Final Word from Tuesday, January 15, 2008
Writing about Czech Radio in English is sort of like listening to Fidelio in Czech. Neither sounds too good, no matter how fine the technical performance. But as news freaks, we've followed the uproar over changes at ČRo1 closely. We don't agree with Miloš Čermák that all the fuss is misplaced because ČRo1 wasn't worth a red cent before Jan. 1 anyway. As we see it, ČRo1 compares favorably to public radio in other countries from a content standpoint. What it mainly got wrong this time is the packaging - the tone, the liners (esp. those irritating SMS-like beeps), the talk-overs. Barbora Tachecí partially admitted this by saying some of the innovations have already been softened. If she had spent more time on market studies and focus groups, she might have gotten it right from the start. If we're lucky, she'll eventually find a balance that all of Czech Radio's devoted listeners can live with.[Czech Radio Bruce Springsteen Beethoven Radiožurnál text message]
Glossary of difficult words
Radio Nowhere - a recent song by Bruce Springsteen in which he complains about the state of radio;
Fidelio - an opera by Beethoven written in German;
news freak - a person obsessed with following the news;
uproar, fuss - a public expression of protest;
not worth a red cent - not worth anything;
packaging - in this sense, how something is presented;
liner - a short piece of radio copy used to promote a product or program;
talk-over - reduction of the volume of the music so the DJ can be heard;
focus group - a group of consumers (listeners) in a market research effort, used to determine the likely effectiveness of a product or innovation.