Drive from your city to the next one over and you may find that the radio voice delivering the “local” news is the same one you hear at home. What gives? Consolidation among companies in the broadcasting industry is what gives. So, if you’re trying to reach local audiences with messages about your organization, better take another look how you say what you say.

Historically, much of the radio news aired over many U.S. stations came from national and state networks. Today, thanks to deregulation and consolidation, even local news is sometimes delivered by a disconnected news operation in a faraway city.

Clear Channel Communications is a case in point. It’s the largest radio group of all, controlling more than 1,200 stations nationwide. To control expenses, Clear Channel consolidated its news operations at all levels, local, state and regional. As a result, a Clear Channel station in one state might just be originating the local news for one or more of its stations in other states within the region.

It’s an “economies of scale” model necessitated by the massive size of the broadcasting group, not unlike the buying tactics of Wal-Mart or McDonalds. But what is it doing to the quality of local news reporting? Certainly, it can’t be an improvement, especially when anchors based in one state are writing and reporting local news for listeners in a city in another state. They don’t live there, and they don’t have the contacts or the intimacy of knowledge of local issues and newsmakers. It increases the opportunity to overlook local nuances, or, worse, make mistakes.

Knowing about this trend perhaps helps you understand why stations you once depended on for news now give you less, or none at all, and why you’re hearing the same news reporters on multiple stations. But what’s even more important is that your message delivery techniques have to improve to account for this expanding distance between the source of news (you or your organization) and where the reporting originates (the news department).

When talking with the news media you are reaching out to critical audiences…groups of people your organization needs to influence in a positive way. Whatever the story, it’s up to you to provide the context and persuasive impact of that story in succinct sound bites. When you’re working with news media representatives who are not connected geographically with your audiences, your job of message crafting and focused delivery becomes increasingly important.

Swift changes in communications technology have tended to dehumanize the relationship between reporter and source. Media consolidation further expands that chasm geographically. But it’s still possible to effectively deliver messages to your audiences across the chasm. It’s just a matter of understanding the environment and sharpening your skills accordingly.