Payment due at KUOW

We know how boring this is, but it's the best talk radio station in Seattle's Spring pledge drive and you need to call 'em up and give 'em some dough.

We speak of course of National Public Radio affiliate KUOW, "Nearly 95" at 94.9 FM. Make an on-line pledge here and get a Steve Scher wife-beater 't', a Bob Edwards Mr. Microphone, or Ken Vincent giving your message machine greeting as a free gift.

NPR doesn't have traditional advertising, so it depends on the kindness of corporations (30 percent), and foundations (12 percent) but almost half of its operating budget comes from member stations based on formulas tied to their listenership and dredged up on these semi-annual pledge drives.

(Contrary to the crap you hear on right-wing radio, no more than 2% of NPR's budget comes from federal grants. This has insulated it from Congressional battles over programming.)

In 2003, Joan Kroc, (widow of Hamburglar Ray of MacDonald's) bequeathed NPR $230 million- an amount so generous to the constantly panhandling national non-profit, the interest alone has paid for a large expansion in the newsroom- nearly 70 jobs- while other news organizations are cutting back across the board.

NPR is a great continent of hope for the future of real scratch journalism in an age when marketers and bean-counters are either drying up newsrooms or pushing them around.

(After the Kroc gift, you might ask, why do we have to give at these infernal pledge drives? Because half the operating budget is raised from listeners, that's why- so get out your damn wallet! Besides, the sooner you do it, the sooner they'll shut up and we can get back to "All Things Considered" and Vaughn Palmer).

In the last 10 years, NPR listenership has increased impressively- going from 12.5 million to 25 million listeners tuning in at least once a week according to Arbitron. And since nearly half of its budget comes from member stations based on listenership, total revenue has taken off- from $74 million in 1998 to $140 million this year.

KUOW is the most listened-to talk in Seattle and would come in 2nd in the entire market if it were measured like a commercial station in the Arbitron surveys. (2nd only to the mighty country music format KMPS).

As liberal, socialist, commie, deadbeat elites, we love to see non-commercial broadcast media working so well within the free enterprise system while airing stuff they know will not get them a fraction of a scintilla of a ratings point. (like BBC sports, the most soporific half hour you'll ever spend short of 10 minutes listening to Rabbi Lapin). 

Comments

[Nate]

Don't you mean "Nearly 95" at 94.NINE? Not to quibble but 94.5 would only be "Halfway to 95".

Then again, if your intention was to encourage blather trolls to endlessly fiddle with their radio dial, then well done!

[blathering michael]

thank ya Nate...no wonder I can never find it on the dial...

[Brian IN Lacey !]

Well I got too thinking ????? Its time ! For the Scary Gary show after midnight , you know how it goes, UP AND DOWN LEFT AND RIGHT IN YOUR FACE!!!!! the scary Gary and the Wonder Chimp !!!! With Interviews, Chicks over 50, and were is the wet spot of the northwest? and dont forget
poker tricks after 2:00am and as always there parking in rear ,and its 45 degs in the big city!! hooty hoo !

[sparky]

I gave to KPLU..I hope that counts

[joanie]

Actually, I used to give yearly then stopped when they started moving my favorite shows around and dropping some. They dropped some author/book talk, moved living on earth, alternative radio, dropped a couple of current events type shows and added more music - diverse but still more music.

Maybe I should reconsider but I don't listen as much as I used to. I guess it worked for them since their numbers are up.

[David Tatelman]

Don't forget KPLU, another great NPR station. :))

[The Anti KIRO]

Someone please tell me what purpose it serves when Dori says, "I'm going to take a poll of my listeners..."???

He does this ALL the time. A survey like that is garbage.

You're an idiot.

Dori in his endorsement..."sadly more and more Americans are suffering from hunger..."

Dori isn't that because of poor choices. You're a hypocritical idiot!

Dori, YOU WILL BE FIRED!

[Dana]

"Dori isn't that because of poor choices. You're a hypocritical idiot!"

