Floating World

I was on the way back from Burlington when the war news began to break. I had gone as Connie Meng's sidekick to the opening of O'Carolan's Farewell to Music at FlynnSpace. We sat in her car riding the Grand Isle Ferry through ice floes and dark water, listening to the calm voices say the terrible things. How many times in my life I've driven through the night, listening to war news on the radio. This war, that war, the next war... the headlights only illuminate the few yards ahead.

This is the Difference

I've worked at NCPR for a little more than two years now, but I've been a member for 28 years. Over those years I have witnessed the slow and unpleasant demise of non-public radio into a homegenous goo of advertainment, while NCPR has become more diverse and lively. I have watched commercial radio news vanish, TV news degenerate into dueling sound bites, and newspapers merge, vanish or bulk up with ads and fluff. During the same time, NPR's "All Things Considered" has expanded to two hours, "Morning Edition" was born and grew to maturity, and "Weekend Edition" gave everyone another good excuse to stay in bed for one more cup of coffee. NCPR's commitment to regional news coverage grew similarly over the years, culminating in its award-winning 8 am Regional News Hour and the launching of its Adirondack News Bureau. Only one thing makes this possible. When listeners become members, public broadcasting comes alive.