Chicago Public Radio Double-Speak

The Chicago Tribune ran an article over the weekend called, “Fans dial up anger over format change“. In the article, Torey Malatia, president and general manager of Chicago Public Radio discusses their plans to *drop music programming* from the station’s line up. Needless to say, many listeners are outraged.

Chicagoist had a post about the news “WBEZ: Now With Less Music, More Talk” and also ran a follow-up interview with Daniel Ash; Vice-President, Strategic Communications; Chicago Public Radio. My initial reaction is on Metroblogging Chicago, “WBEZ: What are you smokin’??!?!.

Having read the follow-up interview with Ash, I’m still flabbergasted at the way CPR has handled this “idea”. My specific gripes (which I’m sure are echoed by many CPR listener members) are:
1. Why did CPR wait until *after* the Spring Fund Drive to make the announcement? Obviously Malatia talked to the Tribune, even if it wasn’t officially announced, he could have easily said they were only talking about new ideas of how to integrate music and discussion.

That’s not what he said, he said: “I don’t want to mislead people that there will be sets” of music on any of the stations. Instead, he says, the emphasis will be on conversation, with some musical excerpts interspersed, as in the case of “Sound Opinions,” which will remain on WBEZ.

In his interview, Ash says, “We have no intention of creating a station where people talk about music. That’s exactly the opposite of the direction we want to go.” Well, which is it?

2. Listeners of WBEZ should be used to the tag line “listener supported radio”. In fact, we don’t “donate” to Chicago Public Radio, we become _members_. So when I read statements from Ash like, “We’ve developed a list of folks we want to consult. We want to talk to leaders and we want to talk to practitioners, people who are active in their community.” I’m personally insulted. Where are the _members_? When did the expect to consult with us? Why did they choose to go public without consulting members first? I’ve talked to a lot of people and the best reaction I’ve heard so far, from _one_ person out of dozens is, “well, I’ll hold back judgment until they actually do something.” Everyone else has been outraged. That doesn’t indicate to me they consulted with the people who fund CPR: the listeners.

3. It really saddens me that the proposed change means we’ll be losing mainstay music programming like “Passport”, “All Songs Considered” and my personal favorite, “Afropop Worldwide”. As many people have said, and I don’t know the source of the original quote, “Talking about music is like dancing about architecture.”
I understand that CPR is trying to find new ways to appeal to a broader cross-section of the community. I also understand they are trying to find new ways to stay relevant in an increasingly media savvy society. But what really upsets me is the way the whole idea has been handled by Chicago Public Radio management. The quotes in the article and in the interview show absolutely no respect for musicians and artists who are currently contributing to the station’s line-up. Management’s statements also show no respect for the people who are currently listening and supporting Chicago Public Radio. They went public with a nascent idea which (depending on the final form) may or may not have merit, but as it was presented just sounds like a plain bad idea and now are acting shocked that listeners are outraged.

Here’s what *I* would like to see happen: I’d like to hear Torey Malatia go on Eight-Forty-Eight and (1) apologize to the listeners for the botched way this “announcement” was handled by station management; (2) explain to the listeners *exactly* what he has in mind for this new vision, maybe with a little sample; (3) take listener calls and get some feedback from the people who tune in everyday and whose dollars support Chicago Public Radio.

Update: The programming change has been officially announced on the Chicago Public Radio website. I’m only linking to the announcement for references; until Torey Malatia provides the membership with some concrete plans and allows for actual input, I will not be linking to their site or supporting Chicago Public Radio in any way.
Update: Boycottcpr.com and Save the Music Petition.