Palmer Events Center
Radio Coverage Disappointing
RECEIVED Mon., July 18, 2011
Dear Editor,
Being a radio fan, I was pretty excited to see the Chronicle with a big ol' retro radio splashed on the cover. Lots of radio news in Austin lately, nice to see some coverage of it. Even the blurb "Radio Hams" seemed promising, sure sounds like some of the radio folks here.
But the story itself was fluff, lo-cal fluff at that [“Radio Snack,” Food, July 15]. The "meat" of the article mentions five shows, one of those a national show being rebroadcast locally, another by a Houston resident who drops in every six weeks to get clued in. Of the remaining three, one is not even on the radio: Growing Home is a podcast. This leaves two Austin-based food shows on the radio dial. And while I am a longtime fan of Cecilia Nasti's show, it's only five minutes long. Add that to the one hour of Food Love Austin on KOOP, and you have 65 minutes weekly of "Austin foodies serving it on the air.”
Is this what it takes to make the cover of the Chronicle now? A page-and-a-half story about 65 minutes of local programming? How about something on the encroachment of KDRP-LP's signal by KVET-FM? Or the loss of college stations across the country, including KTRU at Rice? A cover story on radio matters sure seemed promising, but this was a disappointment. Maybe if Phil Music and his dishwashing buddy Larry Monroe had done a food show on KUT, he would still have his job there and would have made the front page!
Being a radio fan, I was pretty excited to see the Chronicle with a big ol' retro radio splashed on the cover. Lots of radio news in Austin lately, nice to see some coverage of it. Even the blurb "Radio Hams" seemed promising, sure sounds like some of the radio folks here.
But the story itself was fluff, lo-cal fluff at that [“Radio Snack,” Food, July 15]. The "meat" of the article mentions five shows, one of those a national show being rebroadcast locally, another by a Houston resident who drops in every six weeks to get clued in. Of the remaining three, one is not even on the radio: Growing Home is a podcast. This leaves two Austin-based food shows on the radio dial. And while I am a longtime fan of Cecilia Nasti's show, it's only five minutes long. Add that to the one hour of Food Love Austin on KOOP, and you have 65 minutes weekly of "Austin foodies serving it on the air.”
Is this what it takes to make the cover of the Chronicle now? A page-and-a-half story about 65 minutes of local programming? How about something on the encroachment of KDRP-LP's signal by KVET-FM? Or the loss of college stations across the country, including KTRU at Rice? A cover story on radio matters sure seemed promising, but this was a disappointment. Maybe if Phil Music and his dishwashing buddy Larry Monroe had done a food show on KUT, he would still have his job there and would have made the front page!
Jim Vest