Letters


July 12, 2002


MIKE PESCA: And now for some of your letters. Librarian Virginia Wolter appreciated our prodding of Phil Dusenberry, the man behind the new Freedom Ad Campaign. "Especially," she writes, "given the current curtailment of our civil liberties including the government being able to snoop in patron records as well as watching people on the web. Frankly the actions of the government are frightening to me and my friends, including other librarians. Mr. Dusenberry appears not to have considered that the ads would seem a little insincere from a government who seems ready to throw away civil rights at the slightest threat."

BROOKE GLADSTONE:Bob Garfield's sojourn into the land of country music and what transpired there drew a wide range of comments. Some like George Kreisberg of Los Angeles wrote "Next time someone asks me to define 'self-indulgent' in its most virulent form I will direct them to the OTM broadcast of July 7th, 2002 in which the regular co-host of the program spends nearly 20 minutes on a piece about becoming a country singer. Funny I thought the broadcast was designed as a thoughtful hour about media and its flaws and foibles, not how I spend my off-time on an out of town speaking engagement."

MIKE PESCA:But most of the letters expressed what we could only call amazed delight. Like Joan Rothenberg of Arlington, Virginia who wrote "For those of us living inside the beltway involved in the workings of this now-Texan populated, country-loving town this piece was a true gem. Whenever I listen to this popular genre of music and think there's no way I can possibly relate to the horse-riding, fly-fishing, hard-drinking, truck-driving, heart-breaking culture I now have hope. Congratulations to Bob on the start of his new career."

BROOKE GLADSTONE: Please send your letters to onthemedia@wnyc.org and don't forget to tell us where you live and how to pronounce your name.

MIKE PESCA: Coming up, cable beats broadcast for the first time and what makes Bill O'Reilly really angry?

BROOKE GLADSTONE: This is On the Media from NPR.