Tuesday, January 29, 2008

Torn between WMUB and WVXU

I’ve been reading recent comments posted on the blog and aired on Friday Feedback. I agree that vitriolic and mean commentaries are not helpful. I hope that all listeners know that the staff of WMUB are working hard, doing their best and working with limited resources. That said, there are some kernels of truth in some of the angry comments of late. I, too, have largely switched to WVXU, for two reasons. The first is that they don’t interrupt NPR stories during Morning Edition and All Things Considered with local stories which are too often not as interesting. I appreciate WMUB’s commitment to local stories, but frankly, they are often just not as strong as the national stories. WVXU manages to do local stories without interrupting the national. Perhaps WMUB could move to that format. That alone would bring me back to WMUB full time. The second reason is Day to Day. I actually enjoy Tell Me More very much and I applaud WMUB’s commitment to a show produced by African Americans. I’m often torn between the two shows and am sad that I have to choose.

The main things that keep me with WMUB are the local commentaries. Alan Winkler, Rodney Coates and company do an excellent job. This leads to me to a final recommendation. I agree with last week’s angry poster that WMUB should do more about Oxford and Miami. Even people in Dayton, Richmond and elsewhere would recognize that Miami is a gem in our greater community and would no doubt enjoy stories about what’s going on there. And the traffic report from Oxford on Monday morning was very helpful as I was driving to work! It was unusual to hear a traffic report coming from “Kehr and Booth roads” rather than the typical I-275, but it was just what I needed to change my route that morning.

As to supporting the station, I make annual donations to both WMUB and WVXU. They both serve our communities, and in different ways. I urge listeners to consider how their lives would change without NPR. It is certainly worth at least the equivalent of a weekly grocery bill.

--name withheld, Oxford

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