
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: MONDAY, February 11, 1991                   TAG: 9102090358
SECTION: EXTRA                    PAGE: E-3   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: Los Angeles Times
DATELINE: HOLLYWOOD                                LENGTH: Medium

TO CONTINUE WAR COVERAGE, NPR MUST PASS THE HAT

Reporting on the war in the Persian Gulf has so strapped the resources of National Public Radio that the network has threatened to cut back on coverage if its affiliates - many of which are tiny college radio stations - do not contribute $750,000 by the end of this month.

NPR, which has greatly expanded its news programming in the wake of the crisis, must raise $1.4 million by March 1 in order to keep its in-depth coverage on the air for three more months, said Bill Buzenberg, vice president for news and information.

"I wish CBS would be in this predicament occasionally," said Mario Valdes, station manager at KRCC-FM in Colorado Springs, Colo., which has committed $10,000 to NPR. "It's an amazing situation. National Public Radio is the only organization in the world right now that has to pass the hat to cover an international story."

Besides the $750,000 from its affiliates, NPR is hoping to raise $250,000 from corporations and foundations. It also is getting $300,000 from the Corporation for Public Broadcasting and approximately $100,000 from Santa Monica (Calif.) College station KCRW-FM for gulf coverage. KCRW's pledge was made prior to NPR's latest cry for help.

"Financially, it's very tough," Buzenberg said. NPR went over its budget by $200,000 to cover just the first two weeks of the war, he said. If the conflict lasts for three more months, the network will be running 10 percent over its $14 million annual budget, he said.

To cover the gulf, NPR has increased its Middle East staff from one to eight reporters, added an afternoon talk show and increased its hourly, 5-minute newscasts from 18 to 24 a day.

Last week, NPR chairman Dale Ouzts sent a letter to public-radio stations across the United States, asking the smallest to contribute at least $1,000, and the largest to kick in $26,000 or more.

"The choice was, `Do we cut back the coverage or do we get more money?' " Buzenberg said.

Jim Holmes, station manager of WQCS-FM in Fort Pierce, Fla., said that he would reach into his station's emergency fund to come up with $3,000 for the network.

"It's not like I have an extra $3,000 - I don't - but I would have been hopping mad if NPR hadn't come through the way they did, and I just want to be able to keep it on the air," said Holmes.

by CNB