The following appeared in a memorandum from the manager of WWAC radio station WWAC must change from its current rock music format because the number of listeners has been declining even though the population in our listening area has been growing The popu

The argument above is well-presented and appears to be relatively sound at first glance: since a declined number of listeners and sales of recorded music may indicate people’s lack of interest in rock-music format, the manager of WWAC radio station can possibly conclude that the station should change its current format to a news-and-talk format. However, as more light is shed on issues and more detailed facts are concerned, the lack of answers through the argument leads me to question its validity.

First of all, the author needs to answer the question whether the decrease in listeners is due to the rock-music format. The author hastily assumes that that the rock-music format is the main reason that caused the decline of listeners in the WWAC radio station. However, it is plausible that people may not decided to listen to WWAC not because of their dislike of the current format but because of increased competitions among radio stations. In other words, people may incline to listen to other radio stations since they have better hosts than the WWAC. In such case, the author’s claim of the change in format can be weakened.

Another question that the author should answer is that the decreased sales of recorded music in local stores can represent the local residents’ lack of interest in music. The author should take into account that the sales of recorded music diminished not because people are not interested in music but because they can now obtain music through other format. After the rapid development of technology, people can download music through Internet, and consequently, this trend may yield the decline in sales of recorded music. Thus, the author’s assertion that changing to another types of music is not cogent.

Lastly, more answers are needed on the conclusion that the WWAC radio station should alter its rock-music format to a news-and-talk format. Without detailed statistics on the residents’ preference, the author rashly concludes that the news-and-talk format will be popular. However, in all likelihood, the local residents do not prefer news-and-talk format since this format is already prevalent in other radio stations. In such a case, rather than focusing on this type of format, the WWAC should put more efforts to find out the actual interest of the local people and should implement the format that interest the them the most. Therefore, the author’s conclusion of the adaptation of a new-and-talk format in WWAC is not sound.

In conclusion, the argument is not cogent in many perspectives. To bolster the argument, the author should corroborate the credibility of local residents interest in music, the relation of rock-music format and decline in listeners and the soundness of the conclusion.