I was wondering if anyone else had noticed that...

[Andrew]

Ya he noticed. He's a shock jock.

His business card probably says
Dori Monson, Professional Sensationalist

[Andrew]

I've noticed that on internet discussion forums that people who say things that are easy to disagree with get the most responses, and we call them trolls.

They say things like "John Kerry voted against the extended military budget, John Kerry wants the troops to die" or "the 9-11 planes were remote-controlled" and people love to get in a fight over it, while a person who posts what everyone already agrees with gets no responses.

Therefore if you are a radio host or a single man in his late 30's looking for attention, it profits you to blurt out an argument-starter.

I think us regular posters need to be more wary of people who are contradicting us just to receive our attention.

[sara]

Dori has lost the ability for logical thought and become a total hyprocrite.

[Joe]

I love independent radio as much as the next guy, but I never listen to KUOW. Someone will have to fill me in on what I'm missing, but somehow, I don' think it's very much.

I think, for my money, KEXP, KBCS, KPLU and KSER do a fine job. Why would anyone turn on an FM station to hear talk, anyway? Don't you get enough on the AM stations?

As far as NPR radio goes... that's where I draw the line! It's so completely depressing, I have to change the station or turn the radio off, in most cases. I've never heard a positive news story come out of it. It's always predictably anti American and extremely biased to the left.

[ybenormal]

If NPR is too far to the left, then I guess it's Reader's Digest radio for you.

[David Tatelman]

Joe, for somebody who never listens to NPR you sure have opinions about it. Wrong opinions I might add.

[JDB]

Another cheer for KPLU, which has a better signal and a very good news team (especially when it comes to covering Olympia and enviromental issues). I wish they did a little more NPR programming, but I'm happy with what I get.

[joanie]

Hey guys! I think I did something good!

Yesterday I instant messaged Dave Ross that if he would put his line-up on-line like Al Franken, I might listen to him more often. I said that I always check out who is on Al's show and if I like them, I go there. Once there, I stay.

Today Dave has a different message board and his line-up is listed if you click on the show.

Al's been traveling lately and his guests haven't been as interesting. Good opportunity for Dave to win back some listeners. If I like the line up, I'll start with Dave again or, at least, move between them when the topic is right.

YES!

[jonie]

I'm laughing at myself right now! What a silly notion . . . but for a fleeting moment I really thought I might have had something to do with it! (LOL, LOL, LOL)

[Helmut Gutter]

""no more than 2% of NPR's budget comes from federal grants.""

That 2% should be stopped. Its such a small percentage, it wont do any harm to NPR.

The annual report 2005 pdf on KUOW's web site, has Government providing 9% of its budget.

[joanie]

Hey, if you're not listentin to 1090 now, you're missing Thom Hartmann filling in for Randi and giving a history lesson to his guest, Dan ????. Very interesting.

[Robert]

Since KIRO and 770 are both floundering why don't they combine the programming into one good station. What would be your line-up?

[sparky]

I have to disagree Joanie...at his core, Dave does not appear to hold the same opinions as Al. I was button punching and I heard Dave talk about the line tapping by Bush and he said that if we had nothing to hide, the average person would have nothing to worry about.
That isnt the point...its against the law.
Dave works too hard to give Bush the benefit of the doubt, when he has shown over and over again by his actions that he deserves nothing.

[chris]

I don't think Ross has changed with the radio landscape, esp after his forced move to afternoons. Most people at 3p want entertainment. Al Franken moves the show along and isn't hamstrung by traffic on the 3's. There is a need for activism for progressives on the radio that AA can deliver and Ross isn't up to that.

[joanie]

Sparky, I'm not saying that Dave has turned into a flaming liberal which is, I think, true about Franken.

But, Dave pushed very hard on the tax issue. He isn't letting people get away so easily with generalities. He is forcing a little more accountability. Not a huge difference -maybe I'm imagining it. But, it is not the first time I've thought it. Also, yesterday when he opened up the CH topic, he mentioned Dori's name. That was a little different.

