Oregon Media Insiders

As a pro fund raiser, pledge drives have always seemed to be a sort of lazy way to raise money. Over the years they've grown to six or more weeks out of the year where I tune out and listen elsewhere, more often than not to another public station which is not in pledge drive.

See http://www.publicradiofan.com/cgi/whatson.pl?when=now&type=non-music

All fund raising strategies eventually wear down, and something new is definitely needed with public radio.

Here's what I would do - it's all about positional programming. 1. Stop being all things to all people - especially pandering to the religious middle. It's really really boring to listen to uneducated people attempt to code-talk; 2. Consider slaughtering sacred cows. Car Talk was funny for about two episodes, but probably the majority of listeners tune out. Prairie Home Companion jumped the shark a decade ago. Arguing this this? OPB plays reruns of Lawrence Welk. It's embarrassing. 3. Consider some alternatives to the high priced NPR programming - there's a lot out there. 4. Recruit a national-quality morning show host, a la Diane Rehm or Kathleen Dunn.

Better, less redundant programming, a case statement showing efficient administration, and a major donor-based fund raising program will take some of the burden from pledge drives.