Ner; Audio Visit #2 (1)

Greetings from Washington D.C. This is NPR headquarters in Washington with Gerri oakum and Jim Robertson. Doing the Jerry and Jim show 40 p.m. This is the second of our audiotape visits with people we've sent a tape like this to each station manager member of an E.R. across the country. You'll recall that we sent you one after a board meeting last February and gave you a rundown on what happened there and this time we thought it would be helpful to have some of the highlights of the public radio conference that was held here in Washington recently and also of our board meeting which followed it. So Jerry I guess I guess probably had a start to Jim with the NPR membership meeting which was held actually on Tuesday the day preceding the public radio conference so why don't you give us a short rundown on the NPR meaning. All right I guess we'll keep it short. We got a lot to cover here. I guess that the general attitude that I got out of sitting in on the sessions is that the NPR stations generally

as a result of a week of dry runs and then one week of broadcasting of All Things Considered have the feeling that things got off to a fair start. They have a kind of wait and see attitude. Everybody I'm sure was excited by the fact that we do now have national live interconnected noncommercial radio network and being. At the same time I don't think either the NPR staff or the affiliates felt that everything had been achieved by any means. The tone of the meeting though was constructively critical. I sat in on each of the discussion groups and you were in and some of them too. And I think in talking with the NPR staff since the meeting they felt that they could kind of breathe a sigh of relief that things were started but at the same time they have to roll up their sleeves and get to work on some of the weaknesses which I think from our point of observation here at NPR the NPR staff and the NPR stations are are coming up with just about the same set of things that need to be

worked on. And I think that's encouraging. Now let's move over to the Wednesday morning opening session of the public radio conference where I guess you have to take the excerpt as rightly That's an excerpt share of the three opening speeches of the keynote address at the opening session was made by John Maisey president of CPB. He was followed by comments from Dan Quale of NPR and our own Bill Harley. And here are three short excerpts from their remarks. First John Maisey talking about the future role of CPB in the area of education and instructional radio. There is still the one stipulation however which we cannot neglect. We must continue to demonstrate our activity Public Radio and Television serves the needs of the American people. One thing for sure is that there is no resting on anyone's success. Instead there's a constant need to expand our service and to raise its quality. It was in this vein that we

began intensive staff work within the corporation some time ago to determine how public broadcasting can increase its contribution to education. Their ability to innovate to enter both the home of the school and to deliver mass audiences at a low per person cost. We have the ability to help relieve the pressures of our educational systems and I believe we have the responsibility to do so. I'm happy to report that the board of directors of CPB has endorsed this new thrust and is in agreement that education by radio and television constitutes one of the major tasks of the corporation taking the Perkins report a study of instructional broadcasting commissioned by the corporation last year as a initial basis for considerations. We're currently determining subject areas where the national need is greatest and our media best suited looking into existing research and exploring

possibilities with organisations that would be natural allies. Wayne manger production and above all calculating costs. I realize I am sure that most of our activity in this area has been concerned with television but not to the exclusion of radio. We know that many of you have built your stations on instructional broadcasting and we will of course include you in the development of our educational plan. In this connection I should also point out that we are aware of the particular financial bind many of our instructional stations are in. Of the station many such as those in Newark Cleveland Chicago Detroit Miami have been able to qualify for CPB support. I wish I could promise you immediate relief but we cannot at this time. I can assure you however that we are studying ways in which we can assist you through our educational plan increased educational involvement is therefore one of CPB least top priorities in the

coming year. Increased general support to local stations and to NPR is of course our top priority for radio. Finally in the coming year we will increase our direct support of local radio program Productions. Here now is Don clay Ellison indication of the status of the transfer of any orange NPR and the tape services that will be available to both NPR member and nonmember station. It's our third as in tape will take three forms. The first we're calling network tapes. Those are the tapes that require high fidelity long music programs stereo that will be distributed to NPR members for original broadcast. Where the technical quality of our lines are not satisfactory. The other two services

that we are now calling for will. Effective July 1 with the blessing of the and executive committee this week. Schedule tapes NPR schedule tapes that essentially is what any are and is now that service is available to all stations that service will contain not only the kind of programming that is in any R and now that is largely station deposited or acquired but also that programming that will be distributed to NPR members for original broadcast on tape. And that too will be included after the original broadcast into NPR schedule tapes. NPR tape library is the third service and that is a service that will enable you to purchase materials for retention for use in audio visual libraries on cassettes or whatever kind of personal use

you may wish. In doing that as it is our intent that we maintain the service that now exists and then increase it and build a product. The transition is going smoothly. There will be no. Diminishing of the service whatsoever for the first year at least there will be no increase in cost to any station in availing yourselves of this service. In addition we are retaining the program advisory committee that will act upon and advise us in the acceptance of all programs donated by the stations and we are retaining the instructional radio committee to continue the job that they have been doing. Last and most certainly not least here is an AB president hardly with comments regarding the challenges facing public radio as well as some questions about the distribution of national funding to radio dollars. People in both of these have all been directed toward the development of its long haul potential

and capacities. But this will bring with it. Some new demands upon the stations by their listeners by program agencies by the federal communications and other regulatory and funding agencies. It will not be possible to be more important without being more controversial. The increased expenditure alone will cause problems for radio stations may for one show up as line items in the budgets of large institutions. There will be demands for air time and complaints about how it is used. There will be charges of a different programming and threats to those who are unorthodox. It does not seem at all likely that radio stations which program for their own staff or course on the imagined elite audience will be very well treated in their communities for the increasing attention will and should result in increased expectations from your listeners. You will be required to

ascertain the needs of the community on a regular basis to identify priorities and to programme services that meet them and it will be less and less satisfactory to tell the community the FCC the state legislature or the Congress that we can't do it because there's no money. Because their answer will be go find it. I agree with John that you're going to have to go out and explore every possible source in your own community. That's where it always has to be the basic funding has got to be at the local level. But I also know that just saying that to you is an answer of the problem. And many of you are in various of their financial difficulties. But we've got to do something about that because without stronger stations that have more power and bigger staffs have to your budgets. We simply cannot

ever build a really strong national system of public radio so you with the stations of course need money and you need supplemental money. The grants from the corporation have been helpful but of course they're on their own in the face of your need. We must really increase the support to a significant level for the stations on the other hand never forget you also need national programming and you need a national interconnection. How should the corporation's funds be allocated. What proportion should be in direct grants to the station is the allocation to radio appropriate to that allocated to television. How much should be earmarked for each and what kind of a formula should

the stations be nurtured and NPR. The undernourished I think you'll agree Jim that bill raises those questions at a very appropriate time in public radio's progress in a couple of minutes I'll give you some excerpts from the discussion session which closed the conference. Right now Jim has some thoughts for you concerning the working sessions at the public radio conference Jim.