A letter published on June 29 had very kind words
for the programming of WFCR, for which we are grateful.
The writers also expressed a concern that, during
our recent on-air fund-raiser, we did not explain what the contributions
would be used for. We try to make that clear during the fund-raisers,
but if we did not, let me offer here one example: This year, WFCR
will spend $488,608 to purchase programs from the public radio
networks, such as NPR. These charges are set by the producing
networks, and WFCR has no control over them. With their contributions,
13,000 generous listeners support the broadcast of such programs
as "Morning Edition," "All Things Considered,"
"Fresh Air," "A Prairie Home Companion" and
"Car Talk."
The writers also asked about the station's financial
information. WFCR publishes a summary of its financial statement
every year in the March/April edition of our newsletter "Of
Note," which is sent to all contributors. We have recently
added the newsletter to our Web site (www.wfcr.org)
so in future years these statements will be available there as
well.
Finally, the writers recommended that the station
keep its expenditures to a minimum. That's exactly what we do.
In fact, WFCR is one of the more efficiently managed public radio
stations. We can compare spending among stations of different
size by looking at what each spends to earn one hour of listening
by its audience. WFCR spends 21 percent less than the average
public radio station.
We can happily report that our June fund-raising
campaign was a great success, thanks to the contributions of many
people who heard and responded to our message - and to our programs.
RICHARD MALAWISTA
director of Broadcasting, WFCR
I have been a volunteer and financial supporter
of WFCR for many years. While I am not enamored of the interruptions
in programming caused by fund drives, I realize that they are
necessary for WFCR to maintain its level of quality.
Anybody who tours WFCR would see that it occupies
very stark quarters in a very small area in Hampshire House, a
building that was erected in the post-WWII years. Since the employees
at WFCR are part of the University staff, their positions are
evaluated for levels, and these levels are associated with salary
ranges, which WFCR has to adhere to. The main costs for the station
are not personnel or general operating expenditures, but the cost
of purchasing programming.
Furthermore, WFCR is not spending money willy-nilly;
it is part of the Continuing Education (CE) branch of the University,
and CE provides oversight to the station's budget.
JANE STEIN
director of Fiscal Management,
College of Engineering
