If WBHM’s recent shift away from classical music baroque your heart, then there’s not much we can do for you (except maybe suggest Pandora). In the meantime, Birmingham’s public radio station is taking a greater interest in local news, even bringing newspaper people on the air.
And, they let us sit on the good furniture.
Beginning this week, WBHM will feature Wednesday segments with Birmingham Weekly columnist Kyle Whitmire (I promise I won’t write about myself in the third person again) and Birmingham News columnist John Archibald (booo!!!).
Archibald gets the morning shift, with a segment called “Plugged.” It promises a more heady agenda, focusing on hoity-toity themes. This week’s segment, which you can hear here, focused on trust, whatever that is.
Meanwhile, I get the afternoon shift, talking about who’s backstabbing whom at City Hall and County Commission. The first segment focused on Jefferson County’s last minute attempts to avoid bankruptcy, the mayor’s wrecked plans for free bus fare and his pesky problem of being sued by the SEC.
Not that this is any sort of competition, but in our first week, I totally whipped Archibald at this radio game. However, he does have a better head shot than I do, which through the wonder’s of Photoshop, I’ve now made even better. My photo, which is at least five years old, dates from my first pathetic attempt to grow a full beard.
But neither of us topped the radio professional. Yesterday, WBHM’s Tanya Ott took Mayor Larry Langford to task for his recent unpleasantness with the SEC and on-going Justice Department investigation. According to Langford, the federal investigations into him are the evil machinations of his campaign opponent Patrick Cooper and, of course, the media. It’s all one great conspiracy.
I’m still waiting on my black helicopter.
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May 9th, 2008 at 12:13 pm
You link to Tanya Ott’s segment is broken. You mistyped the “http” at the beginning.
May 9th, 2008 at 2:02 pm
Thanks for the heads-up. It should be working now.
May 10th, 2008 at 2:37 pm
Congratulations! I’ll listen out for both of you. Tanya Ott certainly showed Langford for what he is. I’m glad to see WBHM focusing more on local news.
May 12th, 2008 at 10:50 am
You guys have a schedule for your pieces yet?
Hearing Langford back down from the use of the term ‘charged’ is golden.
May 12th, 2008 at 1:31 pm
The plan is to do the Weekly’s segments every Wednesday at 4:30. I’m not sure about Archibald’s ‘Plugged.’
May 19th, 2008 at 1:43 pm
I actually sat in my car in my driveway listening to your first segment. Very good.
ZM