what the hell happened to The Connection -- WBUR????

[nashville_brook]

that was my favorite show! is this part of the republican takeover of public broadcasting??!!

i'm freaking out. this is terrible. i really HOPE it's because the host went on to something better -- but it just doesn't feel like that. anyone know?

[supernova]

1. They abruptly cancelled it two weeks ago

Dick Gordon was a guest on WUNC's The State of THings last Friday. WUNC also carried THe Connection here. Gordon doesn't know why, either.

edit: WUNC has replaced The Connection with Diane Rehm. X(

[nashville_brook]

3. so it IS the republican backlash.

dick gordon is like bill moyers to me. guess the comparison works for the fascists as well.

[meegbear]

2. Here's an article on Dick Gregory's firing and the Connection

http://www.bostonphoenix.com/boston/news_features/dont_quote_me/multi-page/documents/04872376.asp

[stellanoir]

4. It sucks.

They announced about two weeks ago that the show would go off the air on August 5th.

They then had a guest host for a week and then last week was all reruns.

Dick Gordon is a fantastic interviewer and a total Renaissance dude who was fantastic with the guests and the callers.

I learned so-o-o much from him and am totally bummed.

[nashville_brook]

6. it was the best show on NPR bar none. studio 360, is it still ok?

michael feldman has been talking about how they want to make his show TAPED! Whaddya Know is a LIVE show. that's the format. that's like saying you want to take the the CBS Eveniing news and make it into a puppet show.

[DrJackson]

5. WBUR claimed it was financial

Apparently The Connection's previous producer built up a pretty big budget deficit. I don't know whether ot not that is the real story. Tom Ashbrook's On Point is on in his place now, I believe -- not nearly as entertaining or informative.

[nashville_brook]

7. we NEED to start sending postcards or something to show support

i feel so bad for him! and so worried for my beloved radio.

[DrJackson]

10. I'm in

What would be more effective -- email or snail mail?

[nashville_brook]

12. email would propagate faster -- but paper never gets lost. maybe both

i'm going to write my nashville station and WBUR as well as the NPR organization.

we have to be really careful not to threaten to stop donating -- that's what the fascists want. we give like a 100 bucks a year and i think it's the best money i spend.

i think it would be nice to get messages to gordon himself. he's obviously been hurt -- he's worried about his citizenship -- sheesh -- this sucks! who's next? Ira Glass? Terry Gross?

[nashville_brook]

8. who wants to bet TALK of the NATION isn't cut!

god, i can't stand that guy --- whatshisname....

[Gabi Hayes]

9. neal conan, sp?....me EITHER!

he is such a sneering simp

you should have heard the BS rim job he gave Michael Chertoff when they were debating his nomination....talking about how he, in the past, has represented the "little guy."

said little guy being that doctor in NJ/NY who was accused of have terrorist ties, and whose prosecution could have opened up some very curious links to the BFEE

what a surprise

I HATE that ffffffer

[nashville_brook]

11. you should have hear him yesterday sucking up to none other than

newt gingrich!

i think there is something about baseball that attracts servely reactionary people -- he's a total baseball geek. took a year off to call games. and i'm not indictiing all baseball folk -- i think there is a poetry to the game that these folks don't get in all their stats and records. but it's the george will thing, you know?

[nashville_brook]

13. done some googling -- here's something interesting from Gordon:

sound like he's not taking this sitting down.

http://www.kpbx.org/programs/connection.htm

...I want to say something about what makes public radio public. It's the people who listen -- not the people behind the microphones. Our listeners demanded a mix of international news and poetry and politics, and science and in-depth interviews. We did that very well. The latest numbers I have show that more than 600,000 listeners across the country tuned in. No one at WBUR ever suggested we change or alter our format.

I'm still bewildered as to why the program was canceled. At a time when WBUR is clearly anxious about maintaining financial support from the public, they have taken down what they called their flagship program. ''The Connection" was carried on more stations across the country than any other news show produced at WBUR. They've talked about ''flat ratings," but ''The Connection" has consistently had one of the top measures of listener loyalty at WBUR and some of the best such ratings among all NPR talk shows. Just over a year ago the station was boasting that ratings for ''The Connection" were up 22 percent.

They have said they are replacing ''The Connection" with the ''award winning" program ''On Point." They choose not to point out that over the past four years, ''The Connection" has won even more awards.

snip

These are difficult days for public radio and TV. Organizations like NPR are under assault on the battlefield of left and right, liberal and conservative. But good radio journalism lives between those extremes. When that's lost, all you have is the staccato barking of the far left and the hard right. ''The Connection" was an on-air meeting place linking South Carolina and Michigan, Burlington, Boston, and Nashville. I think this country needs more, not less, of that."

snip

read the whole thing! this is a bad, bad move. i am deeply saddened.

14. the connection

I listened to him sporadically, but am surprised they would pull him. If he was a political liability and they are keeping that under covers, that is pretty bad. If you can't get frank talk out of new york or boston, where the heck can you get it? I like on point, but dick gordon was probably more knowledgeable and far ranging, earthier. geesh.

[nashville_brook]

15. earthier... i like that.

he had a real calming effect. nice morning listening.

16. the connection

plus the music he played during breaks was so great.