News Junkie

My name is Kimberly, and I am a news junkie.

Let me clarify - I don't watch evening news (and probably wouldn't, even if we owned a TV), nor do I subscribe to a newspaper. I occasionally skim through Google News, but I'm not as religious about it as my Kenya-dwelling brother. And much as I love NPR, I don't turn it on at home because I can't pay attention to it while I clean the house/nurture an infant/telecommute/study scriptures/etc. But once I get in the car . . .

Some people can't bear to travel without music (my husband is such a person--always wearing earphones on the train, etc.). I can't bear to drive without turning on KPCC to learn about local news, hear interviews of prominent authors, learn about various presidential candidates, and hear about such random things as musicals in India decrying the evils of soda pop. I love driving at 10am on Saturdays, simply because I get to hear a couple of mechanics on Car Talk make thigh-slapping jokes as they answer callers' questions about why their cars don't work.

That last fact alone should demonstrate how committed I am to that station (I am many things, but car-savvy is not one of them), but I didn't fully realize how hooked I was until KPCC held a fund drive recently. For those of you unfamiliar with public radio (which has virtually no commercials), a fund drive means the broadcasters spend roughly thirty minutes of every hour telling you why it's your moral obligation to contribute money to keep the station running. Whether you contribute or not, you spend a week or two getting half your usual news fix as the programs are repeatedly put on hold for another fund petition. Fortunately, this only happens once or twice a year.

At one point during KPCC's most recent drive, one of the broadcasters pointed out that the mere fact that I was listing to the station during a FUND DRIVE meant I was hooked on it and should lend it my support. The speaker called me and my kind "news junkies," and I couldn't very well take offense because by golly she was right. Four days into the drive I was sick to death of the interruptions, but did I switch to some classical, country, or smooth jazz station? Perish the thought--my brain craved info like a starving man craves an MLT.* And if I could only have half the usual serving, I'd just have to get by on that.


*MLT: Mutton, Lettuce, and Tomato sandwich, where the mutton is nice and lean, and the tomatoes ripe. That's so perky; I love that.