KWSU radio drops great programs

[fran7371@uidaho.edu (John Francis)]

	This last weekend the management of KWSU radio quietly dropped four of the
most intellectually mature and broadranging shows from their lineup.   We
will no longer be able to hear Tech Nation, To The Best of Our Knowledge,
The Cleveland City Club, or Selected Shorts.

	We all have our favorites; I am particularly upset at  losing To The Best
of Our Knowledge (TBOOK): three one-hour programs, each one examining a
particular theme by interviewing different authors, experts, and
philosophers. For example, a recent one on Housing examined one architect's
study of McMansions, the mega houses now burgeoning in America.
	
Tech Nation is a one-hour program that covers all aspects of science and
information technology.  It recently interviewed the man who
single-handedly invented the World Wide Web, for example, a fascinating
story.

	The Cleveland City Club features speakers on everything from medical
breakthroughs to urban sprawl.
	
Selected Shorts had well known actors reading famous short stories.

	Except for Selected Shorts, the programs have not been removed for money
reasons (TBOOK is cheap, and  TN and CCC are free) but to get higher
ratings. The latest Arbitron report shows there isn't much of a Saturday
night audience when TN, TBOOK and CCC are aired, Roger Johnson, Northwest
Public Radio station manager, told me today. He hopes to increase the
Arbitron numbers by offering instead World Cafe, which I'd call a
light-rock show ("music ranging from Taj Mahal to Linda Rondstadt" the
announcer said; "I don't know what [format] to call it," Johnson said.)

	His reasoning seems flawed to me.  True, not many people sit home on a
Saturday night listening to hours of radio documentaries; I certainly
don't.  I tape them on my VCR, as do my friends. If you don't you're
missing an easy way to get great radio.  Simply hook your tuner's "line
out" to the "audio in" of your VCR and set the timer.  You can put over 6
hours of good audio on a single $1.60 cassette.  Next morning, after you've
had enough of Morning Edition-for me, about 15 minutes-listen to your
recording.  Or later in the day.  Some segments are so good I make audio
cassette dubs.  I've just returned from Seattle, and we playyed TBOOK
programs all the way there and back. Leave the hookup there permanently; it
doesn't affect your ability to tape TV shows, or play movies.

	Arbitron doesn't measure this time shifting, but only those people
actually sitting at home listening Saturday night so the numbers are too
low.  Second flaw: why should an innocuous music program produce higher
trtings?  And finally, will higher ratings mean more pledges?  People who
like TBOOK et al are genuine radio aficionados and are likely to pledge
more than music listeners who have many alternative stations.

	You're going to hear more from me on this, and I hope from others.   If
you feel, like I and my friends do, that we have suddenly been deprived of
some of the best, intellectually worthwhile programming available anywhere,
and for no good reason, please help to try and get this reversed.   You can
start by calling Northwest Public Radio, 335,6511 or Roger Johnson,
335-6551, or emailing nwpr@wsu.org to register your protest.

	More to come.



John Francis
311 East 6th St., #2
Moscow, ID 83843
(208) 883-0105       fran7371@uidaho.edu