The Virginian-Pilot 
                             THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT 
              Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: Saturday, October 26, 1996            TAG: 9610260001
SECTION: FRONT                   PAGE: A14  EDITION: FINAL 
TYPE: Editorial 
                                            LENGTH:   43 lines

PUBLIC RADIO FUND DRIVE IT'S UP TO THE LISTENERS

It's fall fund-raising time on public radio and fans of WHRV-FM 89.5 and WHRO-FM 90.3 know what that means: intermittent interruptions by overly cheerful personalities during drive time. These tireless fund-raisers and the dozens of volunteers answering the telephones are trying to drum up enough financial support to keep the two radio stations afloat for another six months.

It's important for the community to support these two fine stations.

Being part of public broadcasting is a tough act these days. Attempts to control federal spending have resulted in funding cutbacks for commercial-free public radio and television for several years. Public broadcasters have been forced to turn to the private sector to make up the difference.

Locally, about 145,000 people listen to public radio every week. Only about 20,000 of these listeners contribute. Officials at the local public-radio stations have set a goal of 5,000 new ``members'' by the end of the two-week pledge drive.

Everyone in America pays about $1 a year for public broadcasting through the IRS. That's a lot of quality broadcasting for a buck.

Those who actually listen to public radio or watch public television ought to dig a little deeper to support them.

Here's how funding works: The federal government strokes a check for public broadcasting to the Corporation for Public Broadcasting. CPB, in turn, allocates money to the 1,000 public-television and 620 public-radio stations around the country.

But those checks are shrinking. In 1995, the government spent $285 million on public broadcasting. In fiscal year 1996 (which ended on Sept. 30), the federal government appropriated $275 million. This year, funding will be at the $260 million level. After that, who knows?

Locally, funding for WHRV-FM has shrunk by 20 percent over two years. It received $204,616 in federal money in 1995. Last year that dropped to $171,351. It will be $161,008 in this fiscal year.

Public-radio fans in Hampton Roads have two choices during public radio's pledge drive: Tune out the pleas for money and hope other fans pitch in. Or they can make a pledge to keep public radio on the air. by CNB