I think @fybush or someone else said recently that public/noncommercial stations have their own lobbying group/organization.
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Court reaffirms CPB's independence
- Thread starter K.M. Richards
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They do. One for radio and the other for TV. But the stations aren't as limited in what they can do as CPB.
Back in May a group of station GMs traveled to Cap Hill to meet with their state reps.
Two major proponents of the rescissions bill are Speaker Mike Johnson and Senator John Kennedy. Both are from the state of Louisiana. Their work will cost their home state millions in federal aid, compromising the ability of Louisiana Public Radio to serve the citizens:
Louisiana Public Broadcasting Authority is owned and operated by the state of Louisiana.
The people don't know because they get their news from someone else.
Why are these elected officials working so hard to hurt their constituents? Why isn't the governor of Louisiana speaking with Johnson & Kennedy about this?
https://www.cenlanow.com/news/state...-risk-due-to-potential-federal-funding-
loss/
Louisiana Public Broadcasting Authority is owned and operated by the state of Louisiana.
The people don't know because they get their news from someone else.
Why are these elected officials working so hard to hurt their constituents? Why isn't the governor of Louisiana speaking with Johnson & Kennedy about this?
Why do constituents vote for people that work so hard to hurt them?
To fight culture wars against perceived coastal elites, such as NPR.
(I don't agree with that portrayal, but it's what their voters keep choosing to believe and engage in.)
To fight culture wars against perceived coastal elites, such as NPR.
(I don't agree with that portrayal, but it's what their voters keep choosing to believe and engage in.)
K.M. Richards
Program Director, The Eighties Channel™
Because they are stoopid and therefore easily taken in by a con man.
I think that's what makes NPR such an easy target. In a way, that's really what Uri Berliner was writing about in his article. He was saying that NPR needs more voices from the heartland. They used to have Baxter Black and Tom Bodett. That's where they need to go. So the president uses NPR as a tool to get congress to defund money for their own state radio stations. That's the bait & switch. A couple years from now, they'll realize they were taken, but it'll be too late.
K.M. Richards
Program Director, The Eighties Channel™
Congressperson from "heartland" state, circa 2028, calling the public radio station in their state to issue a statement or hoping for an interview:
"Thank you for calling KXXX radio. To reach programming, press 1. Engineering, press 2. To make a donation, press 3. For the news department, press 4."
(Congresscritter presses "4".)
"Thank you for calling the KXXX news department. Due to budget constraints from the loss of federal funding, we are only staffed on weekdays from 5:00am to 9:00am. Please call back during those hours or leave a message at the beep."
Definition of "too late".
"Thank you for calling KXXX radio. To reach programming, press 1. Engineering, press 2. To make a donation, press 3. For the news department, press 4."
(Congresscritter presses "4".)
"Thank you for calling the KXXX news department. Due to budget constraints from the loss of federal funding, we are only staffed on weekdays from 5:00am to 9:00am. Please call back during those hours or leave a message at the beep."
Definition of "too late".
Exactly. Sometimes state governments need to lobby Congress.
Obviously, the existing lobbyists for Public Radio in particular, as well as Radio in general, aren't really getting their job done well in DC. The AM bill has bipartisan support because a lot of AM shows are led by partisan loudmouths -- they know how to get their message out With public radio, the lobbying doesn't seem to be as effective.
If these politicians don't understand the importance of public radio in their own states, that means that no one -- like a Mister Rogers -- spelled out that importance for them.
Public radio needs a Mister Rogers. There is a famous YT vid of him setting a conservative senator or congressman straight on the importance of public/educational TV (it was NET at the time) to the country. They were going to cut funding. Largely because of Mister Rogers, they didn't.
Agreed.
Yes, thank you Tedd.
There is somewhat of a checken and egg syndrome here. For listener supported radio, it's all about getting the most listeners you can because a percentage will pay to listen. If the listener donations are not there, that says something about the format and it's reach. Yes a few stations manage to survive solely off listener donations. KTOO comes to mind. (KTOO began as a 10 watt FM)
I'm not against funding from the state or national level. The statement above is simply fact.
