Well, it's beg drive time at NPR. It drives me crazy listening to the same phone number over and over. I like NPR, but claiming to be commercial free is gibberish. Every few minutes I hear the same commercials over and over again, read by one person, granted, but still, over and over.
And then, multiple (not sure how many, at least twice) times a year NPR turns into a begfest. They make silly claims, too, such as stating that readers don't have to wait for news, it's always there. That's nonsense. NPR's premier show All Things Considered has news, true, but only about half news. The rest is silly feature fluff. I have to listen to 10 minutes at a time of bands I could give a rat's ass about, featurish news stories about the dramas behind news (this person was so harmed by X, listen to him whine about it), or silly stories about beard contests.
Granted, at the top of every hour there is an actual newscast (except at least at 9 a.m. when the Writer's Almanac replaces the news), but the rest of the day is catch as catch can. Fresh Air? Bah, half of the time, the topics are about entertainers. That's not news. Only news about this world and where it's going is news. I don't care about blues, or beard contests, give me the flippin' news.
Tell me how the Baha'is in Baghdad are doing now that it's no longer illegal to be a Baha'i in the City of God (Baghdad means "City of God"), tell me how things are going in Equador, or Chile, or the Arctic Circle. Don't bother me with nonsensical blues stories or beard contests.
Until NPR becomes a real news source, I'm afraid I can't support NPR, especially while they have the nerve to claim that they're a non-commercial station.
At least when I listen to music stations, I don't have to endure a week of begging every few months.
Posted by kovu at October 17, 2003 7:47 PM