"Specialty License Plates: Getting Out Of Hand?" - NPR

I wonder what part WFAE in Charlotte plays in "North Carolina Public Radio"?

"Robin Rogers Dies: Blues Singer Felt Blessed" - NPR

A very touching story.

I wonder what it was that WUNC contributed beyond rebroadcasting what NPR produced? I could find nothing.

Maybe "North Carolina Radio" does not include Charlotte? But if that is true, as others have asked, how can it be "North Carolina" Radio?

"Dives To Gulf Seafloor Turn Up Sea Life Near Well" - NPR

When it comes to programming from NPR, WUNC is nothing more than a transmission tower. Sometimes I wonder if anyone at WUNC listens to what they broadcast from NPR.

If they were listening, this story which appears on the WUNC website might get - perhaps - a special mention in the small amount of time when WUNC is actually creating its own content and not the UNC mention. Or, at the very least, it could be noted on the website, which it is not.

"Staff" - WUNC

I wonder why this page does not contain some profiles of at least the people who play the biggest role in the content of what we hear on WUNC?

"Public Broadcasters Face Bleak Budget Outlook" - NYTimes.com

This, too.

Greensboro

I'd sure love to know what stories WUNC has broadcast from its news "bureau" in Greensboro. Where do we look for them here?

"Triangle media groups seeking football records sue UNC" - NewsObserver.com

It's interesting to note that the Daily Tar Heel is part of this lawsuit, but guess who is absent?

"The two McClatchy newspapers joined forces with the DTH Media Corp., which publishes the UNC-CH student newspaper the Daily Tar Heel; News 14 Carolina, a cable TV station operated by Time Warner Entertainment-Advance/Newhouse Partnership; WTVD Television; Capital Broadcasting; the Associated Press; and, Media General Operations."

I can think of some reasons why WUNC would not join in the suit (but none to prevent them from reporting that the suit had been filed), but it would be nice to know what they are for sure, and it would also be nice to know if WUNC has at least asked UNC to release the documents? Or is this a story that WUNC's "news department" is not able to cover more than the several brief references they have made over the least several months?

"NPR's C.E.O. Issues Apology" - NYTimes.com

Here is a novel idea....

What does WUNC think of this episode? WUNC buys the programming of NPR and can either broadcast, or not, someone like Juan WILLIAMS. My point is that they make a choice, made a choice, and should tell us what they - the licensee - thinks of all this.

Isn't that only fair?

So, WUNC, tell us.

""The State of Things" on WUNC" - Facebook

I guess at least one of the 3-4 "local" WUNC programs have their own presence on Facebook. Sure makes it efficient, or not, actually. Are they all cross-linked?

"North Carolina Public Radio - WUNC" - Facebook

First time I've looked at WUNC'c Facebook page. After skimming the postings that appear on the first page, it's really hard to figure out how this contributes to making the station better or improving listeners' ability to derive more value. Maybe I am missing something?

Goal?

8,400+ people have pledged or contributed, they say. Up until now, they have talked about needing to make their goal of 1.2 million. That, now, is strangely absent. My guess is that they made that goal and don't want to discourage potential contributors by accurately reporting that they met their goal.

I find that offensive. This is a station that primarily brings us news and information. Holding back the logical continuing report on their fundraising levels simply is not something I associate with good journalism. Then again, this is the less than 2% of news, I think that actually comes from WUNC and I'd be hard-pressed to give that very high marks, and so am not really surprised by the failure to report that the goal has been reached.

Greedy, too? I don't know.

Ok, so I just heard them mention the 1.2 million, but without saying that this was their goal!

So, if they keep going above their goal, how will they use the money?????

6,800, 1,200,000 and logo

Why can't WUNC take two minutes to keep us updated on their pledge drive on their website? I just don't understand. I think I caught in passing that their goal for this fund drive has been 1,200,000 USD, and they are now 180,000 short of that. It's a little hard to tell how much of their effort is devoted to selling the trips v. the station. It's nice to see someone else picking up the bill for at least one of the trips instead of all of the other contributors....this time, Panera Bread for a trip to Italy. They also mumbled something about some outfit contributing the logo redesign, but I sure missed it and had not heard it before then, nor since.

