Look Who's Talking

It appears Minnesota Public Radio's Bob Collins has been attempting to broaden his listening horizons beyond The Splendid Table and the Savvy Traveler.

On the recommendation of Gary Miller at Kennedy v. the Machine, I started listening to [Hugh Hewitt's] radio program and, I'm sorry, I just couldn't continue. It's not my cup of team (sic). Lest you think , "aha, he admits he's against conservatives," well, no, I don't listen to Al Franken and those folks either for pretty much the same reason.

Comparing the Hewitt program to Al Franken? Aha - he admits he has no idea what he's talking about.

Although I am surprised to see him burying the hatchet in the backs of Al Franken and "those folks" - which I have to assume would include former MPR queen Katherine Lanpher who co-hosted his program until jumping ship from the good ship Franken-tanic a few months ago. Is he admitting MPR's Midmorning under her watch wasn't his cup of tea(m) either?

Back to his review of Hewitt:

I just don't think it's very good radio. Plus I usually only listen in my car and since I started going deaf, I've had to stop listening to the radio so that I don't miss stuff I need to hear -- police cars, ambulances, and the sound of a crankshaft breaking in two, for example.

I don't know what's worse, getting compared to Al Franken or being judged by someone who works for MPR that your show isn't very good radio.

Personally, I like Hewitt. I listen to all talk radio, all the time (including Air America and MPR) and Hewitt has one of the best shows on the air right now. Beyond his ebullient personality and presentation and his excellent analytical abilities of the news, he regularly brings on some of the most provocative intellectuals and articulate communicators of this generation: Victor Davis Hanson, Christopher Hitchens, Mark Steyn, James Lileks, and others. Not to mention giving copious amounts of air time to the best and brightest among liberals, like Erwin Chemerinsky, Peter Beinart, Matthew Yglesias, and others.

But according to MPR's Bob Collins, not good radio. Back to the wit and wisdom of Sound Money with Erica Whitlinger for him.

The silver lining for Bob is that he's able to delicately sample something like Hugh Hewitt, quickly spit it out in revulsion, and it's over. He can turn it off and never have to deal with it again. And if enough people agree with his opinion, that will be it for Hewitt. He'd be cancelled, off the air, and no longer irritating the eardrums of the likes of Bob Collins.

Ah, if only that were the case with all broadcast entities on the dial! Because, whether we the people consider MPR to be good radio or not, there is no getting away from them. We are joined to them at the pocketbook. No matter what we think of MPR programming, we are legally required to have a portion of our incomes redirected to support them each and every blessed year. And even if the overwhelming majority of the people agreed it wasn't good radio, they will, (and do) go on and on and on. The government may not be good for producing quality radio, but it is very good for producing job security. I suspect those two conditions are not unrelated.

Hugh Hewitt regularly devotes hours of his program to discussion of the media with his critics and other liberal practitioners of the trade. If I may forward a programming suggestion, I think an hour with Bob Collins discussing what makes good radio would be fascinating. And, for the taxpayers, horrifying.