taking the public out of public radio
Originally written 03.13.2002
Dana sent this e-mail to my mailing list which describes problems at a local Yellow Springs, OH public radio station. What’s happening is that they’re following a trend of many public radio stations and axing locally generated programming for the syndicated NPR shows. What follows is her orignal message and my response.
I’m not big on passing forwarded emails to join efforts, but WYSO yellow-springs/dayton NPR is once again in trouble. The low down is that all of the local shows (that are volunteer efforts) are being cancelled and being replaced with the “canned” shows… except for Vic’s show in the morning. Some shows, like women in music, have had 26 years running and are now looking at their last days. … Anyone say yummy McDonalds radio?
A meeting was held last night in yellow springs, and a campaign to threaten the station’s pocketbook if they take away the local shows was formulated. In short, they are asking that people fill out the attached form for pledges, saying that they will donate a pledge to NPR if, and only if, the local shows stay around. It’s a bribe to the station to keep the shows around, pretty much. So, if you’re an annual doner (you know you should be), fill out the attached form and mail it. This effort is also being spread by the Voice, Canal Street, the Winds, and other people. Oh, ya, and there’s a reason that address looks like my home one… because it is. At the 50+ person meeting my mom address got nominated b/c she has a dayton zipcode (outside of the yellow spring supporter cliche I guess). Crazy mama trying to get our home bombed (j/k)
Thanks for your time!
dana
I think this issue is pretty important, at least to keep track of, even though I’d guess most college kids don’t have a whole lot of cash to donate to public radio in the first place.
Anyone who paid attention to the low-power FM debate a few years ago will find some haunting similarities between the problems in comercial radio and the situation at WYSO. A few years ago, the FCC was ready to allow some small community broadcasters to run low-power FM radio stations.
Proponents of this plan argued that this would help combat an alarming trend towards consolidation in the commercial radio industry. In many urban markets, the vast majority of stations are owned be only a handful of giant media conglomerates, such as Clear Channel communications. What this means is that rather than having stations and programming that are locally generated, most of the programming is piped in from elsewhere. This is alarming because the airwaves are essentially a public resource, and homoginized programming, that neglects community issues and culture violates the purpose of allowing access to the public airwaves. That is, serving the citizenry of the nation.
Unfortunately, the low-power FM licensing program was effectively squashed by heavy lobbying by big-media industry groups such as the National Association of Broadcasters (NAB). So, further media consolidation continues unchecked in the status quo.
During the whole low-power FM debate, NPR actually opposed low-power licensing. Therefore, it is not entirely surprising that the homoginization that has been seen in commercial radio is being mirrored in public broadcasting. In what seems to be a national trend, public radio stations, once the last bastian of local community-oriented and cultural programming, are starting to abandon. such programming for the syndicated programming of NPR or PRI. I think such homoginization, either in the commercial market, or in public radio is folly.
Don’t get me wrong. I like NPR programming. When in the states I listen to All Things Considered and Morning Edition on a daily basis. Last year, I jumped at the opportunity to attend a luncheon discussion with Fresh Air’s Terry Gross. Finally, I am the biggest This American Life addict you will ever meet. Still, I think that it is essential that locally generated programming which addresses community issues and displays the talent of local artists or programming which offers a voice to otherwise media-marginalized groups is a resource that must be preserved.
Some free-market types will argue that media consolidation is just another example of markets giving consumers what they want. People, they argue, like their top 40 radio and their “Car Talk”. However, when examining this argument, one needs to consider another economic principle, the law of diminishing returns. With a medium that is already saturated with scores of identical outlets and where an additional consumer can be supported by the existing outlets at no additional cost and with no need to expand resources, the marginal benefit of another identical station is much less than that offered by a station which provides community oriented programming, even though the number of people served by the latter is considerably smaller.
Radio has always been a very American medium. In many ways, the trends in the radio industry reflect the changes in American society as a whole. At one time, up-and-coming performing artists gathered a following by appearing on regional radio shows rather than being fabricated and pimped nationwide by giant record companies. In the past, radio, being a medium accessible accessible to so many people, served as a sounding board to reflect community concerns and to distribute information relevent to a community. Now, the demise of such programming is a harbringer of the death of the most American of American values. Diversity.