Dateline: Home Study

The Wall Street Journal, Friday 17 March 2006, V. CCXLVII, N 63, P 1. “As Sponsorship Sales Blossom, Public Radio Walks a Fine Line.”

I used to be a big fan of public radio. It did provide a source of music I couldn’t find elsewhere, and I even enjoyed the news. Although I did, still do, refer to NPR’s Morning Edition as Morning Sedition and All things Considered as All Things Left and Liberal I was able to cut through the left-wing bias and find the kernel of truth there. What I liked about it was that the news stories were more in depth and a greater length of time was spent on individual stories than on other news stations. It was also convenient while in the car traveling. I actually was able to get caught up on some of the news on my drives to Memphis for my Naval War College classes.

But then along came Sirius satellite radio. With well over 100 stations from which to choose, I could listen to all the classical music I wanted. And if I was in the mood for jazz, blues, rock, comedy, or talk, I had many options to choose from there as well. But I also have access to news. I can listen to Fox News, CNN, CNN Headline News, CSPAN, ABC News, the BBC, and others, including NPR. All this, and more, for less than $15 a month!

The WSJ article discusses how elite the public radio audience is, which is true. I certainly fall into the categories they discuss about household income and education levels, which raises the question, why is the government subsidizing radio for those of us who are most able to afford it on our own? Could we not simply let the public radio stations go public and spend our tax dollars on other worthy causes? Do we even need public radio and public television anymore? We did at one time, but now give me a choice between The Learning Channel, The History Channel, Discovery, or public TV and it is goodbye public TV.

Public radio is moving in the right direction, just not fast enough.