I remember the good old days of Maine Public Broadcasting Network. But it no longer lives up to its old name, which it recently announced is its “new” name. The station has gone to hype; it’s gone corporate. Every few minutes there is another blurb for some rich sponsor or there’s a self-serving spot about how great “our” public radio and television truly is. Or is it?

Back in the early 1970s, when I was a reporter for the Sun Journal, a person could cruise the radio dial and the only thing worth listening to was MPBN or WBLM, which was at that time a free-spirited alternative rock station.

There wasn’t much else on the FM dial.

Today, MPBN sounds more and more like a commercial, for-profit radio station. In its relentless quest for corporate dollars, Maine’s “public” radio station has sold a piece of its soul.

It’s still a good station, with many good people on board, but they are compromised by MPBN policy.

Public radio in Maine needs to confront the fact it has prostituted its former purity. This is a call for MPBN to return to its roots.

Steve Cartwright, Waldoboro