# An open letter to my local public radio station. **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [February 12, 2014, 4:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/an-open-letter-to-my-local-public-radio-station/681119 "2014-02-12T04:11:45Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![leftfield6](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leftfield6/32/18780_2.png) [@leftfield6](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/leftfield6)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2014, 1:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/an-open-letter-to-my-local-public-radio-station/681119/21 "2014-02-12T13:31:03Z")
> [@realmarine](#): > > Airman Doors. 1st, Thank you for your service to us [the USA]. I agree with all you wrote. You missed one small point [well, not so small]. The donations you’ve & tens of thousands of other listeners either don’t know or or ignore, is that you pay for the two guys you mentioned “pulling puds” every payday. While PBS would like you to believe that they are supported buy donations, facts are that they are supported buy the Federal Gov’t to the tune of over 80% of their actual [not stated] budget. American’s tax dollars pay for your favorite “Pud-pullers” They then sucker listeners to ante up even more. If you listen real close, you’ll hear them get their supposed non-advertisers a boost. Don’t be fooled, Airman. You are not just paying for their Fat salaries, but their perks as well. Sorry to be the one to tell you Santa isn’t real. realmarine **RobotArm** already made this request upthread, but, yeah, you’re going to need a cite here. According to information available from the NPR website, local radio station money comes from the following sources: 32.1% Individual contributions 21.1% Business contributions 13.6% University funds 10.1% Corporation for Public Broadcasting funds 9.6% Foundation money 5.6% Federal, state, and local government funds 7.6% Other Red font indicates what is commonly discussed as being from “government” sources. 16% does not equal 80%+ as you claim. Also, fat salaries for local news hosts? Not [so much](http://localnpr.org/2011/01/27/public-radio-news-salaries/), it would appear. Hey **ChicagoJeff** , are you referring to Lois Reitzes? Must admit, her voice just crawls all over me. ---
**Author:** ![IvoryTowerDenizen](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ivorytowerdenizen/32/17937_2.png) [@IvoryTowerDenizen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/IvoryTowerDenizen)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2014, 1:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/an-open-letter-to-my-local-public-radio-station/681119/22 "2014-02-12T13:33:35Z")
Read carefully- **realmarine** says it’s 80% of the actual, “_not stated_”, budget. Clearly the stated budget is just a smoke screen to hide the fact that the government is paying 80% of the “real budget”. :dubious: Frankly, I wish he was right. I can’t think of a better place my government dollars would go to, than educating and engaging the public with intelligent news reporting. ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2014, 2:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/an-open-letter-to-my-local-public-radio-station/681119/23 "2014-02-12T14:06:14Z")
> [@elucidator](#): > > When we get to Hell, it will always be Pledge Week. in my version of **1984** , the people at the pledge telephones can look out of the telescreen at you and complain. “You – Smith, Winston, you’re not _giving enough!_. Look at me, I’m the mother of two, yet I give once a month! And I have this handsome tote bag and umbrella!” ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2014, 3:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/an-open-letter-to-my-local-public-radio-station/681119/24 "2014-02-12T15:18:37Z")
I’m sure some senator from Oklahoma will be along with a bill to prohibit publicly funded broadcasters from pulling one anothers’ pud on air, to protect our children. ---
**Author:** ![lost4life](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/c4cdca/32.png) [@lost4life](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lost4life)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2014, 3:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/an-open-letter-to-my-local-public-radio-station/681119/25 "2014-02-12T15:43:22Z")
> [@realmarine](#): > > Airman Doors. 1st, Thank you for your service to us [the USA]. I agree with all you wrote. You missed one small point [well, not so small]. The donations you’ve & tens of thousands of other listeners either don’t know or or ignore, is that you pay for the two guys you mentioned “pulling puds” every payday. While PBS would like you to believe that they are supported buy donations, facts are that they are supported buy the Federal Gov’t to the tune of over 80% of their actual [not stated] budget. American’s tax dollars pay for your favorite “Pud-pullers” They then sucker listeners to ante up even more. If you listen real close, you’ll hear them get their supposed non-advertisers a boost. Don’t be fooled, Airman. You are not just paying for their Fat salaries, but their perks as well. Sorry to be the one to tell you Santa isn’t real. realmarine You should give them a leg sweep, like a real marine. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2014, 4:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/an-open-letter-to-my-local-public-radio-station/681119/26 "2014-02-12T16:13:21Z")
