Amy Kremenek begins her morning with public radio.
“I wake up with morning news on WAER,” said Kremenek, 41, a chief public affairs officer at the Onondaga Community College. WAER is the public radio station in Syracuse, part of the tax-supported NPR network. Its first local newscast on weekday mornings is at 6:30. “I consider WAER as an integral part of my day,” said Kremenek.
Kremenek is one of about 100,000 people in Central New York, who depend on WAER daily for news and information. She is among millions of National Public Radio fans in the United States. In its 40th anniversary year, NPR has a growing audience, international news coverage and a continuing controversy over whether it should get tax money.
For supporters, NPR is a cherished source of in-depth journalism too often lacking on commercial networks and well worth its tax dollars and individual donations. For opponents, NPR is biased toward liberal viewpoints and a bad way to spend public money. That controversy has simmered throughout NPR’s 40 years. Most recently in Congress, the House Republicans tried — again — to cut funding for NPR and its parent organization, the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, from the federal budget. But the attempt, like earlier efforts, failed.
The opposition to NPR is about partisan politics and philosophical differences about the role of government, said Gary Triestman, treasurer of the Libertarian Party of New York. The party generally opposes government roles in services or programs that Libertarians think are more appropriate for the private market. And, says Triestman, NPR should not be funded by tax-money because it does not serve everyone.
“It asks liberally leading questions that negatively portray other political parties,” Triestman said.
Nationally, government support for NPR is small. It receives almost no federal money for its operations. Only two percent of NPR’s revenue — about $3.7 million of its total $185.2 million — comes from the Corporation for Public Broadcasting. Nationally, about 40 percent of NPR’s revenue is generated through fees that stations pay for programming and about 26 percent through sponsorships.
But for local NPR stations, federal and state grants are much more important, say station officials. For local stations’ budgets, the Corporation for Public Broadcasting makes up 10 percent of funding. Another six percent comes from federal, state and local government. And 32 percent comes from individuals and 21 percent from businesses.
For example, local businesses are key supporters for WAER, said Chris Bolt of WAER, the NPR station at Syracuse University. He names restaurants like Sparky Town on Burnet Avenue and popular casino spot, Turning Stone, among the station’s key supporters. “The government is one of numerous sources for the funding that we need,” he said.
In Central New York, there are two NPR stations: WAER on Syracuse University campus and WRVO in Oswego County. Both stations get federal money. For WAER, that’s about $138,000. For WRVO, that’s about $200,000.
That’s only one fifth of the stations’ budget, say station officials. So the stations can survive without the federal money, they acknowledge. But they would need to cut some programming and newsgathering. For example, station officials say, their communities would have to do without some national programs and with less local news coverage.
For WAER, say staff, any cuts would hurt. The station’s news department has three full-time workers: Chris Bolt, John Smith and Scott Willis. Each fills three news-gathering roles: Reporter, anchor and producer. They are also supervisors and mentors to dozens of Syracuse University students who volunteer as reporters each semester.
At WAER, the goal is to provide in-depth and impartial news coverage, said news director Bolt. That mission has become more important, he said, as commercial broadcasts have turned to opinion talk-shows instead of newscasts. “The audience should be free to make their own conclusion,” said Bolt.
For WRVO, the lack of federal funding would mean airing less NPR and other public affairs programs for its listeners. WRVO’s general manager, Michael Ameigh, says the station pays hundreds of thousands of dollars each year to buy programs from the NPR network. Among those programs: “Morning Edition,” “Fresh Air,” and “The Moth Radio Hour.”
“That’s where the most of the federal money goes to,” said Ameigh.
The federal money also helps with paying the staff. WRVO has 14 full-time staff members, two part-time workers and a number of freelance news reporters called “stringers.” Some of them begin their day before 5 a.m. to keep shows on air.
Mark Lavonier, for example, doubles as a host in “All Things Considered,” a seven-day news show, and “Tuned to Yesterday,” an old-time radio show that he produces himself. And Jason Smith hosts “Morning Edition” and co-hosts “Weekly Edition,” the news round-up shows.
Listeners, say station staff, play the biggest role in keeping the station running. Matt Seubert oversees WRVO’s fundraising events and contributions. “Listener donations make up about half of station revenues” he said. And almost half of that, he says, comes from WRVO’s Cornerstone Society, a group of members who donate at least $500 to the station.
Cornerstone donors, says Seubert, became especially important in recent years, when the economy weakened. “As other donors felt they didn’t have the resources to donate, Cornerstone members helped keep WRVO fiscally strong as other non-profits struggled,” he said.
To date, WRVO has 175 Cornerstone members. It’s fundraising, said Seubert, is up about 25 percent from last year. He predicts another15-percent increase this year. WAER also depends largely on its listeners’ contributions, which make up about 40 percent of the station’s budget.
For example, in a one-day fundraising event in March, said Seubert, listeners pledged about $62,000. That was a record for a single day of pledges.
For her morning wake-up by WAER’s newscast, Amy Kremenek of Onondaga Community College contributes about $150 to the station every year.
“Without NPR, there will be a huge void,” said Kremenek. “We, as a democracy, must support NPR.”
(Kelly Kim is a senior with dual majors in broadcast journalism and international relations.)
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