WBCN: I still miss it, Part III
Howie, still recovering from war wounds suffered during his secret missions to Afghanistan (that’s how we’re going to rewrite history, folks – and that’s final), reminisces about ‘BCN. One line sticks out:

Back in ’BCN’s glory days, everybody read the same news, watched the same TV shows and listened to the same radio. The culture had yet to fragment.

I think that touches upon why people of certain age groups are sad today about the fate of ‘BCN or the death of Walter Cronkite. Setting aside the obvious nostalgia factors, the media was more of a collective experience back then. Most of the collective experiences, media-wise, sucked. It was rare to stumble upon something genuinely good. I think it was Adam R who once asked why people have such fond memories of the old Channel 5 in Boston. I’ve tried to answer that question a couple times. But now it’s more clear: Because it didn’t suck. It set out to be a competent and sophisticated local news show – and it largely succeeded, while others, such as Channel 7, had trouble keeping the background props from collapsing during broadcasts. Walter Cronkite set out to be a trusted authority on news – and it largely worked. ‘BCN set out to be a zany alternative to corporate-run stations – and it largely worked. It’s as simple as that. …

BTW: No nostalgia here for the old broadcast media days in general. Again, the experiences largely sucked, forcing audiences to mostly grin and bear the monopolistic slop. But every now and then …  ¶ 6:26 AM