>John Parker writes:
>It is not just classical music that is disappearing from radio in the U.S.,
>whether commercial or public..  Jazz, alternative pop (for want of a better
>term) and creative programming of any kind is disappearing.  On the public
>stations, the trend seems to be toward all-day public affairs programs of
>one kind or another.  In Phoenix, Arizona, the public radio station, KJZZ,
>now serves up jazz only in the evenings after 16 hours of programming shows
>such as Morning Edition (6 hours of it!), the ever-tedious Diane Rehm Show
>and the equally tedious Talk of the Nation, Fresh Air, All Things
>Considered, Market Place and BBC News.  Jazz gets the 7 p.m.  to 3 a.m.
>time slot.

The public radio treatment of classical music and, as John Parker points
out, jazz, is scandalous.  These are the folks who were the recipients
of some phoney baloney arts award given in the last weeks of the Clinton
administration.  I don't mind some news in the mix, but 6 hours of Morning
Addition sounds like cruel and unusual punishment.

The consultants' argument that the chit chat shows maximize contributions
is absurd.  As was pointed out in a recent NYTimes article on this topic,
this implies that Public Radio exists to bring listeners The Car Guys,
perhaps the most popular NPR show.  With all respect to these sometimes
amusing fellows, that is nonsense.  I am beginning to feel that the entire
NPR and Public Television empires should be dismantled and a new start be
made.

Bernard Chasan