WAMU, our Public Radio Station in DC

     

    Looking at the website for the public radio station, WAMU 88.5, I found that the main interest is the community.  News, Support, Programs, Community, and Events are just some of the sections on the website.  More importantly, the latest news stories are being covered.  For instance, the fate of the 11 year old boy from Maryland, William McQuain was covered.  Also, information on murdered 11 year old, Jessica Nguyen who was murdered last May is covered; but new evidence has implicated her step-father.  Major news stories such as these are the tip of the iceberg for public radio stations such as WAMU 88.5.  We care about what is going on in our neighborhoods, and we want the news as it happens.  Public radio provides that for us.   

         Public radio provides public service to the community.  News stories and programs are a part of the initiative of public radio stations for community outreach and providing news coverage that matters to the area.  Washington, D.C.’s only full-time National Public Radio news station is WAMU, which is licensed to American University.  WAMU 88.5 has its studio near the campus.  There is a sub-channel, WAMU­-2, that broadcasts Bluegrass Country.  It is interesting that WAMU would choose to have a sub-channel of country music given that the area is urban.  But, since country music is the most popular radio format, this makes sense.  WAMU-3 includes content from WTMD, the radio station licensed to Towson University in Maryland.  WAMU airs information from the National Public Radio, American Public Media, Public Radio International, and the British Broadcasting Corporation.

        The main studio for WAMU is in Northwest Washington, DC.  The average WAMU salary is $56,161.  The IT Director’s average salary is $97,452.  Some of the positions are managers of special giving, broadcast engineers, phone room managers, membership marketing managers, and communication managers.  Interestingly enough, public radio uses other sources as their news.  For example, the NPR, APM, and PRI are used to provide news.  It makes perfect sense that other news sources are used because it gives a greater range to the selection of our news.  Instead of just receiving news from our area, we are exposed to International news. 

         Some people can get immersed into news radio.  WAMU definitely provides a menu of different news.  For instance, today’s air schedule includes World News, the German International Broadcasting Service, a daily interview, business news, eyewitness accounts of people who experienced history, and current affairs.  WAMU is well-rounded.  Listening to the news program, I became even more aware of how up to the minute they were.  Major news about Libya's Muammar Gaddafi being killed was covered as it happened, and calls were taken from listeners who may want to express their knowledge or opinions.  Genuinely, WAMU wants to be the go-to radio news source.  I even recall hearing the news host, Diane Rehm mention that she wanted comments to “expand” the audience’s news experience.  “It may change in the next moment, but we’re right here to tell you what is going on,” Ms. Rehm stated.  One can appreciate a news program that believes in interactivity with their audience and is continuously working to provide news.

Ebooks Vs. Books

          I have to admit it—I dislike the idea of the popular ebook, and the effects its popularity may have on those who still enjoy actual books.  I can still remember the excitement of visiting the library as a child or the memory of my mother reading me books.  The colorful book covers, the smell—even the texture of a book had me hooked. 

          So, why is it that the ebook experience is so different?  I read an article where it explores the difference one gets from the digital screen and the actual page. http://scienceblogs.com/cortex/2009/10/reading_e-books_and_the_brain.php  Jonah Lehrer writes, “new reading formats (such as computer screens on ebooks) might initially require a bit more dorsal processing.”  Lehrer discusses that there are two processes that one has when they read letters.  One of the processes allows someone to read quickly, while the second occurs when we read something unfamiliar.  With this second pathway process reading was slower, and more difficult to understand.  It is believed that one uses their first pathway process naturally when reading things that are familiar to them.  You may ask, what is the point?  Well, for the many people that are unfamiliar with the ebook, reading on the digital screen would take more time than reading the traditional book.  In another article, ebooks and printed books are compared.  http://www.cnn.com/2010/TECH/gaming.gadgets/07/05/kindle.ipad.reading.mashable/index.html The Nielsen Group conducted a study where it was found that “ebooks take longer to read than print.”  This corroborates Lehrer’s findings that because the ebook is new to us, it requires more dorsal processing. 

         At any rate, let’s get back to the idea of an actual book—its color, its smell, and its texture.  What draws us to the traditional book may be nostalgia.   Since I learned to read from an actual paper page, I am more comfortable with it.  I can still remember what it felt like to touch the glossy page, and smell the paper.  To this day, I am still conscious of the smell of a book.  After all, “smell is the strongest and most vivid [of] long-term memories.”  http://www.agewiseliving.com/remember-more.htm On the other hand, sight is the strongest of short term memory.  So, it makes sense (no pun intended) that many avid book readers are still infatuated with the experience of an actual book.  Our senses make a virtual memory book in our brains.  For some, the pleasant memories of reading an actual book are difficult to erase.

         So, what is this “feeling” of reading an actual book?  It is our memory that attaches us to it. We still associate the book with the pleasantries and innocence of our childhood.  Thus, the book is a symbol of simpler times; or an escape from the complexities of the real world.  Depending on how the newer generations of parents teach their children how to read, determines if the actual book can be preserved.  Exposing children to an actual book first will make reading the book possible with less dorsal processing.  However, if children are exposed to the ebook first, the newer generations will start to process letters on the digital screen faster than the letters on a paper page.  Hopefully, we can find a happy medium (pun intended).