About WUNC — North Carolina Public Radio WUNC

It appears that WUNC has a new logo. Did someone donate the services to create that? If so, who? What other costs did WUNC assume in implementing the new design? If they paid for all of this, how much and to whom and selected through what process?

There is nothing on this site that I have ever found that keeps anyone interested mildly informed about such things after asking everyone for their money.

Contributing and chances of winning a trip

WUNC is now running one of its periodic attempts - usually successful for them - to raise a lot of money by suggesting that someone who gives money to the station might win a trip to some interesting place. Those trips are paid, by the way, mostly by contributions from others. Look at the financials on the website to see the chilling details.

Recently they have said things like a WUNC supporter AND CONTRIBUTOR (their emphasis) will win this or that trip. Previously, they had bent over fairly backwards to emphasise as I think the law requires that no contribution was needed in order to enter. Just call and your name goes into the hat or whatever they use to do these drawings. Wouldn't it be nice how that works?

But what strikes me as really troubling is the innovation this drive to try to entice people to become sustainers and to have money contributed automatically every month. That's great for the station, I imagine.

What bothers me is that you only get the promised participation in every drawing if you become a "sustainer" and therefore if you contribute money. Whether this runs afoul of the law, I am not sure. It does seem pretty clear to me that they are coming close to doing so, and in the process depriving people who want a trip but cannot or choose not to contribute of a similar "every drawing" opportunity.

Money "pays" even for a public radio station.

How many listeners?

Did I hear that WUNC says it has 30,000 listeners?

"Jonathan Howes" - North Carolina Humanities Council

I assume this is the fellow who recorded laudatory words about WUNC, broadcast this morning. Why aren't we told more about him, his role in advising the station and his role in working for the station's owner, UNC? If this is he, this is deceptive, in my view.

The Splendid Table

This piece talks about Locopops here in this market. Does WUNC note it in any way? Does anyone there listen to anything they rebroadcast?

"William L. Roper, M.D., M.P.H. — UNC School of Medicine"

He is one of those whose testimonials have been airing on WUNC. He says that his "source" for health news is WUNC, including local health news. Wow. He may be well-informed by the NPR programming on health issues, but how could a reasonable person assert that one could use WUNC as their "source" for news about health locally?

Testimonials reflect the market?

We hear testimonials to the wonders of WUNC now and again by people with names that are largely unknown but who, in the end, don't strike me as reflecting very well the diversity of the geographic market that WUNC covers. I wonder why that is? It's pretty easy to figure out, and seems to reflect only a sense that the station is the preserve of a club of well-educated and often rich people who see it as their toy.

"The Old Granary Restaurant"

I wonder if anyone has pointed out to the announcer at WUNC how to pronounce the word "granary"? My recollection is that I may have learned that word in about the 3rd grade. Maybe he skipped that class.

"mount airy north carolina bluegrass music, gospel music, wpaq am"

WUNC has a story about this station that was aired on NPR a couple of weeks ago displayed on its home page. Do you suppose that there is a link in or next to the story to the radio station's website? Not a chance.

And if you do visit the WUNC site, be sure to note that there has been no news in the last two days except for the UNC football story which, as I look at it, is two days old. Ok, yes, you can click on a link and here whatever they are broadcasting now as "local news", but for a quick check of news, nothing. Did NC shut down all news-making for the weekend? I don't think so. But "North Carolina Public Radio" seems to have done so.

"FOXNews.com - Breaking News | Latest News | Current News"

Note the "Fair & Balanced" in the upper left corner. Then listen to WUNC promote its version of commercials by asking people to send them money...because?...... of the "fair, balanced and reliable" news that WUNC says it provides.

Think Global, Assign Local — North Carolina Public Radio WUNC

How hard would it be for the person who did this report to add a link to the school's website? WUNC needs to get outside its cocoon.