I heard him one day ask a caller "can you tell what my politics are?" And the caller told him he was a liberal. Of course, this was at a time when if you're not a reactionary conservative, you must be a liberal! But, I think Dave really thought that he could be that objective journalist and sound totally neutral.

Since he returned from the campaign, he's just a little tougher on people. I think the reality of dirty politics, the declining times, the obvious lying, and a cowardly media are obvious to such an intelligent man.

But, I've never seen him as being too far left. I totally disagree with him on the immigration policy. I've emailed him countless times on his unrealistic take on the Walmart issue - well, they can choose to work somewhere else. He actually emailed me back (at home) when I took him on about hov lanes. I'm not against them; but he couldn't understand why some people would be. So naive!

I also emailed him an essay I wrote: "How to market a mediocre candidate." It was my therapy the night Bush won the second time and I paced the floor for hours and hours needing to vanquish the beast within. He responded to that as well.

I've always thought he was the master of talk radio (along with Charles Jaco). But I've never agreed with him on every topic. Not by a long shot. Dave - like Lukobe - socially liberal, fiscally conservative?

[joanie]

Chris, I agree and want to answer Robert's question:

We have so little real liberal radio that I want all-liberal talk radio but one that speaks to local issues as well as national. Apparently, most talk radio is having problems (if you believe this board) but maybe they need to start appealing to niche markets and that's the niche I want filled That is a totally selfish desire. I would keep Dave on because he's centrist to liberal. I'd take off all conservatives, reactionaries, Monson wannabies and Monson. KIRO needs to find it's base (whatever they decide that is) and keep them tuned in.

[chris]

Talk radio is in trouble from the Internet--both from bitcasting and and from people who visit sites like this one and HuffPo, daily Kos et al who can still recieve breaking news and interact. I think Dave at times wants to bash Bush , but has some sort of gentlemans understanding from his early tutelage in radio.

[chris]

Besides, things are too divided if not swinging to the left to have a host trying to be moderate.(if not discussing something other than illegal doings in this adminastration) Would there be any moderate viewpoint on Watergate. I think we're there now and media in general could have a watershed moment or blow it all.

[KS]

This blog is appropriately called Blatherwatch...
I am getting tired of hearing callers and the so-so topics - except for one disturbing topic; the way that the Senate appears to be rolling over with the illegal immigration legislation. We might as well give So.Cal. back to Mexico... Do they realize the ramifications that little or no deterrents (2000 additional National Guardsmen - big f'ing deal !) will have on the economy and crime in this country over the next 10 years ? Republicans and Democrats alike don't have the cajones to control the borders ! That really sucks !

[chris]

Like George Carlin said about TV/radio and the knob that turns the station..

[Andrew]

I don't agree that American's are unwilling to do those certain jobs. We are simply unwilling to do them for what they are offering, and they offer little because we compete with migrant workers who are asking for little.

Obviously if some law was passed outlawing migrant workers then the price of apples and other agricultural products would go up, but I'm not sure what it means to the big picture.

I've noticed a pointed increase in Mexican representation around my area. There are many more mexican restaurants, authentic, generic, family oriented, taquerias and mexican themed lounges than there were ten years ago. There's even a mexican goods shop. Bu hey, I love mexican food!

[sparky]

Andrew, I did a little experiment...
When I was in the 7th and 8th grades, I spent my summers picking strawberries and beans to earn money for school clothes. It wasnt a whole lot of fun but it was the only way to earn money.

I recently asked a group of 12 year olds if they would be willing to go out and pick berries to earn some money...they looked at me like I was from another planet....WHAT!!???? Work out in the dirt???? Are you nuts????

Strawberry farmers in my neck of the woods will take just about anyone who shows up to pick..a Mexican family of 8 or an Oregon family of 10....in recent years I have not seen any evidence of anyone but Latinos. Picking crops is not something most of us are willing to do beyond supplying a picnic dinner with dessert.

