After all this hullabaloo … did I donate?

Yes. I made a donation* to my local public radio station, KUT-FM.

Why the ASTERISK?
Because my donation is contingent upon 100% of it going to fund KUT-FM’s Sonic ID Project. The Sonic ID Project is an audio portrait of life in Austin, TX. KUT-FM is recording people in the Austin community, some ordinary and some extraordinary, telling their stories of what makes living in Austin unique. To learn more about KUT-FM's Sonic ID Project, click here.

But really, why did I ultimately decide to donate?
It wasn’t due to the uncreative and unrelenting on-air groveling that I endured. Instead, it was more a matter wanting to financially support local community radio in the face of the Clear Channel Godzilla-like commoditization and consolidation that is occurring in the radio landscape. MRKinLA said it best in a reply to an earlier blog:

“(public radio) listeners in general, but especially those who may be fence-sitting potential subscribers, are a smart bunch. They know in an era of Clear Channel and other media consolidation, their options for intelligent radio are dwindling.”

I want to continue having the option of listening to intelligent radio. After all ... It’s not radio. It’s NPR.

Comments

[Paul]

As the pledge drive rolls to a close... so does John's rant... What I'm curious about is whether John met his rant goal for this pledge period?

[johnmoore (unitedstates)]

Thanks for asking Paul. Going into my Spring Pledge Drive Rant, I had a diatribe goal of FIVE and a stretch rant goal of EIGHT.

Thanks to all the wonderful support from readers around the globe, I was able to surpass my Pledge Drive Rant goal of FIVE rants. And, depending upon how one measures rants, I may have reached my stretch goal of EIGHT. That determination will not be known until later next week after the Volunteer Pledge Drive Captains have had time to reconcile the rants.

By the way Paul, our records that KWAK-FM has yet to receive your generous pledge of $100. If you have already mailed in your pledge, then please disregard this friendly reminder. However, if you have not fulfilled your gracious pledge of $100 ... please do so at your earliest convenience. Thanks.

[John Moore (the British one)]

Well they are good quality rants anyway. And they prompt me to think more about this giving and receiving malarkey. I think the flaw in old-style, guilt-driven pledge drives is this con: on the one hand, we give you these things for free as if out of the kindness of our heart. Then we make you feel bad for accepting. I'd call this swollen behaviour - the sort of thing people do who aren't good at containing themselves. First, they swell up with this idea of their generosity, and then swell up with self-righteousness to get you to pay for it - negating the original "generosity".

This kind of "generosity" is manipulative. It's giving with the intention of receiving.