When I made a presentation to the CRTC last year, I tried to draw a distinction between CBC Radio and CBC Television, because I felt that lobby groups such as the Friends of the CBC and others had failed to separate out the quite different nature and purpose of these two organizations, and lumping them together was like comparing apples and oranges.

I’d like to pass along a copy of my CRTC comments to you, but in this presentation, I’d will, of course, try to confine my comments to CBC Radio. I recently retired from the University of Windsor Library, and as I spend nearly all my time at home, doing my own thing, my two radios in the house and one in the car, are tuned permanently to 1550 on the dial. Why? Because, in my view, CBC Radio is true public radio, and provides me with most of what I need to know about what is going on locally, nationally and internationally, in a comprehensive and objective manner, with a fair amount of entertainment and education thrown in for good measure. It’s as simple as that.

I don’t think that sufficient recognition has been given to

the importance of radio, and in particular public radio, as a primary media outlet, particularly for news. I feel VERY strongly that newspapers are rapidly becoming obsolete. 90% of every issue is filled with useless and insignificant trivia, which finds its way into recycling boxes unread. However, of greater significance is the fact that every newspaper has its own political agenda, which is often at odds with the community that it supposedly serves. This is particularly true in Windsor, where we have a newspaper that is so right-wing and extreme in its trumpeting of the world according to Black, that I am surprised that anybody bothers to read it.

Television is great for entertainment and for education, like the wonderful new People’s history series, and the new 6.00 p.m. news show is somewhat of an improvement over the Toronto news that we used to get in this time slot. However, television is not a good medium for presenting in depth news and analyses of the day, because it is controlled and obsessed by time constraints. We had a good example of this in last night’s Town Hall meeting, when we had the feeling that no one could finish a sentence, because Peter kept on telling the panelists and questioners to be brief, and to cut it short. The same thing applies to our local Percy’s panel. Sheila Rogers, on the other hand, has a leisurely hour in which to explore important issues of the day with her panelists.

This morning Janice Stein expressed concern that Internet radio was going to replace broadcast radio. Now the Internet may be the wave of the future when it comes to the communications industry, and will certainly replace newspapers, because we will be able to customize our news, and filter out all the garbage that is of no value or interest to us.

However, there is one thing that radio has that newspapers, television and the Internet don’t have. It is portable. You can carry it around with you. That is why I think radio, and particularly public radio, is here to stay.

Of course, there is always commercial radio, which seems, for some strange reason to have the largest market share. I personally object to being screamed at, to being inundated with endless advertisements. to being subjected to inane cackling and hysterical laughter first thing in the morning, to having the air waves polluted by verbal diarrhoea. These are the hallmarks of commercial so-called "talk radio."

The message that I want to pass on to you is: Long live public radio, and keep up the good work! However, I do have one practical, constructive suggestion, which emerges from my remarks.

I really would like to see an augmented and beefed-up local news programme, along the lines of The World at Six, broadcast from 5.30 to 6.00 p.m. I know that both Morning Watch and Crosstown do address news issues of the day. But it seems to me that a more formal and in-depth news broadcast could replace the all-too-brief newscasts at the bottom of the hour, the bias and the sensationalism of the Windsor Star and the superficiality of television news, as a source of local news for Windsorities. And best of all, you could listen to it on the way home from work, while making supper, raking up the Fall leaves in the garden, or out jogging and roller-blading.

And finally, you know what I like most about CBC Radio in Windsor? It’s the open houses that are held from time to time. These are wonderful opportunities for us, the listeners, to see how broadcasting works, and to meet and get to know our friends on the radio, like Paul and Barbara, the news people like Herb and Gino, and the behind-the-scenes people like Janice and others.

We also appreciated and enjoyed the out-of-town visits of Fresh Air and Ontario Today that occurred recently, to mark the 50th anniversary of the station. My gosh, we even had Rex Murphy drop by. How did Windsor get so lucky? I hope we don’t have to wait another fifty years for a return visit!

e-mail: creitz@uwindsor.ca

Web page: http://web2.uwindsor.ca/leddy/creitz/INDEX.htm