I used to donate to my station but then I realized they run as many commercials as every other station around here. (Sometimes I wonder if they are secretly run by Clear Channel) So I figure they don’t need my cash.
Yes. I’m a sustaining member of WNYC.
WNYC doesn’t run commercials. Unless you are using some overly broad definition of “commercial” in order to make yourself feel better about the fact that you’re cheaping out. Just own it. Stand up and say “I want to listen to NPR but I don’t want to help support it.” That’s a hell of a lot better than making some lame excuse to try to justify your actions, or lack thereof.
It’s free to all to listen to, including you, and all NPR members know that most listeners don’t contribute. As someone who is subsidizing you, i’d like to invite you to relax and enjoy the programs.
they do run announcements. since the shows might be discussion on a topic to know you might want to make an effort to listen is a good thing.
I donate to two stations. It’s not about the commercials, it’s about the content.
I’m not even American, and I do. I sent off the annual cheque to the Washington station I listen to (Northwest Public Radio) last week. I listen to KPLU, too, so maybe I should reduce the amount, and donate to both.
It’s worth it to me to support quality programming. CBC radio is just not… what it used to be, alas.
I’m set up as a sustaining member, which means the money comes out every month and I never have to worry about renewing. I can still get premiums every year if I want (mostly I don’t). However, I still have to listen to the pledge drives, but I sort of tune them out.
They don’t have commercials, but they do have short announcements for the businesses that support them. Some of these businesses are retail establishments, some of them are professional firms or genetic research companies or things like that. Frankly, I mostly don’t believe they are supporting the station to get customers from these announcements; I think it’s more for prestige and just being a good member of the community.
Public radio is about the only kind I listen to, so I kind of felt obliged, when I started having enough money, to support them. I didn’t want them to go away.
Longtime member of Colorado Public Radio. I don’t actually listen much on air, but my wife does (she has a car commute, I don’t). I do listen to a number of NPR podcasts, so I’m supporting those, indirectly, through my support of the local station.
Yes. KQED in San Francisco.
Our local stations broadcast testimonials from current sponsors about how much sponsorship messages have contributed to their growth. So yes, these messages are commercials as much as the Lawrence Welk Show brought to you by Brylcreem was.
Our company’s contributions for which we receive on-air acknowledgement are recorded as advertising expense on our accounting books (and tax returns). When we give to the Food Bank, that’s a donation. In the case of public radio there is an explicit agreement about how many times the message will be broadcast and when, for a specified contribution level.
I’ve been a member of the local Public Radio stations my entire life in the US, except when I was an impoverished student. I was happy to get away from the “public broadcasting” model where you paid tv and radio license fees to have propaganda broadcast at you.
But I have no illusions about why some of the sponsors are contributing. It’s a very desirable audience and you have very little competition. The products they are flogging are very high end.
Correct me if I’m wrong, but doesn’t anybody who pays taxes subsidize public radio?
I’ve heard commercials for Jack In The Box on WFYI where I live.
Ultimately, it’s NPR’s fault. They chose to broadcast free over the air, which invites free riders. Bully to those who wish to contribute, but it’s far from a moral obligation.
And while I don’t contribute to my station, I have contributed to A Way With Words.
Absolutely not. I am a dyed in the wool conservative, and NPR is populated by liberals. So, no, not a cent of my money. Unless you count the thousands of dollars of my tax money that they get without my consent, of course.
Yes, goodness knows the insidious liberal brainwashing exhibited by shows such as A Prairie Home Companion and Wait Wait Don’t Tell Me must be resisted.
As for funding, from Wikipedia:
Setting aside your bizarre partisan rant, there is simply no way you, or any other individual at any level of income, could be paying thousands of dollars in taxes to support NPR.
I’ve been paying taxes since I was 16. Odds are good I’ll work until I’m at least 66. Is it really inconceivable that in 50 years I won’t pay at least $2,000 in taxes to NPR?
But that’s beside the point. Why should I be made to pay one penny if I’d rather not?
If we assume that federally-sourced funding for NPR is around 10% of its yearly budget, as is claimed to be the case, that would be about $18,000,000/year against federal tax revenues of close to three trillion. My calculator can’t handle that many zeroes, but the percentage of total tax revenue going to NPR appears to be a tiny fraction (like five zeros worth) of total revenues. That makes it likely that for pretty much any taxpayer, their burden for propagandizing the airwaves with the likes of Fresh Air is somewhere between 10 and 20 cents/year. I will defer to someone who is better at math than I am if they can demonstrate this is incorrect.
As I’m sure you are aware, you can vote to support whatever candidate best represents your preferences, but you don’t get to directly decide how tax revenues are spent. Be sure and let me know how your plan to put the federal budget to a yearly popular vote works out.
Anyway, I’ll try to gently bring this discussion back on topic by saying that I contribute a nominal amount to NPR’s unceasing efforts to turn us all into granola-munching liberals. In the vast radio wasteland that is Houston, it’s about the only thing worth listening to. IM(insufficiently conservative)O, of course.
How about demonstrating that it’s correct?
Since about half of Americans don’t pay income tax, and about a third of Americans don’t pay payroll tax, that burden is split among a truncated group. If you add in somebody in the upper tax brackets, who also live in high tax states and cities (NYC for example), it seems likely at least a few pay thousands of dollars to support NPR.
This in no way answers my question. Why should I be forced to pay for a radio station if I’d rather not?
Me, too, proudly. Listening to it right now!
If you want to pursue this argument, feel free to launch a thread where it’s actually on topic.
Or you could just answer the question.
I give to Vermont Public Radio on occasion, even though I listen much less than in years past. I’m annoyed that part of my donation goes to sending me snail mail asking for more money.
I’m a sustaining member of KCUR in Kansas City. There is also an NPR station at the University of Kansas but they spend most of the day playing classical music so I rarely listen to them.
As for the people who resent having their tax money spent to support NPR, you know what? I didn’t want MY tax money going to support George Bush’s misguided war against Iraq. But unfortunately I don’t have a say in where my tax money goes, and neither do you.