The question isn't whether to keep it, it's whether to make a law demanding that it be standard in cars.
Basic summary:
Pro: AM is a simple technology, widely available, broadcasts over long distances, and cell nets do go down
Con: Expensive to avoid in-car interference due to the frequencies involved, government micromanagement of the market
Reminder:
In the same rural areas where AM is the only game in town, there are often only automated or repeater stations anyway.
IMHO there should be a dedicated low-frequency FM band for emergency messages which is supported widely OR automakers should be required to support a smaller portion of the AM band which would reduce their costs while still providing emergency services. This smaller portion could be supported by a very small number of powerful, manned AM stations in an emergency.
I do listen to AM in my car, especially the '74 which only has AM, but I live in a metro area with three pretty much unbiased news stations (their only consistent bias is towards news that's easy to express in 1-2 sentences, though I recall one of them making a hash out of a political speech, ignoring the most important parts and only repeating the stuff that the opposition emphasized). It also has NPR, which I don't classify as one thing or the other. (They have a tough balancing act given that they are always on the verge of losing government and corporate support, of which corporate support is much more important given their current revenue sources.)
When I go out to Pennsy and beyond, AM turns into preacher-and-hate-radio and I shut it off.
I can't help but think this provides an opportunity to rethink the traditional radio bands and to develop a more sensible global emergency information system, if that's the goal.