So, the low pay may add to the lack of incentive, but most of us are not willing to do back breaking work in the hot sun or in the rain.

[joanie]

I picked strawberries as a kid for money but the money went farther than it does today. Also, it was fun for me. Most of us out there were eleven to sixteen and we had a pretty good time. That was in Mt. Vernon.

I tried cucumbers but didn't like that very much. I didn't have to pick; did it because it gave some extra money and was fun.

Thom Hartmann was talking about Chavez and his efforts to organize labor. He agreed that wages should be raised. I would pay more for food because I do think we get cheap food on the backs of underpaid people (including the farmers) - whether they be Americans or Mexicans or anyone else.

BTW, I roomed with an American white woman (Irish descent) in college and her whole family worled in the fields in Eastern WA. Myth that they are all immigrants from across the border. She would never be able to attend college today.

My mother's family - five kids - from Montana - picked crops in Oregon. They would migrate from Montana to Oregon every year. She knew how to work hard.

No cheap labor please. Construction bosses are now getting their $10 an hour help down on Bell Street in Seattle. Had my house remodeled, Mexican labor is very reliable. Good workers My contractor did not hire them but told me about the practice.

[Andrew]

sparky, I hope the kids you asked weren't born and raised in the city because If so, I'd never expect them to be excited about agriculture work.

Maybe most of us aren't willing to pick berries because we have at least twelve years of public schooling and it would be a tragedy to end up doing something that is little more complicated than a cow eating grass.

But maybe if people were unwilling to do it and Mexican labor wasn't an option, then people would put their educations towards inventing machines or chemicals that could do most of the work instead. It wouldn't be the first time that happened.

[Andrew]

Joanie, I've had two negative experiances with mexican laborers, and both were caused by the fact that they lacked organization and it wasn't clear what was required of them.

In one case they rebuilt the upper half of a house that was destroyed by a fire, and their craftsmanship was rather poor. They had not been shown how to do things right and nobody corrected the mistakes.

Another time we had hired about five laborers to help move things, and the oldest of the bunch who was in his late 40s early 50s elected himself to be the point man, aparently so he would have an excuse to not lift things, and the other guys who were in their twenties complained that he wasn't doing his share of the work. It was difficult to sort out because their english skills were very poor.

The moral of the story is that the communication barrier and the informalty of their skills means that some instructions just can't be given or carried out, and that it can hinder something as simple as moving some damned boxes.

If we talk about being proactive in solving those problems then the net result is US tax payers footing the bill for a third world country and tax payers subsidizing cheap labor for rich bastards (who also hide all their money from the IRS).

[sparky]

Thom Hartmann has written a good article on this

http://www.commondreams.org/views06/0329-21.htm

[joanie]

"Sparky's link"

Okay with this, Sparky? Good article.

[Andrew]

It's interesting how that article implies that we should do more to discourage corruption in Mexico rather than simply let them transfer their corruption onto our economy.

It says that the current administration is all for doing business with corrupt governments and that their own behavior is becoming of a corrupt government. If big business is left unchecked the American middle class will vanish and we'll have one big Mexico.

I hope this fact becomes aparent enough to influence voters in coming elections.

[sparky]

thank you joanie....I have never learned HTML...I have no patience

[joanie]

Sparky, you and I must get done with school stuff about the same time! I do homework club and just got that last of the lads and lassies out the door.

I was thinking this morning after listening to Hartmann last night talk about all this that Bush is running America exactly like a CEO would run a company. I think we sort of expected that when he was first selected, but I didn't realize the degree to which is could actually happen.

He literally makes executive decisions that profit his base. Completely. From war to tax policy to environmental decisions. His wealth will be astronomical when his term expires: there will be more golden parachutes for that man than is imaginable. He vacations constantly and delegates completely. He is Roger Smith and Jack Welch all rolled up into one except that he is running his company into the ground, and at the same time enriching himself and his friends.