Certainly in Paul's case and for so much of Alaska including towns of the size you'd think might have substantial dollars, Alaska lacks the infrastructure and economic base virtually all US towns have outside the big city. That means it is very likely a station could never survive without outside financial help. Years ago I talked with the folks at KTNA in Talkeetna. That is somewhat of a shopping hub for a fairly substantial area. They reach several thousand. Even so, with all those tourist dollars and being on a paved highway, KTNA can barely reach 25-33% of operating costs from listener donations and underwriting. Their budget is very bare bones. And KTNA is the station everyone listens to because the dial is pretty much vacant. They do a message board for those off the grid. You might hear "Attention Brad Smith, your Aunt Ellen is trying to reach you. It is urgent. Please call as soon as you can. John Williams is going to be in the neighborhood before noon and would like to visit Greg Adams. He expects to be at your home between 11 and 12 noon." I was blown away by such messages but they really are essential as the only communication channel for those far out of town.
I'm not against funding from the state or national level. The statement above is simply fact.
Certainly in Paul's case and for so much of Alaska including towns of the size you'd think might have substantial dollars, Alaska lacks the infrastructure and economic base virtually all US towns have outside the big city. That means it is very likely a station could never survive without outside financial help. Years ago I talked with the folks at KTNA in Talkeetna. That is somewhat of a shopping hub for a fairly substantial area. They reach several thousand. Even so, with all those tourist dollars and being on a paved highway, KTNA can barely reach 25-33% of operating costs from listener donations and underwriting. Their budget is very bare bones. And KTNA is the station everyone listens to because the dial is pretty much vacant. They do a message board for those off the grid. You might hear "Attention Brad Smith, your Aunt Ellen is trying to reach you. It is urgent. Please call as soon as you can. John Williams is going to be in the neighborhood before noon and would like to visit Greg Adams. He expects to be at your home between 11 and 12 noon." I was blown away by such messages but they really are essential as the only communication channel for those far out of town.
No, what it says is people are cheap and look for any way they can to get the programming they want for free. These stations know how many people listen. They all subscribe to Nielsen, and they see the numbers every month. They know there's an audience for what they do. They problem is monetizing that audience. It's the same problem ALL of broadcasting has. There's an audience for soft rock and 60s oldies, but no way to monetize it, so the formats go away.
This debate isn't about format. It's about infrastructure. It's about having the radio stations there in the first place. The president is conflating NPR News with overall funding for public broadcasting. He's doing it to get people to do what he wants because they don't like the programming. But defunding CPB won't defund NPR. It will instead cut federal dollars to their home states and local radio stations. They won't say that because it won't get the votes they want.
So no, it's not about the format and the reach. It's about protecting the infrastructure. That's what this vote is about.
That sounds like what David has related about very rural stations in South America.
Yes, that was very prevalent in the period from the 50's through the 70's. After that, even small towns got FMs and cellular service became very widespread by the 90's. The incidence of cell phone ownership in most of the South American nations is higher than the US, in fact, and the data rates are faster.
Satellite or Not, MPR may have to scale back their translator network if things get bad enough, that's what's concerning...shuttering of the only relatively accurate & balanced (no news source is TRULY Unbiased nor 100% accurate, let's be real here) information for a good chunk of the American Populace...if rural stations (or their parents stations, like KNOW 91.1 and KSJN 99.5 - our services are split here, former News, latter Classical, and KCMP 89.3 is...I don't know how to describe their format, but I like it & listen) can't pay the bills - they will go off air, or larger Urban Operators like KNOW will take them Off Air, they wouldn't want to, but would have to. Similarly, with new laws, at least some, maybe more - Rural Hospitals will also probably close, as I said - and as I know ppl in both Healthcare and Broadcasting...the State doesn't begin and end at the Twin Cities Metro Area, Rochester, St. Cloud, Duluth, Fergus Falls and Marshall.....there are vast swathes of Greater Minnesota that stand to lose much...I live in Anoka, I know ppl & care about ppl from outside the Metro Area in the Rural Areas of Greater Minnesota, to inside the Downtown Core - it feels like Rural America is taking the brunt of these cuts, while the Urban-Suburban Cores can handle it better, they can't Out West and Up North. The "Satellites" DO Opt-Out for Local News, Weather, and Emergencies, some of them - & that is a precious and valuable resource that should be protected & cherished by people from both sides of the aisle.- as it once was for decades...my Father (God Rest His Soul) & I were donors to MPR (Him) and IPR (Me, as I was living in Iowa at the time, and WSUI News/KSUI Classical were my local affiliates), and he was the other side of the aisle from me, but we both knew & respected how important NPR/PBS was, and we contradicted each other on the alleged "bias"...maybe it was IPR vs. MPR, but I felt (& feel still) NPR leans very slightly Right, he said they lean Left...opposite of our Party affiliations, to me, that kinda shows that they're pretty neutral, we both agreed the bias was very slight, even if it's there & they did a decent job compared to Commercial News Stations in doing it much less. Also, no commercials on KCMP is a breath of Fresh Air for a Change, No Loud "Used Car Ads" Screaming at you...but I get it, the commercial broadcasters are a business and gotta make some money (but it feels boosted for commercials almost, it probably isn't, just reception conditions or Musician Ears, but a pinch of volume normalization might go a mile there, if it isn't just me or the reception conditions)
This is important to keep in mind, they view the democratic process, which is always a compromise somehow, as a "net loss"....this isn't the Party of Reagan nor either Bush anymore, it's fundamentally different and we will see that in the coming months & years.
