Edited by Toby Miller Radio whispers in Canada's ear, the quiet voice of reason amid the national clamour of television and publications and the rest of the cultural shouters Like poetry, the medium is so portable and personal that it can hide in the country's inside pocket, speaking its piece in private earplugs at the pleasure of the occupant. Unlike poetry, it is not required reading on the scholars' lists. Commercial stations now function on mathematical equations that generate the hologram of personality, an illusory swirl. The great and secret strength of contemporary radio, however, is that it is so easy to turn off or turn away, a private squelch of that ghostly commercial apparition.
Radio is everywhere, talking to itself in the background.
It can be tuned out even when it is on. Radio does not have to be insistent, except during the commercials, since most commercial radio functions as the home-stereo of the ether, a wireless music distribution system. When it steps forward it is for sports, news, or the telephone hot-line shows which allow anonymous complainers to raise a noise in the night. Most audience participation, however, consists of punching the car radio push-buttons while commuting to work. Because listeners have such a choice, they take a great deal for granted, like newspaper readers who feel no obligation to look at each story or advertisement before flipping the page.