(Image source: Sandia)

BY EVAN THOMAS

You're watching multisource video news analysis from Newsy.

Wednesday’s nationwide emergency alert test over television and radio airwaves didn’t go so well. It was missing its audio, or its video. In some places it played late, in others it ran for half an hour.

And for some DirecTV subscribers, it even played Lady Gaga.

“Seriously? Lady Gaga?”

Well, at least it was entertaining. Or not -- to the chorus of critics. The New York Times points out -- even if it had worked flawlessly on all the platforms targeted, the alert whiffed on the Internet -- completely.

“Internet connections were not included in the test, which led some critics to question how comprehensive the alert system could be.”

FEMA says it is working on a system to bring the Internet into the loop. It’s called the Integrated Public Alert Warning System-- or  IPAWS.

"IPAWS allows alerting authorities to write their own message using open standards. The message is then authenticated by the IPAWS Open Platform for Emergency Networks, or OPEN, to be delivered simultaneously through multiple pathways, reaching as many people as possible, to save lives and protect property."

It’s a big undertaking. CNET says sending messages to web servers nationwide is going to require a lot of coordination. Website owners and administrators will have to cooperate.

“Web site owners will have to set up their servers to recognize and authorize the incoming emergency code. Sites will also have to be configured to display the incoming message in some way.“

And the San Francisco Chronicle suggests-- how about texting? Cellular networks are a little more resistant to natural disasters than local TV and radio anyway.

“We already get our carriers sending us unwanted marketing texts at the drop of a hat. It really wouldn’t be very hard to make the texting system a mandatory part of the Emergency Alert System.”

But why stop with the web and telecoms? Techcrunch asks-- since more and more eyes are going to streaming services, should those services be obligated to transmit emergency messages, too?

“...is it the duty of the streaming services to act as the harbinger of bad news? Should Netflix, Hulu, et al. be required to fulfill the same emergency duties as the radio in the early 20th century and as the television in the latter half? ”

In the meatime, FEMA is moving IPAWS forward. Mobile carriers are slated to jump on board early next year.