Karen Holser Rocks the Midday Mic

I tuned into the Dan Rodricks show on June 10, 2009 and was surprised to hear Karen Holser host, and in fact host a good show: The first hour was on Sheila Dixon, her legal troubles, and governing Baltimore; the second was on the so-called “doctor shortage” in Maryland. I especially liked the callers and how they brought perspective to these topics. Rodricks rarely seems to take callers, or evince interesting opinions from them, which is my scant experience on the three or four shows that I have listened to with him.

I caught Holser again for her second hour on Thursday, June 11, from 1-2PM. She had a lively discussion of farmers’ markets and the importance of farming, fresh produce, and related public policies. She had multiple guests on, and interesting callers. One caller pointed out that suburban development, more parking lots, rain that cannot reach the soil because of pavement development, and the pollution related to our modern, car-dependent cities and suburbs all relates to the loss of local farming and healthy environments. I guess buying from farmers’ markets is one way to keep life grounded, local, and more healthy. However the caller’s implied point was that unchecked development will make such efforts moot over time.

Holser is very engaging, but more important, is very engaged. She did not run away from callers who introduced new nuances and themes to the way she framed the topics; rather she hosted multiple guests while handling multiple callers and produced a show with breath and unexpected insights. And she has an energetic, upbeat voice. That’s good radio.

WYPR should feature Holser more, especially with a call-in format, because there is not just enough Baltimore and Maryland news on the air (or in the air) these days. This especially is true with the collapse of The Baltimore Sun–a collapse that is not just about the loss of advertising revenue (typical media framing), but how billionaire speculator Sam Zell of Chicago purchased the Tribute Company with enormous debt financing, really trashed the spirit of journalism there, and recently drove the entire chain into bankruptcy, and The Sun with it.

The 2009 newspaper crisis has its roots in corporate conglomeration, debt financing, and product debasement; and in this way it resembles the 2008-2009 banking crisis–sans the taxpayer bailouts–at least so far.

In the same way, the collapse of the free Baltimore Examiner was not the collapse of a hometown paper trying to make it (typical media framing). Rather, it was the collapse of a link in the chain of a new right-wing publishing project, which is funded by Denver-based billionaire Philip Anschutz. Anyone who ever read the editorial page could have spotted it. Check out the editorial page and story choices of The Washington Examiner, which Anschutz also has bankrolled. Read a Media Matters article on Anschutz here, or a Business Week article on him here. This blog does not shed a tear for the loss of such “news.”

In the context of this news hole, the Baltimore City Council and Maryland Legislature could use some weekly radio coverage. Holser did seem to bring some of that typical media framing to her show-topic openings on June 10, but she also displayed flexibility in letting guests and callers widen the purview, and parsing that with wit. She might be a great radio personality to pick up this slack.