I stopped listening to WYEP years ago back when I heard so much Tom Petty that I thought I was listening to a Clear Channel station. WYEP is a pale ghost of it's former self and the term "independent" is a misnomer. The playlist is pre-determined by the program director and the bland-out dj's have no input into what music is selected. In fact, the playlist of WYEP is practically the same as just about every other NPR station across the country. Whether you listen to WFUV of NYC or WXPN of Philadelphia, you will hear an identical playlist. And they all follow the same NPR FORMULA complete with the same safe, vanilla syndicated snoozer programs like 'This American Life' and 'The World Cafe' et. al. Even the nerdily vapid dj's all sound the same--after all, you don't want to risk alienating or offending any yuppie donors or corporate "sponsors" with someone with a 'personality.' "Risk," not predictable insipidity used to be what independent radio embraced. Thank the gods that the true spirit of independent radio still exists in stations like WFMU in Jersey City...
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