Spring Break
Voice of public radio growing steadily quieter
by Rachel Klein
Staff writer
Arts | 5/19/09
Posted online at 2:28 PM EST on 5/18/09
Public radio has been an integral part of my life. As I write this article, I am listening to the radio in my kitchen. When I am in the car, the radio is playing. When I am reading, the radio is on in the background. Unlike most kids, who grew up with dreams of becoming astronauts or ballerinas, one my dreams was to be interviewed for This American Life, a radio program hosted by Chicago Public Radio. In all my years of listening to the radio, I have found that there is a program for everyone. Ask any listener, and he will immediately be able to name his favorite show and explain why it is the best. Public radio has not often gotten the respect that it deserves, and while the Saturday Night Live skits are hilarious, the time has come to get serious about the future of the public radio.
For the casual listener, producing a radio show may seem like an effortless process: Type up a script, read it on the air, and play a few songs. But hours of work can go into producing a 30-minute segment. In high school, I took an elective in which our class was responsible for creating a weekly radio program that our teacher then aired on a local public radio station. While our program was far from the standards of professional radio and probably had a grand total of five listeners, I was amazed at how much time and effort went into creating it. From brainstorming ideas, selecting songs, conducting interviews and deciding on the program's order, the process took hours. Even creating the opening theme took an entire class period. I left the class with a deeper appreciation of those who make a living in public radio.
Now with the advancement of broadcast technology, it may seem that public radio is slowly being phased out. Who needs to worry about what will be playing when one can just pay for satellite radio and have a station that is guaranteed to play Queen 24/7? Why donate money to a station when one can just buy a cord to play an iPod through the car speakers? In fact, why listen to news programs on the radio at all, when with just the click of a button all the news can appear on our cell phones? In an age when our friends text us while we are sitting in the same room, radio provides one more way through which we can reach out to others and hopefully connect.
For the casual listener, producing a radio show may seem like an effortless process: Type up a script, read it on the air, and play a few songs. But hours of work can go into producing a 30-minute segment. In high school, I took an elective in which our class was responsible for creating a weekly radio program that our teacher then aired on a local public radio station. While our program was far from the standards of professional radio and probably had a grand total of five listeners, I was amazed at how much time and effort went into creating it. From brainstorming ideas, selecting songs, conducting interviews and deciding on the program's order, the process took hours. Even creating the opening theme took an entire class period. I left the class with a deeper appreciation of those who make a living in public radio.
Now with the advancement of broadcast technology, it may seem that public radio is slowly being phased out. Who needs to worry about what will be playing when one can just pay for satellite radio and have a station that is guaranteed to play Queen 24/7? Why donate money to a station when one can just buy a cord to play an iPod through the car speakers? In fact, why listen to news programs on the radio at all, when with just the click of a button all the news can appear on our cell phones? In an age when our friends text us while we are sitting in the same room, radio provides one more way through which we can reach out to others and hopefully connect.
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