It comes as no shock that the left-leaning wags at a local dot-com eyesore, whose purpose it is, apparently, to 'Save Richmond', should object to the content of the Richmond Times Dispatch editorial pages. For those who lament the passing of earlier, hallowed days when youth could be counted upon to respect their elders, such disingenuous affronts have become commonplace—nay, the norm.

Champions of common sense, deft practitioners of the King's English, these editors, masters all of the rhetorical thrust-and-parry, the insightful barb, the pointed bon mot—see their best efforts to inform, mayhap to enlighten, mocked in the virtual pages of a callow compyooter jockey's web-site. Sigh. 'Twas ever thus.

"[In my research], I found that the same cities with the worst unaddressed infrastructure problems were spending money on other public projects. There was money for some things but not others. What got funded depended on what worked politically. Big, central-city projects with powerful backers—specifically stadiums, arenas, and convention centers—were happening despite limited fiscal resources, and infrastructure repair was not.

The immediate proponents [of stadiums, convention centers, etc.] often are hotel owners and Convention and Visitors Bureaus. But it's usually the big boys, the major players in local business, who are really behind it. These are people who have a tremendous amount of money invested in the entire downtown area, and when the city's economy is doing poorly they're desperately concerned that they could lose a good part of what they've put into downtown. They may grab at anything that looks as though it might preserve that investment, without thinking it through carefully—especially if it'll be built with someone else's money. In those circumstances, it can be very difficult to stop the project, because of the incredible amount of money and resources—and passion—behind it."
—Heywood Sanders, Professor of Urban Studies in the Department of Political Science at Trinity University in San Antonio, Texas, Buffalo University Press interview

"The point is, this sense of having fun, being yourself, expressing yourself fully, is valued. But as long as people continue to try to prop up the downtowns, throwing money, burning money, by building stadiums and convention centers, it's not going to happen. Cities have become cities of ideas and cities of consumption. They are no longer cities of production, and people in Detroit and Pittsburgh keep thinking, "We're going to have a headquarters, we're going to have the stadium, mom and dad are going to come from the suburbs and take little Johnny to the game, we're going to have retail." That's just not what drives a city now. What drives a city we know increasingly are good places to live, great neighborhoods, great cafes, night life, places to have fun. Austin saw this from day one.

"A lot of cities believe that they'll make it in the new economy if they get a professional sports team and build a downtown mall. They couldn't be more wrong. It's almost like taking drugs away from an addict: No more stadiums. No more convention centers. What cities need to do is really simple: Make it fun. Create a music scene. Build bike lanes. Make sure that there are parks where people can play Ultimate Frisbee. Think about the city's historic assets—the old buildings—as cool spaces for hot companies."
—Dr. Richard Florida, Fast Company

HI Theresa,

I would be interested in becoming a corporate sponsor on WCVE if only for the fact that 90% of your programming bores me to tears. One would be hard pressed to find ANY NPR affiliate that plays more jazz and classical during it's programming day than WCVE. There is nothing wrong with jazz and classical music -- at all -- but by dedicating the gross amount of airtime to these formats you really do not reflect the diversity of musical tastes and culture that Richmond and Central Virginia is proud of.

I'm sorry to vent to you, but I cannot for the life of me find another email address on the WCVE website, and wanted to make sure that the following letter, sent by a friend with a donation, was read by someone important there. Keep in mind -- your station is great, but being a "public" radio station, it should reflect a more "public" stance -- do you not agree?

Please see the following to understand how many, many people in the region feel the exact same way.

Thank you for your time.

Erik
--
Erik Grotz
Extensive Consulting Group, Inc.
http://www.extensivegroup.com

I am submitting my pledge of support for your station because it is arguably the only worthwhile station in Richmond. That, however, is not saying much.

In a perfect world, I imagine your programming is meant to reflect the public and population which supports it. However, of the 24 hours in a day, 11 of your weekday programming hours are dedicated to classical programming. Another 11 for news programming, and 2 for jazz. Weekends are slightly better with the recent addition of This American Life (although you've buried it in your schedule for Sunday morning). The weekends also contain TWO airings of A Prairie Home Companion and TWO airings of Car Talk. While I appreciate the popularity of these two shows, I would also argue shows such as TAL, jazz, and The Sound of Swing could also benefit from the same preferential treatment.

The classical programming on your station feels much more like a ethical and ideological obligation than a celebration of art.

The rare times I am able to listen to jazz, blues, and swing (I will avoid even mentioning other genres since I am convinced that would fruitless) in this town on the radio are cherished moments for me, and I imagine they would be welcomed too by the ever growing population of 20, 30, and 40-somethings. This demographic is also proving quite adept at finding the programming they're craving locally on the internet. I personally listen to a handful of different stations on-line during the work day (during your classical programming), and all of them ARE PUBLIC STATIONS from other cities... all of whom I am a financial contributor to.

Richmond has a long and storied history of establishments censoring THEMSELVES because they assume their patrons (read: people with the money) fit into a stereotypical ideal of old conservative Richmonders -- the image of which reads: old, white, conservative, christian, wealthy. This may well be true of the primary supporters of your station at this time (I have looked at the names on your Board of Directors), but I would venture to say that if your neglected audience was made to feel as though their interests and voices were just as important as those with more money, you might find this audience just as capable of meeting your financial goals if not surpassing them.

I feel there is a time and place for classical music, and I am aware that the time and place for it in Richmond will always be "most of the time" on WCVE. I am also aware that the tone of this letter might be slightly antagonistic, so I will remind you that your station is superior to any in town.

I would love to see WCVE develop local programming in line with Virginia Currents. I would love to see WCVE support music of all types and people of all types. I have seen WCVE moving in a positive direction recently, and I can only hope that continues, and I sincerely hope it accelerates.

The below message from you was forwarded to me today. It appears that your correspondence is in response to Ray McAllister's column in today's Times-Dispatch. It is obvious that you, like Mr. McAllister, are not fully aware of the requirements directing units of government and educational intuitions to report crimes which occur in their jurisdictions or on their property. While I recognize that you are "shocked" and "appalled", you should know that the appropriate procedures were followed by both the Richmond Police Department and the VCU Police Department following the tragic death of the Virginia State University student last week. In the future I hope you will take time to familiarize yourself with the appropriate procedures, policies and laws which govern crime reporting before accusing me of "gross abrogation" of my duties and questioning my leadership. Also, you should know that the Richmond Police Department homicide detectives are handling this investigation at the request of the VCU Police Department. Lastly, I have attached a copy of a letter sent to Mr. McAllister today informing him of the requirements and duty to report crime by law enforcement agencies. I hope this will be informative to you as well.

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