> [@lost4life](#): > > You should give them a leg sweep, like a real marine. You beat me to the reference to his other thread. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Sailboat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sailboat/32/461_2.png) [@Sailboat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sailboat)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2014, 4:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/an-open-letter-to-my-local-public-radio-station/681119/27 "2014-02-12T16:22:42Z")
> [@Simplicio](#): > > NPR has been doing fundraising for a long time, and seems to have played with a lot of different models for doing it. As annoying as it may be, I suspect whatever method they’re using in your area is in fact the one that will make people more likely to support their cause. You might be right. Logically, it sounds plausible that _every_ person and organization is operating optimally at all times, and that all management is based on rational analysis of good data. Surprisingly often, I find that _not_ to be the case, however. ---
**Author:** ![GrandWino](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/grandwino/32/67_2.png) [@GrandWino](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GrandWino)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2014, 4:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/an-open-letter-to-my-local-public-radio-station/681119/28 "2014-02-12T16:29:15Z")
Wait, are we not supposed to be pulling our pud? ---
**Author:** ![Biotop](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/biotop/32/321_2.png) [@Biotop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biotop)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2014, 4:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/an-open-letter-to-my-local-public-radio-station/681119/29 "2014-02-12T16:31:47Z")
The public college station I volunteer at, WTJU, always does special programming during fundraising to help mitigate the annoyance of the pledge drive. I will be doing to two such shows during the fund drive in April (one on “Deep Woods Ambient” and one on “Dada and Surrealism”) and I am already prepping now for those shows now. A heck of a lot of volunteer work goes into these drives. Alas, no matter how you do it, asking for money is never that pleasant for the askee. ---
**Author:** ![Hentor\_the\_Barbarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/8edcca/32.png) [@Hentor\_the\_Barbarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hentor_the_Barbarian)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2014, 4:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/an-open-letter-to-my-local-public-radio-station/681119/30 "2014-02-12T16:45:42Z")
Fuck NPR. They’re the media equivalent of a beard. ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2014, 4:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/an-open-letter-to-my-local-public-radio-station/681119/31 "2014-02-12T16:49:40Z")
> [@Chicagojeff](#): > > My local NPR is run by an angry woman who’s sole mission is to inflict classical music on us at all times. That BITCH! ---
**Author:** ![Lucky\_Mike](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/9de053/32.png) [@Lucky\_Mike](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lucky_Mike)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2014, 4:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/an-open-letter-to-my-local-public-radio-station/681119/32 "2014-02-12T16:50:06Z")
yup, can’t get behind your rant either. You are mad at a service that you do not pay for, that does not have commercials to fund themselves, because they are asking for money to fund themselves. You have never paid them money in all your free listening, but you think MORE free listening will entice people like you to pay… Ok… ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2014, 4:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/an-open-letter-to-my-local-public-radio-station/681119/33 "2014-02-12T16:51:02Z")
I think he’s saying he won’t give them money in the future, not that he hasn’t given them any money. ---
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2014, 4:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/an-open-letter-to-my-local-public-radio-station/681119/34 "2014-02-12T16:54:16Z")
That’s how I felt about the PBS station in my old town, which was in an economically depressed rural area. Shortly before I moved away, that station had pretty much transformed itself into one giant infomercial, and it wasn’t even GOOD programming that they were showing! ---
**Author:** ![Jimmy\_Chitwood](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f475e1/32.png) [@Jimmy\_Chitwood](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jimmy_Chitwood)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2014, 4:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/an-open-letter-to-my-local-public-radio-station/681119/35 "2014-02-12T16:55:41Z")
Shut the fuck up about the money you need to provide programming and get back to providing the programming I don’t pay you to provide! ---
