Gary Lineker says he has “completely stopped listening” to radio in favour of podcasts because with podcasts “you can find specifically what you want” and radio is “always a bit hit and miss” (‘The levels of attack are extraordinary’: Gary Lineker on punditry, podcasts – and why he won’t stop speaking his mind, 20 January).
Remarks like this from a person of such influence are likely to hasten the demise of broadcast radio as we know it, leaving our spoken culture to an army of pontificating “celebrity” politicians, journalists, historians, comedians, lifestyle gurus, sports gods et al.
I don’t deny that you can learn stuff from podcasts, but is the state of knowing specifically what you want really the ideal paradigm driving our listening choices? The radio – especially BBC radio – can nourish the hearer’s spirit of wonder and discovery in a way that podcasts cannot touch, not to mention providing a salve (often a life-saving one) to the troubled soul.
Whether or not Lineker intended this as a dig at the BBC, such a careless comment from a highly paid BBC pundit will only add fuel to the continuing attacks on that beleaguered corporation.
Carmen Rodriguez
London
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