Oregon Media Insiders

I appreciate your commitment to NPR's main news programs, Morning Edition and All Things Considered. But if you look at the history of both programs, they were conceived with the idea that NPR's member stations (e.g., OPB) would want to 'localize' their broadcasts with news, local underwriting, promos, etc. Relatively few stations around the country use those opportunities to the extent that stations like OPB do, but if you look at the "successful" stations, those that have strong ratings and revenue from listeners, the common thread is that those are the stations doing a solid job of local news coverage to complement NPR's programs.
Also, keep in mind that OPB is not simply Oregon's "NPR station." We bring you programs from the BBC, American Public Media (the Minnesota-based operation) and other independent producers. One of the things I looked at very carefully in considering these changes is the fact that people can go online and listen to NPR programs without even a hint of local information. What we're doing here at OPB is making a change that is designed to serve listeners (broadcast and online) who want the best of both worlds--national/global public radio and local radio news. I'd rather go ahead and start making changes like this now while we still have time to adjust rather than waiting until our industry ends up where newspapers are now--scrambling for survival in many instances.

Sorry for the lengthy reply-subject is close to my heart.

Morgan
(OPB, VP-News)