RE: WBUR-FM suspends 2 in "Connection" flap

[lglavin@lycosmail.com]

The Boston Globe has done a good job (especially Mark
Jurkowitz) on this story...two days of informative 
coverage, beating the Herald I should add.
(BTW, if it turns out that a "Love Triangle" had
nothing to do with the Dartmouth double murders, 
New England's newspaper of record could take some heat in the near future...but I digress.)
This contretemps is somewhat like the Iran-Iraq war:
nobody comes out of it looking good, and the e-mailer
who said "a plague on both your houses" may have been
on to something.  I have two thoughts on the issue:
(1) No one is indispensible.  I have observed Chris 
Lydon on channel 2 and WBUR;  there's no doubt he's 
literate, informed, and talented, but if he walks 
away or is pushed, "The Connection" or a show like it
could succeed anyway. I've also listened to the show
when Michael Goldfarb did vacation substitution and
little was lost. And it may be time from Jane Christo to go.
(2) SYNDICATION IS THE BANE OF FORMERLY LOCAL RADIO!
Gordon Gekko said greed is good, but he didn't have to
listen to Boston-based hosts say "it's 14 minutes past
the hour" because it's 14 minutes past 8 in Iowa 
City.  Howie Carr's show is unlistenable from 3:00 to
6:00 pm because he has to appeal to denizens of cities
where they ask you as you enter church: "Snake-handling
or not snake-handling?" If Chris & Co. (since he 
wants to become a capitalist) are reaching 400,000
listeners per week on 75 stations, then he's not doing
terrifically well in Topeka or Spokane!  The tailoring
he has to do to make Boston-focused subjects palatable
to other markets leads to Laocoon-like distortions(a little "Connection" lingo).  We have seen how Maine
and NH have swooned before the Siren-song of syndicated
NPR and PRI babble...it's time for some Public Radio
managers to stop acting so much like commercial broadcasters
or else turn in their licenses and give someone else a chance.

Laurence Glavin
Methuen, MA
(not the product of inbreeding, but I have an extra Y chromosome; Grrrrrr.)


-----------------------------------------------------
Get free personalized email at http://email.lycos.com