Yesterday’s blog post on reading the Washington Post might have left the impression that the newspaper is my only source of news. Far from it. When I first get up in the morning, usually between five and six, I turn on National Public Radio (NPR). I have it on all day. I only turn it off on Saturday night when it broadcasts music (“Hot Jazz Saturday Night”) and Sunday night when the “Big Broadcast” takes over—rebroadcasts of old popular programs from many years ago like “Gunsmoke,” “The Jack Benny Show,” “The Lone Ranger,” “Suspense,” “Fibber McGee and Molly,” and “Dragnet.” As a result, I already know the major news before I open my daily Washington Post which arrives around seven in the morning. Thanks to NPR and the Post, I stay well informed without really trying.
I usually listen to WAMU (88.5), the Washington D.C. NPR station. But during fund-raising weeks several times a year, I tune instead to WYPR (88.1), the Baltimore NPR station. But I do pay my share, a monthly payment to WAMU all year long.
I suspect that we Americans fail to realize how fortunate we are in many respects. One of them is the ease of staying up to date thanks to public radio and uncensored newspapers. Thank God for freedom of the press. These days, the only excuse for not being well informed is the desire not to be.
Tom Glenn, Writer 