K.M. Richards
Program Director, The Eighties Channel™
That would have been easier to read without the run-on sentences and single paragraph, but you do make a very good case for maintaining financial support for your state's public radio network.
Again, the real problem here is that Trump equates CPB with NPR, doesn't like the latter's news coverage (like Mikey's brothers in the Life cereal commercial, he hates everything) and thinks this is the way to stop it. He does not understand -- nor is he ever likely to develop the rational thought process to ever make the necesary distinction -- that CPB money goes to the stations, and some (not all) choose to use those funds to cover their membership in NPR.
And I very much appreciate your acknowledging that no news organization is perfect, but that your own experience and analysis shows that the bias in public radio news is so slight as to be negligible.
Again, the real problem here is that Trump equates CPB with NPR, doesn't like the latter's news coverage (like Mikey's brothers in the Life cereal commercial, he hates everything) and thinks this is the way to stop it. He does not understand -- nor is he ever likely to develop the rational thought process to ever make the necesary distinction -- that CPB money goes to the stations, and some (not all) choose to use those funds to cover their membership in NPR.
And I very much appreciate your acknowledging that no news organization is perfect, but that your own experience and analysis shows that the bias in public radio news is so slight as to be negligible.
That mirrors the Twin Cities Metro Area vs. Greater Minnesota almost perfectly as a situation, 60-65% about live in the Twin Cities Core 7-County Metro Area or in smaller clusters like St. Cloud, Duluth, or Rochester...and many are relating KNOW/KSJN, or their nearest equivalents...but with funding for rural broadband getting the ax, and possible translators shuttering....that's not good for the ppl of Greater Minnesota, despite the fact that we in the Twin Cities will probably retain MPR News with KNOW, ClassicalMPR with KSJN and 89.3 The Current...other parts of the State won't....some parts are so depopulated, I had to Google the largest settlement in SW'ern MN, Marshall - I figured, but wasn't sure. This is a big Social Issue Nobody is Talking about, you are very very right about that.
Nobody actually knows if any stations use federal dollars to cover membership or pay programming fees. The president and his allies say things with no proof. Also, NPR membership isn't required to get CPB funding. There is no direct accounting of how stations use their federal dollars. It's an unrestricted grant. If the president and his allies were serious about this, they could simply put restrictions on the federal funding. Say that no federal dollars can be used for NPR. Of course, that would discriminate in favor of other program suppliers, so NPR could sue. The president has no idea that there are other program suppliers. Also that would require amending the public broadcasting act instead of doing a rescission. They would need 60 votes in the senate, and they barely have 50 now. But they have other options that would protect local stations, if that's what they want to do.
First Rule of Debate, Attack the Argument, not the person who thinks and writes in Stream-of-Consciousness Mode. (I kinda miss Debate actually)
He doesn't understand the difference between many things, nor do his core block of supporters, "Asylum vs. Asylum", "Visa vs. Visa" allegedly...so I wouldn't expect him to understand how the CPB nor how NPR are structured.
And TY, none of them are, but it's so very slight of a bias. I now, at 31 rather than barely able to legally purchase a beer, believe it's a program-by-program bias sometimes too, some lean a tiny bit right, some a tiny bit left. Balance.
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