ “92Q” and WWIN “Magic 95.9” — were also updating listeners and station website visitors. Hubbard Radio’s WTOP Radio in Washington, D.C., had 3 reporters in Baltimore and one on Capitol Hill offering updates after the 1pm national news update from CBS News. A fifth reporter interviewed a structural engineer to discuss port maintenance and infrastructure. WTOP has long attracted listeners from the Baltimore region.
For the iHeartMedia stations serving Baltimore, WZFT “Z104.3” Your Morning Show cast members discussed the tragedy while sharing footage on Instagram from news partner WJZ-13, a CBS News & Stations property.
Also offering updates to viewers were WMAR-2, owned by The E.W. Scripps Co., and Sinclair flagship WBFF “FOX 45.” For FOX 45, local coverage as of 11:45am focused on the bridge tragedy with updates on the vessel and a statement from U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg. Local resident reactions were also provided to viewers.
Meanwhile, local newspaper The Baltimore Sun and online news source Baltimore Banner were also aggressively covering the Key Bridge’s collapse across the morning hours.
A 9am hour scan of Sirius XM’s channel lineup yielded only live simulcasts of disaster coverage found on national television news networks, including MSNBC’s Morning Joe. SiriusXM discontinued its local traffic and weather channels one year ago, and for Baltimore several years prior.
