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10 Ways Public Radio Gets You to Pay Up

Drive-time deejays know how to tug heartstrings and egos into paying up

By Clay Dillow,  Newser Staff

Posted Mar 2, 2009 10:53 AM CST

(Newser) – If you listen to public radio, you’ve come to dread it too, writes June Thomas in Slate; at least twice a year, the airwaves are dedicated to fundraising, with broadcasters plying listeners with New Yorker subscriptions and tote bags in exchange for a few bucks. Thomas studied the pleas from two winter drives and came up with 10 cunning ways public radio gets you to pay up:

  • The guilt trip, in which the stations manage to squeeze in plenty of heart-tugging stories between its pleas. "In other words: Hey, liberal, are you sure you'd rather spend your money on a new iPhone case?"
  • The “overdue bill” pitch, where the host reminds you how much you take from public radio.
  • The “only you can save journalism” plea. "Don't trust the capitalist press, comrades! Now give us some money."
  • The sign-of-the-times pitch. In these dire economic straits, all who are solvent should pay in to help those less fortunate maintain their favorite programming.

For the complete list, click the link below.

Talk radio's Ira Glass speaks at the announcement of the capital campaign for New York Public Radio at the station's future home in Lower Manhattan on April 11, 2007 in New York City.
Talk radio's Ira Glass speaks at the announcement of the capital campaign for New York Public Radio at the station's future home in Lower Manhattan on April 11, 2007 in New York City.   (Getty Images)
Russell Simmons appears on The Leonard Lopate Show at WNYC Studios on April 25, 2007 in New York City.
Russell Simmons appears on The Leonard Lopate Show at WNYC Studios on April 25, 2007 in New York City.   (Getty Images)
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Public radio gives away its product and then asks listeners to pay once they're hooked, like the mythical schoolyard drug slinger.
- June Thomas, in Slate

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COMMENTS
Showing 3 of 9 comments
Shannonals
Mar 3, 2009 2:09 AM CST
NPR hasn't been a problem for anyone, seems the pay networks are trying to do damaga to NPR
bacimom
Mar 2, 2009 4:34 AM CST
There are no shock jocks on NPR and the intonation is far from standard, have you ever listened to the BBC? Now there is intonation.
mockingbird
Mar 2, 2009 3:08 AM CST
OK, I'll clarify: "Slanted" in that they'll chose to cover stories that may garner more liberal interest (say, the details of a given Supreme Court decision); "factual" in that they don't pull information out of their arse as do many other radio outlets or give 1/2 of any given set of facts (as does...most else).

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