Unbelievable!

[joanie]

One more thing:

He treats the American people like dispensable embloyees. None of us matters a whit except to the degree we can work or fight for the man.

[Fremont]

Thanks for the endorsement of KUOW, Bla'M...it's my fave! I even liked it when it had a classical music format. BTW, Joanie, what IS dave Ross' position on immigration? (So you and Sparkler are preparing to spend Holy Week in pews, not desks, eh?)

[Fremont]

Sparks said "thank you joanie....I have never learned HTML...I have no patience" Scorpios don't need patience, Sparks...they have all the power! Look at your astrological sister, Condosleeza Rice...

[sparky]

ick..now you have ruined my day Fremont...there is NOTHING remotely similar between Kindasleezy and moi.

lol

Ms. Sparkler is going to be drinking California wine directly from the barrels next week....

[joanie]

Frem't: Our break isn't for another week! I'll be thinking of you in spirit, Sparky! Have fun!

[joanie]

BTW, remove Jack Welch from my tirade above. Shrub is no Jack Welch!

[kublaikhan]

KUOW & NPR used to be worth listening to. Their news shows suck. It's pretty much whatever is covered in the Times and the local news is next to nonexistent. However, they have got it into their heads that sports sells.
Steve Scher is good, very good, he is deferential, doesn't act like he knows more than his guests (if he did what's the point of having guests) and has interesting guests most of the time. I don't listen to the radio much during day time any way and I catch Steve Scher very occasionally on my car radio when I am running an errand.
Other than Steve, it would be Garrison Keillor and Science Friday.
I gave up on KUOW when they took off Music Through the Night, a splendid classical music program, that helped me fall asleep and occasionally made me stay up!
Then their lurch to the right began - starting with the Gulf War at which time they started sounding patriotic. Now their newscasts and news shows are so pro-establishment that I walk away when I hear them at coffee houses or other places.
Liane Hansen, Neal Conan, and Scott Simon along with Frontline on PBS played a crucial role in softening up the minds of the intellectual class during the steady drumbeat towards the invasion of Iraq. It is amazing to me that the very same intellectual class continues to support the network that employs these bankrupt characters.

[Fremont]

Scathing comment, Kublai, absolutely searing...

I'm saving my wining for WA State spring barrel tasting, Sparko, but have some spirits for joans and me...are we still boycotting Gallo or was that resolved in 1967?

[sparky]

Gallo is now run by the son and daughter of one of them ( Ernest or Julio?) and has moved beyond the box/jug wine mentality. The daughter has turned the company around and they now produce award winning wines...

Don't buy anything from Blackwater Canyon..the owner is a maroon who is not above board with customers..and I wont mention his personal hygiene in the tasting room....

[sparky]

Joanie..i run an early shift...6:30am-2:30 unless I have meetings after school that go until 4...our kids are bused from all over the district so we run the same schedule as secondary...

[Joe]

>> ybenormal : "If NPR is too far to the left, then I guess it's Reader's Digest radio for you."

I'm an independent, but this is a typical reactionary comment from someone born with two left hands...

>> David Tatelman : "Joe, for somebody who never listens to NPR you sure have opinions about it. Wrong opinions I might add."

Wrong on both accounts.

First: I've listened to about as much radio as the next moron and after a while I turn the dial if it gets boring or in NPR's case, just depressing...

Their template for their news stories is totally formulated and predicable. It's geared towards people who want to feel guilty about themselves and sorry for the rest of the world.

Second: I know it this thought will fly like a Led Zeppelin on this blog, but, NPR's basic ideology is way left of center and for the most part, anti America, anti business, blame America for EVERYTHING, etc...

Anyone who doesn't admit that this is their basic platform needs to take a deep breath and look in the mirror.

Don't get me wrong. I like NPR for what they are. I just can stand the melancholy drone of their broadcasts.

Give me KEXP

[Joe]

...oops

can't stand...

jj:)