Those three dreaded words are back in style at WAMU this week, meaning that, instead of crisp, insightful programming, my commute is filled with a parade of local on-air and behind the scenes personalities begging for donations of "whatever you can afford - maybe $1,000, maybe $5 a month." I am actually fairly tolerant of these bi-annual (tri, if you count the spring's Morning Edition-only version) annoyances - I recognize the great importance of listener donations to the success and quality of public radio. However, there is one thing I cannot bear.
Pat Brogan really needs to calm down about Marketplace. Perhaps it's just because my commute often straddles the 5:45 - 6:00 zone, when his excitement is reaching its peak, but I feel as though he raves about little else. The title Marketplace is frequently linked with the words "my favorite program" or "one of those shows where they just take something that could be so confusing, so tough to grasp, and make it just so digestible and so clear for everyone."
Although I mostly agree with this assessment of Marketplace's value and understand how difficult it must be to speak constantly about giving money (call 800-248-8850 or visit wamu.org) without sounding like a broken record, surely Pat Brogan can grasp that the same people listening to 88.5 FM at 5:40 in the DC area are probably still listening at 5:43, 5:47, and 5:55. By the fourth or fifth glowing mention on the fourth or fifth consecutive night of the campaign, I think everyone gets it: he loves Marketplace.
I will most likely donate before the week is out. But it will not be because of Brogan's clumsy, repetitive prattling. And, if he could somehow promise to vary his pledge-drive commentary even a little bit, I would be tempted to give quite a bit more.
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