Supporting public radio

When I was in college, my newspaper was funded mostly through a grant from the local paper. The University of Memphis contributed zero dollars to the operation, keeping the paper free to report on whatever it wanted to without fear that funding would be yanked. For the same reason, professional news outlets shouldn't depend on government funding for what they do.

Legislation is moving around Washington to completely cut funding for the Corporation for Public Broadcasting or to prohibit grants from buying programming from organizations like National Public Radio, Public Radio International and American Public Media.

Aside from the ethics and freedom to report, there should be a level playing field. As a newspaper, the Southeast Missourian doesn't receive federal funding. The government doesn't award CNN, MSNBC or Fox News money for programming. By that logic, NPR should not be given funds for the news shows it does.

However, these organizations produce much more than news. They put out musical programming like "All Songs Considered," "World Cafe" and "Performance Today." They have entertainment programming like "Car Talk" and "Wait, Wait ... Don't Tell Me." Those cultural shows -- and others like "American Routes" or "This American Life" -- should be preserved just like some museums receive grant money to bring in quality cultural exhibits to their communities.

Perhaps they do prohibit the money from purchasing programming. Let the listener support pay for that. The grant money can fund a position at the station or fund an expansion into rural areas.

I do not mind my tax dollars paying for an intern at Southeast Missouri State University to learn radio and reporting skills at KRCU. My tax dollars pay for students in grade school to learn every day. I don't complain. Why should that funding stop at the college level?

I would love to receive a grant that would help us grow our internship program.

This issue is neither new nor done, but one thing is for sure: now more than ever, KRCU needs listener support.