Report: Top Public Radio Stations Developing Plan To Increase News Staffs

Four major public radio stations, including WNYC-A-F/NEW YORK, WBEZ/CHICAGO, MINNNESOTA PUBLIC RADIO, and KPCC/PASADENA-LOS ANGELES, are planning what NEWSONOMICS' KEN DOCTOR calls an "alliance for public media" that would put $100 million over five years into expanding regional station news departments to 100 journalists per market in four to six markets.

Retiring AMERICAN PUBLIC MEDIA Pres./CEO tells DOCTOR that he is involved in the plans, which would increase each station's news staff form the present 12 to 30 members, costing about $5 million per year, with a five-year plan totaling about $100 million for the four operations. KLING said that funding would be built on membership and underwriting, and, ""According to our internal analysis, if the top-25 markets all raised [funds] at the same rate as the top performer, they'd raise $410 million a year more -- or enough to pay for 160 reporters in each of those cities."

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