I don't have time to rewrite what WUNC puts on its pages when posting them on a blog like this one - another thing they would learn and do better if they acted more as an interconnector than an island. The story is about a new school opening.

"More from WUNC & NPR — North Carolina Public Radio WUNC"

I've never seen a report on any trip taken by a WUNC prize winner. Why is that?

The Story

One might hope that there is a NC story to tell along the same line, no?

"Lisa McCarthy and her three sons Cole, Jude and Bennett started a recycling program at Mark Twain Elementary School in Long Beach, CA. Sounds much easier than it actually was. When Lisa first realized how much was being thrown out at lunch time, she approached school officials. They approved the creation of the recycling program - if Lisa did everything herself. She pulled together a group of volunteer parents and eventually kids. Lisa and her sons talk to Dick about the obstacles they overcame while helping their school go green."

"Calculating aid for Haiti" - PRI's The World

I really do not understand why WUNC would not want to creat a link to this story that the station broadcast today from PRI's The World. It concerns a NC company and work it is doing in Haiti. Why does WUNC not collect whatever they have done relating to Haiti and put it all in one place on the site? One would think that a station that calls itself "North Carolina Public Radio" would want to be drawing on resources all over the state on issues of importance. Why they don't is a mystery to me.

"Malaria: A Student’s Firsthand Account" - Nicholas D. Kristof Blog - NYTimes.com

I don't understand why WUNC does not grab something like this piece and link it from its website. Well, I suppose they need to have a decent website first and a real relationship with listeners and other customers. For the money they spend on soliciting contributions you would think that they would learn a lot of this, but it does not seem to happen.

President OBAMA's news conference

The President is holding his first press conference in 10 months as I type this. ABC, CBS, NBC, MSNBC and probably many others are carrying the conference live. Why is it that WUNC chooses not to do the same?

WUNC News — North Carolina Public Radio WUNC

One of the quite incomprehensible aspects of WUNC management is their failure to recognize that most people who listen to the station's tiny amount of original news reporting also have computers and access to the internet. This morning, for example, WUNC has broadcast what I would call a "promo news" piece for Greesboro's sustainability efforts. One would think that they could have invested the 5 mins that I did to find a link to the report that will be released today in Greensboro....and put the link on their website. Right now, there is not even a mention of the story, let alone anything more. I just shake my head in non-comprehension of WUNC's organization and management.

"Community Advisory Board — North Carolina Public Radio WUNC"

The next meeting....

More fund drive numbers

At 7 AM today, the announcer said 7,800 had called. At 9 AM, the announcer said they only needed to raise 68,000 more by the end of the day.....

And the announcers now - just before 6 PM - say that they have "heard from" 9,191 people who have contributed the 880,000 that was the goal. I look forward to seeing a breakdown of how much of that money winds up going to pay for all of the trips and other expenses, plus the people at the station who work on fundraising instead of programming. As I recall, that adds up to maybe a quarter or a third of this total and I bet most contributors don't realize this.

On Sunday evening, I heard the announcer say that over 9,000 people had contributed or pledged, and he said that it was the "most successful" fund drive in the station's history. (He might have inserted "spring" before fund drive.)

Even better - I see that the WUNC has added this note to its home page:

"Spring Fund Drive!


Thank you! With your help WUNC made goal ($880,000) in the 5 PM hour Friday and the phones kept ringing. Our previous record for a Spring Drive was $898,000--we are ending the night with $906,000 raised from more than 9,400 donors. You are the best listeners and supporters! Many thanks!"

More numbers....

Late this afternoon, WUNC was saying that it had 128,000 yet to raise on a goal of 880,000. Tomorrow is supposed to be the last day, thank goodness.

