A new study says that most commercial stations “do little or no local news reporting,” and public stations aren’t much better.
Archive | Public Radio
Chicago Public Radio's Fundraising Antics
Fundraiser season continues at non-profit radio stations all over the country. Princeton’s station WPRB (apparently the oldest FM college radio station in the country, founded in 1940) ends their week-long fundraiser tomorrow. My own station KFJC (turning 50 next week) is pitching for cash until the station reaches its goal. And, Chicago Public Radio station […]
Knight study raps public radio on local coverage
A new report says that public broadcasters fall short when it comes to providing their audiences with news and information about their city or neighborhood.
A letter from Radio France
Radio France has quite a few devotees in the San Francisco Bay Area, among them the noted filmmaker Veronica Selver. You can listen to the service live, or you can download podcasts via your iPhone, as does Veronica. It helps if you understand French, of course. If not, she sent us this summary of some […]
WXPN Lets the Listeners Program Desert Island Picks for Fundraiser
I’m always interested to see how various radio stations handle the daunting task of fundraising, especially since I’m now in the thick of things begging for cash at my own station KFJC (hint, hint…if you’re a fan of the station we need your dough!). Well, public radio station WXPN at University of Pennsylvania has a […]
How to avoid breaking the FCC’s ridiculously lenient rules against non-commercial radio advertising
It never ceases to amaze me that some public radio stations continue to run afoul of the Federal Communications Commission’s sieve-like rules against running advertisements, but they do. The latest station to wrangle with the Commission on this matter is religious non-profit WKSG-FM in Cedar Creek, Florida, run by Daystar Public Radio. WKSG seems like […]
Celebs Rally to Help WLIU Stay Local and On the Air
As Paul Riismandel reported in August, Long Island University-owned public radio station WLIU is about to lose funding from its institution and is entertaining offers to purchase the station. Yesterday was the deadline for bids and a star-studded group of “friends” held rallies and pulled together an offer to save the station from extinction or […]
The great Pacifica radio election is on!
While we’re on the subject of public radio station fundraiser marathons, there’s a related event in progress: board elections at the Pacifica radio network. Subscribers and staff at all five Pacifica stations in New York City, Berkeley, Los Angeles, Washington, D.C., and Houston are voting for members of their respective local station boards. There are […]
The Dreaded On-Air Fundraiser
Fundraiser season is in full force on the San Francisco airwaves with no fewer than 3 non-commercial radio stations pitching for dollars this week. Although on-air fundraisers seem to be a necessity, I find the majority of them to be unlistenable. In a few weeks I’ll have to start doing my own on-air cash pleas […]
Radio Pubcaster WLIU Receives Stay of Execution
Earlier this month Long Island University announced it would sell off its public radio outlet WLIU, tired of sinking $1.3 million a year into the station. Now, according to the Southampton Press (via Current) the university has given the station’s management a little more time to try and put together a nonprofit corporation to buy […]