The radio is something I turn to mostly when I'm at school. At home I have cable for news and Internet mailing lists for finding new music (thus a downfall of living in the Far North where the only genres that are recognized by the majority are Top 40, country music, and Christian rock). In Minneapolis (and in the dorms) I have cable that is difficult to access and keep to myself and radio stations and peers to deliver the news of what tunes I should be listening to.
I've listened to radio news before. I do like Minnesota Public Radio. It makes me feel more connected to the city around me. The more able I am to strike up a conversation about some current event, the more comfortable I feel about my ability to interact on the level of an intelligent citizen. Something about not knowing what's going on around me makes me twitchy – like worrying I will be approached by someone taking a poll for sociology in which the results always are, ''Seventy-five percent of Americans cannot locate their big toe.''
That might actually make my reason for listening to Minnesota Public Radio a fear and necessity rather than a pastime. Either way, radio news offers the advantage of extreme mobility over other mediums. Sure, you can take a newspaper with you to work – but can you read it when you drive or walk? Not so much.
I'm not sure satellite radio is the answer. There are just as many free music services on the Internet – if you're looking for an ad-free program to find new music, it is just a click of the mouse away, so to say. Resorting to paying for a program that would be so easy to get for free seems ridiculous almost – not ''advanced'' or ''in-the-know'' . . . just wasteful. Also, radio services like those offered on the dial all over the Cities seem much more personable. Every once in a while, it feels nice to know that there is someone behind the mic and working the controls.
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