Goodbye Bryant Park Project

Several entries ago I paid homage to my favorite NPR show, The Bryant Park Project. Allow me to give you a brief description from the shows website:

The Bryant Park Project is a distinct and lively take on the news. It combines the authority and intelligence of NPR with the tone and sensibility the next generation of Public Radio listeners demand.
At its core, the BPP is a two-hour morning drive-time news show. The approach is conversational, with host Alison Stewart covering the day's news by means of interviews and signature segments. The show seeks out stories that satisfy the audience's curiosity, with a sense of smarts, humanity and fun.

Being well-informed once meant that you read The New York Times and The New Yorker and listened to All Things Considered. That is changing. Savvy audiences now follow news sources that range from The Times to Us Weekly to Boing Boing. And now, The Bryant Park Project aims to be a major part of that daily news diet. Listeners each morning can consume the show live on the radio or streaming on NPR.org. Later in the day, they can listen to archived Web audio or one of three program podcasts.

The BPP presents news, ideas and perspectives that connect with this audience through audio, video, text and photos. Online, The BPP is fostering audience interaction and user engagement, with blogs, email, and call-outs to listeners, encouraging the audience to participate in the storytelling process.

I am too sad this week because on Monday it was announced that the show would be cancelled. There are very few places where I can listen to news about the depressing state of the world and not want to hit something. This show and Robin Mead Morning Express on Headline News are those two places. The acerbic wit and educational anecdotes on the BPP were right up my alley.

The BPP was targeted at my demographic...Generation X..babies born from 1965-1982. We who were called slackers and made the filth of grunge fashionable need an different kind of presentation for our news. While I enjoy the written word of The Week magazine there is nothing like a sarcastic voice in the morning to give you a chuckle and a wee bit of reassurance that everything would indeed be ok. My only glimmer of hope is the memory that when Air America Radio was stripped from me I was able to find a suitable substitute. I pray that will happen for me again.

Goodbye BPP. I will miss you.