Dear WABE,

As I start typing, there are just over two hours left in your current pledge drive.  (Can I hear an Amen?)

Of course, that I’m annoyed by your twice a year begging means that I’m listening to you enough to become annoyed with the sonorous voice of your COO whose name I can’t remember, Ira Glass and Alec (Alex?) Baldwin (I thought he was moving out of the country a decade ago). 

I should tell you I like some of your changes recently.  More local reporting, most of which is pretty good.  More news and feature shows on the weekend, displacing boring classical music.

You are nowhere near as moribund as your public TV siblings here in Atlanta.  You have nothing as bad as the bad oldies music shows produced by T.J. Lubinsky and don’t have a policy of continually replaying programs, which are continually interrupted by begging.

I know you have to do the begging stuff; but, that doesn’t mean I have to like it.  I give, not the most, but probably more than most, so I get to complain.

You do have Lois Reitzes – I’m always worried she’s going to pass out midway in a sentence during one of her long pauses.  If you are going to play classical music, why not have a host that engages your audience?

Better yet, why do you have classical music?  If what I suspect a dwindling number of your listeners want it, it’s available in many places on line. When I travel I am reminded that there is a wonderful world of great news and feature programs available on public radio across the country, only a small fraction of which you carry.  There are a lot of cities that have a public radio station that airs only news and features.  Isn’t Atlanta big enough to have one of those?

Make you a deal – go all news and features and it will triple my listening and my donation.

And one last thing, please quit telling me you don’t have any advertising when every few minutes you tell me that a particular show is underwritten by a list of corporations and law firms.  Kismet – I just listened to one of those lists.

Regards,

Dave