Junior English major
On a personal level, the radio has never really appealed to me. It was a point of contention in the car when I was younger — we never knew who was going to get to listen to the music he or she liked — and was known mostly as what my grandfather likes to listen to when the Redskins game is on because “the TV guys are just awful.”
Sure, radio is potentially a source for some good music, but back in the day I preferred CDs, and now I can just listen to what I have on iTunes, YouTube or any number of resources that can give me music sans commercials and awful celebrity commentary. I would much rather pick up a book or watch a TV show than be subjected to a corny disc jockey, droning newscaster or overexcited sports broadcaster.
And I know I’m not alone in this respect. Many people are forgoing traditional radio for newer, more enticing options.
When I turn on my radio in the car, I immediately switch to my iPod component, which I bought specifically so I could avoid the messier parts of radio I simply dislike. And because I have this option — music without advertisements or annoying voices assaulting me in between — it’s much preferred. I get to choose what I want to listen, instead of having the same five songs played on a loop.
And maybe it’s because I don’t care to learn what’s going on in the world — from celebrities’ lives to actual news — from another person. When I read the news, I get to choose the stories I read, generally based on looking at headlines and skimming the beginning. I don’t watch the TV news for specifically this reason: I don’t like to hear or watch things I don’t care about. So I’m not knocking specific stations others enjoy; it’s simply not my cup of tea. And contrary to the television, there just don’t seem to be many other options beside music (with aggravating interruptions) on the radio.
To add fuel to the fire, there are many other ways to hear the things on radio; people have started to turn away from the medium. It’s yet another facet of the good old days that’s losing to new technology. That doesn’t mean I think it should go away — I just think radio needs to find a way to reappeal to either its old demographic or an entirely new one. Now, I don’t have the answer to how to do that, but I’m not entirely set on keeping it around.
Personally, I go out of my way to avoid listening to the radio in its current form — and I know many others who do the same. It’s the reason so many different Apple products are flying off the shelves and why so many indie bands are getting attention (via the Internet). In an age of technological advancement, if radio wants to stick around, it needs to find a better way to do so.
Maria Romas is a junior English major. She can be reached at mromas3@gmail.com.