**Author:** ![leftfield6](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leftfield6/32/18780_2.png) [@leftfield6](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/leftfield6)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2014, 4:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/an-open-letter-to-my-local-public-radio-station/681119/36 "2014-02-12T16:58:00Z")
> [@Airman\_Doors\_USAF](#): > > Even if I were inclined to donate… (snip) I’m get the impression he is not in the habit of donating. Not likely to start now either. ---
**Author:** ![BrotherCadfael](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@BrotherCadfael](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrotherCadfael)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2014, 5:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/an-open-letter-to-my-local-public-radio-station/681119/37 "2014-02-12T17:04:44Z")
I am amused at the PBS pledge season programming. Over the years, you can see the demographic they are targetting - people of a certain age with the most disposable income – which changes over time. At one point, they were putting on '50s era rock & rollers, then folkies, and now we’re moving into the '70s rockers. I also find it amusing that, during pledge time the stations go on and on about how little of their funding comes from the government, but, when they are in front of the appropriations committees pitching for bucks, the entire culture is at risk if they don’t get their money. I know it is possible that both things could be simultaneously true, as money is fungible, but still it looks funny. ---
**Author:** ![Lucky\_Mike](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/9de053/32.png) [@Lucky\_Mike](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lucky_Mike)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2014, 5:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/an-open-letter-to-my-local-public-radio-station/681119/38 "2014-02-12T17:42:21Z")
> [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](#): > > I think he’s saying he won’t give them money in the future, not that he hasn’t given them any money. Hmm, did not read it that way, but out of respect for the possibility I will defer to him to answer this. ---
**Author:** ![Raza](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/raza/32/213_2.png) [@Raza](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Raza)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2014, 6:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/an-open-letter-to-my-local-public-radio-station/681119/39 "2014-02-12T18:00:24Z")
Speaking only for my local WABE, and YMMV: I absolutely refuse to donate AND be subjected to numerous commercials throughout the hour. Every single opportunity (seemingly, every 5 minutes, but I have not timed it) there is: \*support for WABE comes from: \* (insert some corporate entity here, and their plug) \*and from: \* (insert another corporate entity here, and their plug) These plugs are not just names, or name+slogan (the way it was a few years ago), but full-voltage advertisements. I have donated in the past, but the above - combined with dreadful local hosts and a “news” program that seems 10% news (this blame is divided locally and with NPR), and the incessant focus on Atlanta Public Schools (who holds their license), I’ve pretty much given up all hope. And while I’m ranting about WABE and their hosts: the one commercial announcer really drives me nuts: he has a pleasant voice, but I’m convinced it is a computer - he simply cannot get the cadence of English right. Drives me nuts. ---
**Author:** ![Slithy\_Tove](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slithy_tove/32/18248_2.png) [@Slithy\_Tove](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slithy_Tove)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2014, 6:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/an-open-letter-to-my-local-public-radio-station/681119/40 "2014-02-12T18:38:09Z")
Since a lot of these posts are specific to WABE in Atlanta, I’ll chime in. WABE plays classical on weekdays from 9AM to 3PM, then 9PM to 5AM. Atlanta has a large demographic of African American professionals, so WABE has substituted classical for jazz and blues. I don’t like jazz or blues, but I don’t mind sharing with other people who are also excluded from mainstream radio playlists. I can always tune in to WMLB out of Avondale Estates: those guys are _really_ great: they’ll play sets of 1920’s Appalachian mixed with traditional Laotian highland (it’s all hillbilly either way!), or a show of 1950’s children’s '45s, or Calypso. Yes, Lois Reitzes is incredibly annoying. I don’t get an angry vibe off her: to me she comes off as one of those affluent baby boomers who can drop $500+ a week at restaurants but still need Prozac. WABE has the typical Atlanta attitude that anyone who lives outside the 285 ringstrasse is an ignorant lout. Luckily, there are enough millionaires inside the perimeter whose asses can be kissed in easy propinquity at pledge time, that I feel no guilt for listening for free. If it ever goes away, I can live without it. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/an-open-letter-to-my-local-public-radio-station/681119.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/an-open-letter-to-my-local-public-radio-station/681119.md?page=3)