These are big names dropping sound criticism, and on the record, no less. It’s about damn time!

Perhaps if there were more big names publicly sounding the alarm from inside the mothership, the chorus might actually reach the mythical “you, our listeners”, who at present amount to oblivious NPR groupies, or worse, junkies, who are too busy blithely soaking up another food pantry feature to know their beloved news source is selling out!

Perhaps, if people like Steve Inskeep, Renee Montagne, Robert Siegel, Michele Norris, Melissa Block, Neal Conan, Tom Ashbrook, Jason, Audie, Tom, Noah, Linda, Tovia, Chris, Jamie, et. al. were to lend their voices to the chorus, then what’s wrong with the system might actually get fixed. Until that happens I’m convinced nothing about the way NPR is run is going to change.

And the status quo seems endemic in the public radio system. I grew up as a reporter inside one of the “best and brightest” member stations (also one of the biggest) which is overrun with old, white, ex-TV execs who make bad managers, staffed by apathetic reporters turning out de-clawed stories, and “casual” employees who are systemically over-worked and taken for granted. The public radio community is full of refugees who have run screaming from this building, some crying foul, but most choosing instead to spend their energy where they might actually be able to affect change without fear of getting fired.

I wish I could formally join the chorus here, but it would probably threaten what little livelihood I can still eek out as a reporter in the system these days.

But here’s what I have to say to those of you who actually have some power and influence at NPR, and I think I speak for a lot of people who work in and love public radio:

It’s time to rock the boat. If you don’t, it’s going to sink.

Now they can’t change. The cow can’t stop eating.

And the audience, bored into stupidity, no longer cares.

Taking down a program (e.g., killing it) is incredibly hard and painful. I know — I was the guy who decided to kill Savvy Traveler and more recently, the show I created, Weekend America, was terminated. Incredibly talented and very hard-working people … my friends and colleagues … were affected. My hopes and theirs were crushed. With Savvy, I will never forget that a show that had 166 stations carrying it and 500,000+ listeners … still couldn’t make it. After 5 years, it had not raised a cent of underwriting! It was a beautiful and literate travel show but … it could not be financed. Weekend America had enormous potential and talent but it too could not catch a wave to adequate funding, even after millions from CPB and Target had been invested.

I have also fought tooth and nail to preserve programs. For years, the network folks tried to kill the Marketplace Morning Report. It now has an audience larger than its parent, the PM-version of Marketplace.

The reason programs get killed is to save other programs. When there is inadequate money, somebody has to perform triage and decide what gets to live and what has to be allowed to die. Many, many stations attempt egalitarianism in making cuts — EVERY show has to cut 10% or more. That’s a good way to ruin every program.

I don’t know the answer. Should we stop creating programs and admit the bankruptcy of our funding mechanisms for public radio? After all, there has only been one Joan Kroc. Foundations, whose earnings have been murdered by the economy, have slowed their giving to a trickle, corporations aren’t underwriting, even members are slowing their subscriptions. How the hell are we supposed to pay for this
“national treasure?”

So, bottom line, not only do I feel your pain, Scott, but believe me — I have plenty of my own. NOBODY enjoys killing shows.

Final comment. Believe me, having looked at myself in the mirror this morning, you do not want me and my kind to be stripped to our underwear publicly. As for being fired, I am now on my own, trying to make a living as an indie (or worse, as an indie consultant) just like you are. Peace, brother.

Jim Russell
The Program Doctor
http://programdoctor.com/

Take care, Dmae