WMUB Listener Feedback

I am a listener of WMUB since 1997 when I recieved your signal at Earlham College in Indiana. I am now a graduate student at Miami University. I have listened to NPR since secondary school in Ithaca, NY and am very familiar with the unique and dynamic programming that it provides. Tavis Talks is a dynamic and important direction for NPR to go into. The program draws a diverse audience base, has incredibly insightfull and current guests, and provides a unique cultural, thoughtfull perspective that is not scene anywhere else. Tavis Talks was one of the major reasons I decided to contribute to NPR this year for the first time. I highly encourage that you retain Tavis Talks as it goes through this transition of hosts. As well if the program ceases to produce I urge you to search for new programming that appeals to his audience. You provide a invaluable service and I wish the station continued success and expanded viewership.

--name withheld by request

I don't care for Tavis Smiley, however I do enjoy the show when Tony Cox hosts. I hope NPR makes him the permanent host.

--Lisa Boggs

In spite of the fact that I have my radio set to be tuned to your station each morning, I'm afraid that today your guest on the [12/13 Interconnect] prompted a turnoff before 9:30 rolled around.  The gobbledygook spewing from his mouth made little sense and his brash demeanor was unacceptable.  Oh well, win a few, lose a few!   ----   Your "talk" programming is very imformative, for the most part, and this aberration today will be overlooked if it doesn't happen again.  OK?

--Betty

Your repeated "promotions" for Day Sponsorships have gone too far. At first, I chuckled, not because they were "cute," but since they were such a poor attempt to emulate a classic movie. Then to hear them at least 4 times a day, day after day, has made me angrier and angrier. The situation has been exacerbated by the fact that, supposedly, WMUB has only 2 weeks of fundraising each year. And, this past fall, it surpassed its goal! Is this just another example of Miami's constant thirst for additional funds?

To subject its listeners to this constant barrage of low-leveled, money-grubbing solicitations (and that is what they are) is an insult to the intelligent audience WMUB seeks to attract. With this type of approach, WMUB will lose supporters, not gain them.

--J.M.

Twice today (12/6/05) I heard a story on your local news broadcast regarding a new national park system commemorating the development of atomic weapons. In it, your news reader says that the city of Dayton feels "gypped" not to be included in the plans. Please be aware that this is a derogatory term, offensive to those of Gypsy descent and all of us who have become aware of the derivation of the word. It's similar to saying someone was "jewed down", which is a phrase I'm sure you would never use.

Please change the language of this story immediately. I'm sure your use of the word was unintentional.

--C.K.

WMUB's response: You are correct that WMUB's use of the phrase was unintentional.  It was included in an Associated Press version of the story that we aired Monday morning.

We have sent your comment along to the Associated Press and their editors and we have informed our news reporters and producers that we will exclude the word "gypped" from our vocabulary in future reporting.

While we were at it, we discovered that NPR Ombudsman Jeffrey Dvorkin made mention of this issue in a recent online column.   You can read it at the following link.

Thanks for helping us to understand the nature of this usage.  We're glad to have it pointed out and to make changes in our journalistic vocabulary.

#1: I listen to your station every morning on the way to work and every evening on the way home. I have been an avid supporter of NPR for years, although, admittedly, I prefer community radio when available. Still, for the most part, I respect and depend upon NPR's largely fair attempts at news reporting. I was disappointed this morning when I heard one of your newscasters refer to the reasonings behind pushes for a recount in Ohio as "conspiracy theory." That is not unbiased reporting. Whether your newscasters agree with the pushes for a recount or not, they should report the efforts and motivations without editorializing and namecalling. People have legitimate concerns about the vote in Ohio and nationwide, just as they did in 2002 and 2000. Those concerns deserve to be treated legitimately.

--Christina Dendy

#2: I was appalled by the oblivious bias displayed in a report I heard this morning on your radio station. It was very clear in his  tone and wording of his report that he is very pro republican. He was taking about the effort in Ohio to call for a recount. He kept calling the people in the effort "anti-bush activists" he also called the candidates calling for the recount "the losers" in the contests. I thought for a minute I was listening to Rush Limbaugh. I thought I could depend on public radio to be fair and not biased in the reporting.  Mr. Cohen's obvious hatred for the people trying exercise their rights to uphold democracy and a fair election is disgraceful. If he is unable to keep his opinions out of his reporting he should be fired. I think that WMUB should be ashamed that they would let a report like that air on their station.

--T.C.

WMUB's response: The writers are referring to a story by Bill Cohen of the Ohio Statehouse News Bureau, which supplies reports to WMUB and other public stations around the state. Rather than trying to speak for the News Bureau, we have forwarded the reaction to them.