To the Editor:
Remember Orson Welles? When he was a young man, he was said to be so upset with the dry, uninspiring delivery of newscasters on the radio that he once remarked that listeners would increase if the subject matter created more fear and apprehension in the minds of the listeners.
The story goes that, as a lark, he did the “War of the Worlds” radio drama — got into a lot of trouble for it, but proved his point.
After watching the KSTP newscast on ethanol on March 2, I believe the newscasters seem to have torn a page from Orson Welles’ recipe on how to boost their audience numbers. Rather than doing a well-balanced report covering both sides of an issue and bringing information to listeners through the airways, I think they did the opposite. The segment on chainsaws going out of control was especially far-fetched, just like the aliens landing in Orson Welles’ script.
Did KSTP mention that we spend $50 billion a year keeping oil shipping lines safe for imported oil? That half a billion dollars leaves the United States every day buying foreign oil? That gasoline containing ethanol means 59 percent fewer greenhouse gases in the atmosphere?
Did they say that in 2008 the ethanol industry created and supported more than 494,000 jobs for Americans and reduced greenhouse gas emissions by 60 millions tons? Or even that the Washington Post has equated the rise of oil from $80 to $100 a barrel as having the same impact on the U.S. economy as a $150 billion tax hike?
No, I don’t think so. I miss Walter Cronkite more and more.
Al Hein
Mabel
