🚀 go-pugleaf

There was a fascinating and hilarious piece on "This American Life" Friday 
evening (7 p.m., WBEZ FM 91.5) which illustrated why public radio in 
Wisconsin is so clumsy and colorless compared to public radio in the rest 
of the country.

In its relentless quest to stretch the thinnest possible service across 
the widest possible area, Wisconsin Public Radio decided to produce a low 
cost local knock off instead of picking up NPR's "Car Talk" when the 
program was first offered -- a dumb move, because "Car Talk" has since 
become the single most supported hour in public radio history.  When, 
after a decade of doing without it, WPR finally added "Car Talk" to its 
schedule, faithful listeners to Matt Joseph's "About Cars" snorefest
raised a fuss resulting in months of visits from state auditors last
summer, and eventually a public hearing by the Joint Audit Committee of
the Wisconsin Legislature.

The hearing was co-chaired by State Senator Robert Wirch of Kenosha, who 
droned to "This American Life" host Ira Glass, "Well, when I listened to 
Matt Joseph, I had the feeling I was listening to an expert.  He's 
acknowledged by car collectors around the state as an expert.  And the 
other one, I think, is kind of show biz, with looking for a laugh, and I 
can understand where the casual fan may like the laughter and camaraderie 
of the two guys that do the show, but on public radio we're used to 
listening to people with a little more expertise."

"Car Talk" co-host Ray Magliozzi responded to Wirch's remarks:  "Boy, if 
that is not the classic definition of a stiff, I don't know what is."  Tom 
Magliozzi observed, "Yeah, he sounds like a barrel of laughs," and Ray 
asked, "Wouldn't you love to have coffee with *him*?"  Both brothers, by
the way, are garage mechanics and MIT grads.

But, although WPR now does carry "Car Talk" at long last, I wouldn't
expect them to add many of the other excellent programs that public radio 
listeners elsewhere have been enjoying for years -- programs like "Fresh 
Air" with Terry Gross, perhaps the finest interviewer on the air; like "Le 
Show," the wickedly funny satirical workshop of humorist Harry Shearer; 
like "Marketplace," the nightly business digest that acquainted public 
radio listeners with Robert Reich long before he was Secretary of Labor; 
or like "This American Life," Ira Glass's Peabody Award-winning weekly 
examination of the human condition, the program on which I heard this 
story.

Joy Cardin, program director for WPR's "Ideas Network," said that the "Car 
Talk" fiasco has had a "chilling effect," and that she will have to think 
long and hard about any future programming changes because, "you don't 
want ... the legislature examining your every move."

Well, I certainly don't want them programming my public radio station, 
either, but what other result can there be when one bureaucratic network, 
which depends on the state government for its lifeblood, is compelled to 
pipe the least-provocative programming possible to the fourteen stations 
it controls throughout the state?  Happily, I live close enough to Chicago 
to hear all of the above programs on WBEZ, a station which determines its 
own fate, and which is enthusiastically supported by its listeners.

I'm not expecting to hear about any of this on Wisconsin Public Radio, nor 
to read about it in my local newspaper.  Never mind that the state senator 
from my district decided to get so involved as to hold public hearings on 
the matter, or that he was called "the classic definition of a stiff" by 
national celebrities, or that taxpayer-funded public radio in Wisconsin is 
doomed to stay deathly dull for eternity -- when I phoned the _Kenosha 
News_ about this yesterday, the day editor determined that the Magliozzis 
(whose car column is carried by the _News_) were merely "exercising their 
First Amendment rights," and that there was nothing newsworthy about any 
of this.

Thank goodness for "This American Life," which originates on WBEZ FM 91.1 
Fridays at 7 p.m., and is rerun eight days later -- meaning that you can 
hear this same "Fiascos" installment on Saturday, May 3, at 7 p.m.  "This 
American Life" airs on WUWM 89.7 FM in Milwaukee Saturday nights at 10 p.m.
I'm not sure whether this particular episode has aired there yet.  Past
TAL programs are archived in RealAudio form on the Web at station KCRW:  
http://www.kcrw.org/c/tamlife/

Or, as Ira Glass pointed out, "If you would like a copy of this radio 
program, whether you are or are not a state senator in Wisconsin, it'll 
only cost you $10 -- call us at WBEZ Chicago for that: 312-832-3380."
TAL's email address:  radio@well.com


Mark Czerniec <czerniec@execpc.com>
http://members.aol.com/markenosha/

___________________________________________

Other related URLs:

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel story:
http://www.onwisconsin.com/archive/aug/auditorsquestionradi960827.html
http://www.onwisconsin.com/archive/aug/radioshowsendgetsair960827.html

Car Talk:  http://www.cartalk.com/
Wisconsin Public Radio:  http://www.wpr.org/
WBEZ FM 91.5 Chicago:  http://a2z.com/wbez/
WUWM 89.7 FM Milwaukee:  http://www.uwm.edu/Dept/WUWM/

Senator Robert W. Wirch:
http://www.legis.state.wi.us/senate/sen22/sen22.html
The _Kenosha News_ Online:  http://www.kno.com/