One was Bill Kling, president of Minnesota Public Radio in St. Paul and founder of American Public Radio. This was originally published Feb. 15, 1993. At a time when the spirit of a new national agenda is high, the mission of public radio fits well into the public understanding and assimilation of that agenda just as it has for every administration since Lyndon Johnson's.
Public radio reaches opinion leaders.
Our listeners sit on school boards, they volunteer, they are legislators, heads of companies, policymakers, social workers and activists. In short, they have a considerably higher degree of influence, as catalysts for change, than average. Much of their knowledge base and understanding of national and international issues is fed by the programming they hear on public radio. And that's where we make the difference. Government cannot afford to solve all the problems of our society, nor can it effectively react to all of the opportunities that will move us forward.