> A raw nerve has been touched. Public radio is involved in a turf war,
> the KWSU empire is now trying for a new translator in Moses Lake.
> Wouldn't that area be more logically and adequately served by Spokane
> based KPBX? The KWSU listening area is hardly a cohesive region,
> sprawling from wenatchee and ellensburg to pendelton and grangeville.
> Small wonder local coverage is so lame. I dont know for fact, but it
> certainly appears that the entire listening area gets the same local news
> broadcast. Ever noticed that there's more Oregon news than Idaho?
>
> dave peckham
With CPB Grants set to decline drastically, the name of the game in
public broadcasting is listener base, just like commercial
broadcasting except the goal is donations, not advertising. Spokane
Public Radio has not been aggressive about expansion, since they have
an established population base, and don't see there's anything to be
gained by moving into the wilderness.
NWPR seems to have taken the tactic of expanding into a large, but
thinly-populated region, and are trying to increase their listeners
by providing two streams: music on one, and news/public affairs on
the other. I personally am grateful for the NPR coverage: we get
better public radio and more choices than Seattle or Washington D.C..
Having to have the local news cover "the Cascades to the
Bitterroots" is one of the downsides, but there may be no
alternative in a time of diminishing public funding.
The fate of KUID-TV is instructive as to what could have happened if
NWPR had limited themselves to Pullman-Moscow. Just like airline service,
without subsidies, the rural areas aren't going to get served.
Ron Force rforce@belle.lib.uidaho.edu
Dean of Library Services (208)885-6534
University Of Idaho fax: (208) 885-6817
Moscow, ID 83844-2371
"Every man must die sooner or later, but good books must be conserved"
Don Vincente