Peter Harzem:

>Certainly there is room, much room, for criticisms of NPR, for pressing
>for improvements to programming, for objecting to the insidious invasion
>of advertising, and so on.  This can and should be done'from within,'
>that is, from a stance of wanting improvements, deploring what one sees
>as regressive decisions, etc and pressing for improvements.

You know, my local NPR station has "community meetings" every month.
Each of these meetings is well attended by people who hate what's happening
to the station and who express their criticisms.  We are all listened to
politely.  We have managed to achieve bupkis, because station contributions
are up since the changes.  Now, by giving money, we simply confirm in
the minds of the managers that the present course is the correct one.
Obviously, money is the only thing that talks and that the people who
decide listen to.  Ergo, it seems counterproductive from my point of view
to actually give money.

The "public radio" station, fortunately, is not the only model.  In
Austin, Texas, for example, there is a classical radio station with a
nearly all-volunteer staff.  That is, very few people get paid.  In New
Orleans, one radio station (jazz and roots music) started that way, but
seems in the Louisiana way of "gorgeous corruption" to have become yet
another resource for local political patronage (it's supported by local
taxes and private donations).

Steve Schwartz