With consolidation in the commercial market, large companies owning clusters of four or five stations in a market are able to pay hefty salaries for operating multiple stations. But public radio can't afford to pay as well. Jobie Sprinkle, director of engineering for WCQS, Asheville, N.C., and WFAE, Charlotte, N.C., remembers that as he was entering the field there were many engineers being trained at smaller stations and working their way up the ladder to larger markets. Now, he says, with a core group of engineers nearing retirement, it's becoming increasingly difficult to lure newer talent away from computer jobs offering higher salaries. We may not be on the creativity end and content end, but we work on and make possible the transportation medium that gets the products to folks.
Engineers take that satisfaction to their jobs.
That may be public radio's strongest selling point in competing for workers. Many, like Mitchell, Allison and Livingston, point out that graduating students aren't necessarily going to pick high salaries over quality work if they truly enjoy what they're doing. We didn't come for the money. To Current's home page .