Breakup

[tealin]

Dear National Public Radio,


We go way back, you and me. I grew up with you. You were by my bedside every morning and waiting for me when I got home from school, you rode in the front seat of my dad's car, and as I got older I fell in love with your in-depth news and analysis, clever hosts, interesting subject matter, and how late at night, on the frequency that was harder to get, you turned into the exotic and alluring BBC World Service. You were my link to the outside world, my voice of moderation in a vehemently conservative Republican house and state, my community of intellectuals, my teacher. When I moved to Canada you were the constant I missed most. Saturdays didn't feel like Saturdays without Car Talk, and what is 4:00 without the All Things Considered theme? I turned to the CBC as a surrogate but it had an alien schedule and an irritating morning show.

Well, time passed, I settled in, and grew to love my new home and its indigenous public radio (though I never got to like the morning show). Then one day I was introduced to BBC Radio 4 and fell head-over-heels in love, finding at last a radio station which recaptured the things about you that I knew and loved, and then some. The world of Radio was the mollusk of my choice! I have to admit I almost forgot about you ... but before too long I had the opportunity to come work in the States. Hooray, I thought! NPR and me, reunited at last! The long years apart will be as naught! Imagine my shock when, shortly after rejoicing at your familiar voice, I realized that you were not the NPR I left behind.

My dear public radio, I am sorely disappointed. In this time of ubiquitous polarization, you could have been the voice crying out in the wilderness of the middle ground. But no, you have joined the mob, you have picked your team, you are playing into the game of divisiveness and rancour. Were you always like this, and I never noticed? I can believe a certain perpetual liberal bias, as you are run by intellectuals and intellectuals' political 'centre' tends to be left of the average American's, but I find it hard to imagine you were always like this. I remember documentaries. I remember learning the historical background of current events. I remember exploring places and societies in the U.S. and abroad in pieces that exemplified 'theatre of the mind.' But you have abandoned documentation for commentary; you are so fascinated by your own insights that you neglect reportage and disallow your audience to make up their own minds. It's one self-congratulatory opinion after another, interrupted by mutually congratulatory interviews between enlightened intelligentsia. You are unrelentingly, unashamedly, and unrepentantly liberal – and that's coming from a Canadian. I like liberal if it means an open-minded investigation of new intellectual territory, but your liberality is veering on exclusivity and provocation; liberality for the sake of liberality rather than any higher end.

So there you have it. I can't do this any more. We can still be friends: I'll keep listening to Morning Edition, which is the least changed of your regular programming, if you keep giving me headlines at the top of the hour. I respect you for your large vocabulary and catering to that neglected slice of America who do actually like smart media. But we can never be as we once were, you murmuring in my ear and me following you wherever you went.

With sincere regret,

      Tealin

P.S. KPCC: Did you not just have a pledge drive in March? What is up? You're still in my good books for playing As It Happens and seriously disrupting my sense of place but seriously...

Comments

[twirlynoodle.livejournal.com]

It has a Sandi Toksvig and sometimes even a Sue Perkins, who can both kick Paula Poundstone's butt. Just listen! If you don't like it it's only half an hour lost.