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The story quotes the report: “’There appears to be a tendency for public stations to discourage music programming in favor of news/talk broadcasts as a way to draw larger audiences,’ the NEA study says. But because it receives tax dollars, ‘public radio has an obligation beyond maximizing audiences.’ The NEA concludes that public radio ‘should balance its drive for audiences and revenues with a commitment to cultural programming and services that are not necessarily profitable.’”
Ahem. Anyone interested in these marginal art forms must now work to hear the stuff, and while you can hear a lot of great stuff online, if you’re not savvy you’ll probably never find it. If you can’t afford a computer or Internet access — oh, well, you’re not part of the “public” in National Public Radio, I guess. The people who fork over cash to NPR are most certainly not among the computer-impaired. Stern also talks about the a bogus-sounding “community” that can be built around NPR’s digital download offerings, which seems just as silly as WBEZ turning to the community to program its art coverage.
