modern phenomena; we die in it. But we don’t always have to put up with it, do we? There are things we can – no, must – resist. This week: the inescapable radio news.
When I work from home – and I always do – I like to have the radio on. It’s nice to hear a person every now and then when you’re alone so much, and preferably a person who still talks to you a bit, live from the studio. While working I usually listen to Kink, but sometimes also Radio 5 or Radio 2.
If there’s too much talking or too jolly in the studio, I can switch the radio to another station. When stupid music is played: ditto. There is one part of the broadcast that cannot be avoided: the radio news.
Every hour, the music and talk are interrupted by a newscast. On all channels at the same time, so there’s no point zapping away. ‘O! You were listening to music carefree???’, the newscast bites me. ‘Dirty selfish!!! People are being killed in Ukraine, sea levels are rising, education is breaking down, and in >enter a hamlet in Wallonia here< something horrible happened to a toddler/puppy/very important tree of a thousand years, hear me out! Oh yes, and EVERYTHING becomes priceless. And a potentially devastating covid variant has been found in China. It’s not sure yet, but just to be sure, start worrying. Let’s finish with the weather forecast: it’s going to be shit weather. For days on end, and then suddenly the weather will be very nice, but that’s not right with the time of year and we have to thank ourselves for that. Have a nice day and see you in an hour.’
I understand that radio programs are paused for a report of a wrong-way driver and other acute news announcements such as a dictator who has been arrested, a major train failure or a hostage situation in a crowded place in the Netherlands. But why do the world’s great miserable news stories have to be rubbed under my carefree nose every hour? It does not reduce suffering, on the contrary.
When I watch Netflix or hang out on the Internet, it’s not interrupted every hour by horrific images, and I can still zap around the TV news if desired. But for the radio listener there is no escaping it.
And for the Calvinists who believe that everyone should be aware of the misery in the world: yes, fine. But I like to take it at a time that suits me – and not every hour, but preferably just one or two times a day. Call it selfishness, I prefer to call it an attempt to function and be a pleasant person with a cheerful disposition.
The channel-wide, hourly radio news will be a relic of a time when we still depended on the radio for our news updates throughout the day.
But we also no longer have telephone booths, no ANWB posts, no telegrams, no faxes, no Yellow Pages, no dial-up modems and no telegraph machines.
If all that could disappear, then it should also work with the radio news.