POWER PLAY: PUBLIC BROADCAST SHOULD RID ITSELF OF FEDS

Pledge drives are important events for public broadcasting outlets. Without financial support of listeners and viewers, programming choices for many stations would be limited.

Yes, pledge breaks sometime get a little annoying. KETC-9 in St. Louis, for example, has a nasty (but wise) habit of dropping extended pledge breaks right in the middle of particularly good episodes of "Doctor Who." Hundreds call in just so the Channel 9 people will shut up and get back to the exploits of the good Doctor. But considering the basically commercial-free programming fans of public broadcasting enjoy, the inconvenience is minor.

Our local community-supported radio station -- KRCU-90.9 FM -- is in the midst of its second-ever pledge drive. Volunteers have been manning the microphones since Sunday, and the effort continues until 7 p.m. Saturday.

During its inaugural pledge drive in April, KRCU raised around $22,000 and added 186 new members. KRCU hopes for 150 new members this time out.

So far things have been going well with 64 new members as of Tuesday afternoon. Although a $25 pledge is the minimum required for membership, Greg Petrowich, acting general manager at KRCU, said new member pledges are averaging $63.80 per person, an amount he put at well above the national average. Including renewals and small contributions, more than $7,300 so far has been raised.

KRCU, a National Public Radio affiliate, is a fine station, and I probably listen to it more than commercial radio. NPR news shows such as "All Things Considered" and "Morning Edition" provide detail and insight not found elsewhere on the dial. Also, KRCU's musical programming is unique to the region and quite varied.

I particularly enjoy the extensive blocks of classical. It really helps to take the edge off after I've overdosed on nerve-damaging punk.

Public broadcasting in general is a very good thing. However, the day must one day come when government funding is eliminated.

The House of Representatives tried but failed in August to end Congress' financial commitment to the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, which doles out the funds to stations nationwide. However, passage is not so much a matter of if as of when. In a climate where people demand fewer taxes, which in turn will lead to less government involvement in things not actually related to governing, public broadcasting is hard to defend.

PBS stations have for a while been running spots highlighting all the wonderful things they bring TV. The spots close with the catchy phrase, "If PBS doesn't do it, who will?"

The answer, unfortunately for them, is obvious -- A&E, The Discovery Channel, CNN, C-SPAN, The History Channel and so on. Cable television brings to the small screen many things previously only found on PBS.

Its supporters point out that not everyone has access to or can afford cable. Well, not everyone can afford a BMW, but no one suggests buying everybody one with public dough.

Face it, despite all its benefits, public broadcasting is a luxury and as such is expendable.

Few if any stations, however, will close their doors without CPB, which provides a small part of their budgets.

At KRCU, for example, listener contributions comprise 20 percent of its annual operating budget, more than four times the money it gets from CPB. Petrowich said CPB's contribution was about $11,000 this year and has decreased annually. Southeast Missouri State University covers the bulk of the station's expenses.

For the record, I have heard no one from KRCU complain publicly about the potential loss of federal funds. But others have demonstrated typical fits of Give-Me-Money-Whether-I-Need-It-Or-Not Syndrome.

If community broadcasting is threatened, it might force freeloaders like me to pay up. I currently don't have to, so I don't. But if KRCU or WSIU were in danger of shutting down, I would have to decide if a pledge were available in my budget.

If the community deems public broadcasting an asset, it will support it.

~Marc Powers is a staff writer for the Southeast Missourian.