I really appreciate City Paper’s coverage of NPR and local public radio stations, including the recent article on WETA’s lack of local programming (“Local Zeros,” 10/30). In
the Nov. 6 issue, Loose Lips’ critique of the Mark Plotkin Hour and Jake Tapper’s article on Anthem
(“A Cool Peg in a Square Hole”)
are good continuations.
I’ve listened to Anthem on Philadelphia’s WHYY, and I’m glad that WAMU picked up American Routes instead. On Anthem, there’s just too much talking. I really don’t care how hip Rick Karr is; I just wish he’d be quiet and let us hear the music. If this show is aimed at NPR news listeners, does this mean we have to have everything explained to us? Even so, I’d be happy if WETA picked it up, to replace, say, Songs for Aging Children.
For someone with an M.Phil. from the London School of Economics, Karr is also clearly mistaken when he says that four out of five NPR listeners don’t contribute because “a lot of people don’t hear themselves.” Most don’t contribute because of the free-rider principleif I don’t contribute, NPR will still stay on the air. If they didn’t hear “something that excites them,” they would not listen.
Arlington, Va.