NATIONAL PUBLIC RADIO ANOTHER VICTIM OF REPUBLICAN WAR ON THE U.S. QUALITY OF LIFE .

It's almost SPRING again and among other seasonal rituals is my local NPR now heavily commercialized "Public" radio station's first big funding drive of the year where they continuously beg listeners to donate money, used cars, estates or their free time to SUPPORT the station's programming. Immediately following each begging monologue our robot like AD LADY blares out the same four words "SUPPORTED BY" ..... "AND FROM"........... followed by a chain of wordy, often monotonous commercial spots repeated predictably on the dot EVERY FIFTEEN MINUTES day in and day out.

Always prefaced by "Listeners" who supposedly are still considered important contributors but, judging by the deluge of commercial spots,  seem to only have the function of providing "ratings" to attract MORE potential commercial "underwriters" .   I am old enough to remember when PUBLIC BROADCASTING was commercial free or was able to get by with only a few corporate and foundation ads which didn't detract (and DISTRACT) from the listening or viewing experience.

Then the Congressional Republican activists began their assault on "liberal bias" in PBS and NPR and argued successfully against most FEDERAL funding supporting the public network'

 high quality programming.  Since then (Newt Gingrich and Jesse Helms) the TV and radio stations have had to seek other sources of financial support from many foundations and increasingly from commercial advertising the same demon which has polluted so much of Western culture, identity and the democratic process itself. (The suspect behind the Brexit and Trump disasters by schooling the public to crave instant gratification in everything, expect life to be "quick and easy" and the right to demand whatever they desire whenever they desire it)

WFDD FM COMMERCIAL PUBLIC RADIO - MONOTONY INC

What we need most on social media is a page where listeners vote on which "public" radio station is the most  annoying, most monotonous and has the most commercial supporters and the most aggressive sales & advertising dept. the elephant in the room which, during "pledge drives" is NEVER acknowledged, admitted to exist and NEVER included on the station's income pie charts! 

My local station in the North Carolina Piedmont Triad is all of the above. Sometimes the "supported by" - "and from"s - always at LEAST THREE commercials or station horn blowing promos also extremely monotonous and annoying occasionally succeeds in sending me running to the local network rock and roll noise and humor stations such as ROCK 92 or where ever my 'stereo signal detector' lands me!  I'd prefer listening to WUNC FM which has much less local advertising (and presumably many more sustaining supporters?) but it doesn't come this far West normally. 

It's worth noting that the degradation of public radio and NPR by systematic defunding of Federal support since 1996 is another example of how The Republican Party's war on intelligent media and freedom of information is another fine example of The GOP's assault on public welfare and quality of life in the U.S.