<html><head><style type='text/css'>p { margin: 0; }</style></head><body><div style='font-family: Arial; font-size: 12pt; color: #000000'><div><font face="Arial" size="3">And now for something completely different:</font></div><font face="Arial" size="3"><div><font face="Arial" size="3"><br></font></div>The subject of NPR's "All Things Considered" (ATC) on KZYX is an old, old worn discussion around here in Ruralland, but I would like to bring it up for discussion if anyone is </font><font face="Arial">interested</font><font face="Arial" size="3">. Unfortunately, I think Beth is right; there are probably only about 8 of us on this list and half of them are just just station lurkers or trolls, but I feel strongly about this subject.</font><div style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: Arial; font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><br></span></div><div style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: Arial; font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">I happen to like ATC. Yeah, yeah, yeah, I know, not a popular stance, but there you have it. I like the international coverage and some of the science stories I find really interesting and entertaining. Can ATC be lame? You bet it can. Sometimes I just have to cringe at the fluff stories and human interest filler, but I am willing to put up with the duds to get the occasional good story and their good stories can be very, very good. </span></div><div style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: Arial; font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><br></span></div><div><font face="Arial" size="3">The argument against ATC is not so much how lame it can be, but how much it costs the station. I believe the bill is about 60k a year, but I could be wrong. Maybe someone can give an accurate figure. Anyway, the new slot at 6 pm with PRI's "The World" I think is quite good and it complements ATC perfectly by going into some of the international stories in a deeper way. The PRI show must be much, much cheaper and even might be free. I don't know. Anyway, I think it is really good. My only </font><font face="Arial">criticism</font><font face="Arial" size="3"> of The World is that it is heavily weighted towards interviews and talking heads rather than on the ground stories. </font></div><div style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: Arial; font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><br></span></div><div style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: Arial; font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">Two reasons for not getting rid of ATC to me would be: The international reportage, but perhaps more importantly, many of the donors to the station contribute because of ATC. Cut ATC and lose a lot of listeners as well as a lot of station revenue. I don't want to see ATC go, but can we afford to keep it and if we dumped it, would the loss in revenue from loyal donors negate the savings?<br></span></div><div style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: Arial; font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><br></span></div><div style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: Arial; font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">Rick</span></div><div style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: Arial; font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">Little River</span></div></div></body></html>