News Junkie!

News Junkie!

I consider myself a dyed-in-the-wool news junkie and an MPR (Minnesota Public Radio) addict! I've got my radio turned on most of the day, and often late into the night when I can't get to sleep. While many folks are glued to their TV sets, I can live without TV, but I've got to have my radio! In fact, I own several radios -- five at last count. Three are part of my boom boxes. About forty-five years ago, I volunteered for the Minneapolis community radio station KFAI-FM by assisting one of the programmers air a folk music show called Live from the Extemp. A couple of times, I even had the chance to spin records of some of my own favorite music.

I've been listening to some form of radio broadcasts ever since I lived in a college dorm in the late 1960s. When I was an undergraduate, I tuned into to two a.m. stations in Cincinnati, Ohio -- WSAI and WUBE -- in order to listen to top-forties rock-n-roll music. My interest in the news was sparked by watching the Cuban missile crisis in October 1962 when Kennedy and Krushchev came close to unleashing Armageddon. A year later I witnessed the the JFK assassination in Dallas and his subsequent funeral. I'll never forget that image of Jacquie Kennedy looking somber and dignified in her black dress. From the time I was in high school, I always looked forward to reading Newsweek every week since my dad was a subscriber.

My interest in the news was enhanced in the spring of 1970 when I got a job working as a copy boy for The Cincinnati Enquirer, the city's main daily. My job consisted of collecting copy from the various reporters and editors and sending it downstairs to the typesetters via pneumatic tubes. This was way before computers took over. The pay was very low and the hours impossible -- from five in the afternoon until two in the morning when the early editions of the paper came out. I'll never forget that day in the spring of 1970 when I saw the news of the four students killed by National Guardsmen at Kent State on the UPI and AP wire services.

Around this time I also worked at a Cincinnati printing plant called Rosenthal where I took newspapers and magazines from a conveyor belt to stack them onto skids. It was back-breaking work with low wages. I recall the huge paper rollers which fed the enormous

presses. The work was very labor-intensive. One frequently occurring activity which I particularly disliked was called a blanket party. This occurred every time the presses were shut down so they could be cleaned before they started rolling again. I think that one of the magazines Rosenthal printed was Reader's Digest.

While living in Marburg, Germany, I listened to the news on American Forces radio. And by the time, I arrived in Minnesota in 1974, my radio listening shifted to two Twin Cities Talk stations: KSTP and WCCO. I remember hearing some wonderful talk show hosts like Tom Snyder and Dick Pomeranz, as well as Sally Jesse Raphael and Larry King. Listening to them interview guests, respond to late night listeners, and expound on current affairs, helped me get to sleep at night. I'll never forget a phrase often repeated by Larry King when he got impatient with a call-in listener who was droning on too long: "What's the question? What's the question?"

I discovered MPR back in the early eighties when a friend told me about Garrison Keillor and his Prairie Home Companion Show. I became an instant fan, not only of Keillor, but also of Tom Keith, a.k.a., Jim Ed Poole, the dynamic duo who hosted MPR's Morning Show from 6 to 9 a.m. every morning. I loved the wide variety of music they aired on both of these programs which ranged from Beach Boys to Gustav Mahler. I also loved Keillor's tales from Lake Wobegon. I felt abandoned when MPR yanked Keillor's show off the air.

Now, I listen to mainly KNOW-FM, MPR's all-news station. I especially enjoy interview shows such as Terry Gross's Fresh Air broadcasts which come on each weekday at 8 p.m. I love the way Terry interviews her guests. She is very insightful as well as a great listener. I've learned many fascinating details about the lives of authors, actors, comedians, musicians, politicians, scientists, athletes, and many other kinds of people. I've noticed that Terry has a special affinity for jazz music. Of course, as a news junkie, I also listen to MPR's All Things Considered as well as Canada's As As It Happens.

Some of my friends have advised me to limit my news listening because the current news in this country has become increasingly disturbing during the reign of The Orange One. But I just can't help myself. My addiction to news is just too compelling. One of my favorite TV news programs is CBS's 60 Minutes which I look forward to tuning in every Sunday evening at 6 p.m. I've followed it almost from its inception in the late 1960s. I grew up watching Mike Wallace, Ed Bradley, Morley Safer, and Andy Rooney deliver ground-breaking news stories as well as pithy, often funny commentaries on the current state of the nation.

Another favorite program of mine is TPT's (Twin Cities Public Television) Almanac program which airs every Friday evening from 7 to 8 p.m. I love listening to Almanac's two hosts Cathy Wurzer and Eric Eskola. They're both great interviewers who have a good rapport with each other and a talent for eliciting important information from their guests. One of my favorite guests on that show has got to be Kate DiCamillo, the prolific children's author of best-selling books like Win Dixie. I also like the meteorologist Paul Douglas who has a unique kind of quirky charm. I like listening to Almanac's editorial commentators who often have poignant stories to share. The show usually concludes with a news quizz and a closing musical performance. Yes, I admit to being kind of nerdy in being such a fan, but I just can't help myself. I even enjoy listening to all the talking heads discuss politics.

Yes, I am definitely a news junkie! And even when the news is bad, I keep on listening anyway just because doing so has become such an ingrained habit. Sometimes I wonder if there's a 12-step program for news junkies like me. It would probably be called News Junkies Anonymous!"