Posted on 08/29/2004 4:21:49 PM PDT by rhema
I was shaken and disturbed to hear that Minnesota Public Radio had purchased radio station WCAL of Northfield. WCAL broadcasts largely classical music. The loss of classical music is not the cause of my distress. It stems from the loss of another independent voice from the radio spectrum and the death of a truly listener-supported radio service.
This purchase is another example of the MPR's efforts to squash independent radio stations throughout the state and assure that its homogenous radio programming permeates every nook and cranny of Minnesota. Radio is an especially personal medium and an extremely powerful communications and entertainment tool. The removal of WCAL as an entity brings on the same feelings I experienced when newscaster Dave Moore and Roger Awsumb (Casey Jones) passed away.
While the purchase of radio, television and newspaper entities is common today, it was not always the case. In the last century, more restrictive federal laws prohibited the number of broadcast entities that could be owned by one corporation. Sadly, those laws have been loosened and oversight by the Federal Communications Commission has become a sham.
It is not economics in broadcasting that is bad. It has always driven radio from its earliest days. Commercial radio began in earnest in 1920, when radio station KDKA in Pittsburgh went on the air. People throughout the country built crystal radio sets to bring the station into their homes and inside their heads. From there, radio caught fire as more stations went on the air. They broadcast advertising, which brought in revenue to support the station and its programming. Many stations, especially those in rural areas, had unique qualities and homespun personalities that brightened lives, entertained and enlightened with news and cultural programming. They each represented the community in their own way.
Diversity of viewpoints was one of the early measures considered in the federal government's granting of licenses to radio station owners. Legal restrictions on radio station ownership, mandates on the amount of public affairs programming and the Fairness Doctrine all helped keep radio true to its federally mandated mission: To serve the public interest, convenience and necessity, as set forth in the Communications Act of 1934. That act is still good law today, but you'd hardly know it.
The public loses every time an independent station is swallowed up, its uniqueness cast aside and programming from a single source, like MPR, replaces the independent voice. There are far too few independent radio stations in the United States. Community radio stations like KFAI-FM and KMOJ-FM are two vitally important beacons of diversity that still put forth programming that serves the public. They are largely listener-supported, which helps keep them independent and unique.
MPR on the other hand is a huge corporation with for-profit arms. It is a well-oiled machine that has nearly automated its pledge drives. Because its programming is so pervasive, it is able to reach more listeners than many other listener-supported stations and rake in more dollars. Those dollars go to help it buy more radio stations and pay its attorneys to file actions against other radio stations. This is vicious circle driven, not only by economics, but by MPR's president Bill Kling. I served as president of KFAI from 1989 to 1993. Our station was plagued from its very humble beginnings in 1975 by MPR legal actions that stifled its voice and drained its meager coffers. Luckily, KFAI won its protracted battle to get on the air and later to increase its power. It was community support and the public's neverending need for distinctive grassroots programming that made the difference.
As the MPR octopus reaches out, I fear more of our heritage will be trampled. Next year when the programming changes at WCAL are likely to occur, many listeners like me will suffer the loss of another singular piece of Minnesota culture as they search for other media to help satisfy their thirst for uniqueness and diversity.
McCluskey, of St. Paul, is an attorney, broadcast journalist and writer. He served on the board of directors of Fresh Air Radio, (KFAI-FM, 90.3 and 106.7) for 10 years and as its president from 1989-1993. He currently serves on the board of the Merriam Park Community Council in St. Paul.
Did you know that MPR/NPR doesn't have one, full time, conservative on-air talent? Not one. So they can stick the diversity in a drawer or anywhere else the sun don't shine.
FMCDH(BITS)
Sounds like NPR redux...giddy with glee over their merger with California's Pacifica Radio. Just as disgusting and sad. Well, they can sit around, suck their thumbs, and talk to themselves. Nobody else in his right mind would bother to listen.
This must be driving the lefties nuts. On the one hand, there is a burgeoning monopoly. On the other hand the perpetrator is state funded "public radio." Oh, the hissyfit that this must cause in the minds of lefties...
The left only learned about 'diversity' when their media monopoly crumbled. Awwww.
"I admit, I don't know anything about making copper wire, but I do know one thing: the surest route to oblivion is to keep getting an ever-increasing share of an ever-shrinking market." -- Danny De Vito ("Larry the Liquidator") in "Other People's Money."
"Public Radio" -- what a misnomer . . . unless one inserts "Peoples Re-" in front of it.
Nevertheless, WCAL played marvelous classical music which could be heard very well in Minneapolis. They also broadcast services from the St. Olaf College chapel and some campus musical programs. The station manager (who got his start as at student before the "professionalization"), told us that WCAL had resisted becoming a full MPR station because MPR had the following demands:
1. The college would have to surrender the station's FCC license to MPR.
2. The college would have to deed the building in which the station was located to MPR, despite the fact that this building is located in the middle of the St. Olaf campus.
Apparently the college eventually decided to give in on these points. I haven't heard St. Olaf's side of this yet, so perhaps there are some advantages to the college and they didn't completely give away the farm. It's a great college with a Lutheran focus. It's true that the station wasn't offering much to the students, although it did give the college more of a presence in Minnesota.
I am an ole myself, and I was stunned to hear WCAL was being sold. There is a long letter written to alum stating the St. Olaf position. I graduated in 1994, and think that St. Olaf was perfect for me. Sadly, now, however, I am afraid it is going by way the liberal vein of the ELCA. I subsequently have stopped my financial support because of the official policy it has taken on many social issues.
Not sure exactly what you are talking about. I thought the place was remarkably free of the PC attitudes that have infested so many other colleges. It's true that it is not an implicitly conservative college.
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