"More from WUNC & NPR — North Carolina Public Radio WUNC"

I heard one of their on-air promos today say something about 6,500 people having called. Since no contribution is needed to participate in the continuous serious of travel and eating raffles that are at the core of the event, I wonder how many of them contribute or pledge to contribute v. just call to enter. They also announced that they have 235,000 or so to raise before what I think they said earlier is to be the end of this edition of win-a-trip-or-a-meal. What they do not announce or put on their website is how much has been contributed or committed. (I'd sure like to know what percentage of "pledges" get paid.)

"Distributors Slow To Embrace Local Food Movement" - NPR

What a great opportunity for WUNC to pull together a story or at least a collection of resources to supplement this NPR story that WUNC broadcast this morning. Alas, their "mind" does not seem to work this way.

The Story - "The Story from American Public Media"

It would be nice for WUNC to post a report on The Story. What has been the total investment, how good an investment has it been, what value has it delivered, and what are its prospects for the future - that sort of thing?

WUNC News — North Carolina Public Radio WUNC

It continues to astound me that there is so little North Carolina news on WUNC's site. What an opportunity, and what a loss!

This morning, I think I heard a promo for a state story about kids and obesity - eating snacks too often. I had heard about this nationally from NPR or another source, but the promo sounded as though it there might be a separate state-level story. So I have gone to the WUNC site and come up dry as usually always happens.

But in going to the news page, I am startled once again to find only two news items here.

They call themselves "North Carolina Public Radio". How can that be?

Pledges

I wonder what percentage of pledged money actually gets paid to WUNC? Surely, there must be some loss between pledge and payment. What is that amount?

My request for Dick GORDON's compensation has been referred by the WUNC General Manager to her lawyer and she said I will hear "soon".

More fund raising

It seems to me odd, possibly suspicious, that WUNC always seems to reach its fund-raising goal. I'd sure like to understand more about how that really works. I suspect we see only a part of what is really happening.

A little after 9, they are saying on air - but not online - that they have had 6,500 (up from "more than 6,000" earlier in the morning) people "call in" (not sure if they all contribute?), and that they have 52,000 left to raise to reach their goal.

Still no response from anyone there on Dick GORDON's salary. I will persist in asking.

Fund raising

It continues to surprise me that they do not use their website as a way of updating the pledge drive numbers. For the first time that I can recall, they seem to be doing a good job of telling us two things on air. One is the goal - 650,000 - and the other is where they are in trying to reach that goal. A day or two ago it was at 283,000 left to raise. This morning they said they were down to 208,000.

Given all the references to times being financially tough for so many, I wonder if any of the people at the station have accepted pay cuts?

I am still waiting for an answer to my query about how much Dick GORDON is paid.

And, in keeping with the spirit of getting it right, I hope someone has explained the correct pronuniciation by now of two words - Montreux in Switzerland and the first word in Bonne Soiree. I cannot believe that others have not corrected them, or maybe they just don't listen?

Weather!

You keep reporting that there were wind advisories today for Central North Carolina.


I just sent this to WUNC's main e-mail address.
"You missed this one.
Unbelievable. With all of the rain we have had, this is an important warning to all of us with trees nearby and missing it is a pretty serious blunder on your part and you ought to apologize on air and admit your mistake.
Is anyone paying attention?"

I sent this after hearing the on-air readers talk about how important it was to have "perfection and current numbers" in referring to a plug for the fund drive from someone at NPR.

--

As an addendum, I woke up the next day - 10 Feb - at 6 AM. On WUNC, I heard that there was a high wind warning on the coast, but nothing about central North Carolina. (Keep in mind that the warning issued by the National Weather Serivce remained unchanged from yesterday mid-afternoon until 11 AM today when they reissued it.) Then at 7 PM, WUNC's voice saidd there was a "high wind watch", the advisory superceded yesterday afternoon. At 7:05, it was the lead news item with a mention of a "high wind advisory", not giving the full strength to the "warning" that had been issued. At 7:06, he finally got it right, noting a "high wind warning" until this evening.

It really makes for a stark contrast between the local people at WUNC and NPR and their other program providers. With all of the money they collect and spend, one would think they could do so much better.

"MediaPost Publications NPR Preps Project Argo for Local News"