Recently, Minnesota Public Radio (MPR) CEO Bill Kling published an op/ed piece in the Saint Paul Pioneer Press titled "For LRT, but doubtful about Cedar St. route".
In his op/ed Kling writes:
"[MPR's objections to the LRT project] are not issues of inconvenience; they go to the heart of the services we provide, and the commitment we have to our 800,000 listeners and 100,000 members who have invested in our services and facilities for more than 40 years. It is their investment we are stewarding."
We find it interesting that MPR now embraces a responsibility to its "members and listeners who have in invested in [us] … for more than 40 years" that it not only ignored but deliberately assisted in helping St. Olaf College ignore in 2004.
St. Olaf's first responsibility was to the tens of thousands of members and listeners who had invested millions and millions of dollars in WCAL's services and facilities for more than EIGHTY years when it sold the WCAL trust assets to MPR.
In response to Kling's op/ed piece, a SaveWCAL supporter recently submitted the following satire piece to SaveWCAL:
A MODEST PROPOSAL
(with apologies to Jonathan Swift)It is a melancholy object to those who travel through this great Klingdom to contemplate the loss of the Minnesota Public Radio broadcast center. The imminent danger is the construction of the Light Rail Transit line hardly more than an arm’s length from that magnificent palace built with public financing.
The proposed construction has caused MPR, that eternally grateful recipient of corporate welfare, to threaten to "sue in inverse condemnation to recover the value of its $100+ million Broadcast Center plus relocation costs and related fees."
I think that it is agreed by all parties that it would be a calamity for the good citizens of this Klingdom to be deprived of hearing the same marches, overtures, and waltzes played ad nauseam over the public airwaves.
And all parties further agree that it would be far less of a burden on the public treasury to allow MPR to extort an additional $100+ million than it would be to move the route of the LRT at this late date.
Having turned my attention for several years to this important subject, I now humbly propose my own thoughts, which I hope will not be liable to the least objection.
As for the broadcast center, there is a simple solution at hand. In Anno Domini 2004 St. Olaf College sold to MPR "all of Seller’s real property used or held for use in the operation of the Stations (including any appurtenant easements and improvements located thereon)."
That provision of the purchase agreement includes Skifter Building, the broadcast center for WCAL, the victim of that necessary public radio fratricide by which MPR also acquired the licenses for 89.3 FM and 88.7 FM. Although overlooked at the time of the transaction, this clever acquisition of Skifter Building now demonstrates the true genius of our King Kling and his alacrity in seizing the opportunity to take advantage of the Regents of St. Olaf College for the common good. The relocation costs for moving the MPR center to Skifter Building will not diminish the public treasury by too great an amount.
But my intention is far from being confined to provide only for the relocation of the MPR broadcast center. It is of a much greater extent—to provide for a tranquil setting "far from the madding crowd’s ignoble strife" in which His Majesty may contemplate the next victim of his insatiable desire to expand his empire.
Surely the St. Olaf College Regents would consider an offer from MPR of its $100+ million condemnation award to be more than generous for the purchase of the entire campus of St. Olaf College. Then the MPR logo may replace the cross on the top of Boe Chapel, and a dollar sign in gold may be placed on the altar.
Relieved of the monetary obligation to maintain the Northfield campus and of those worrisome legal and moral obligations to honor promises made to the WCAL donors to operate a public radio station "for generations to come," the Regents could depart from their wilderness in the country. Then they could use their newly acquired riches from MPR to develop on-line courses that reflect their "core values," such as a new and very profitable course entitled Greed is Good.
As for that tiresome Christmas Festival at St. Olaf College, which has been repeated each year for almost a century, it may be replaced by the MPR production of How the Grinch Stole Christmas!
I think that the advantages of the proposal which I make are obvious and many, as well as of the highest importance. I profess, in the sincerity of my heart, that I have not the least personal interest in endeavoring to promote this most necessary project, sharing with MPR no motive other than the public good.
(Your humble and obedient servant offers the most profound apologies to Mr. Jonathan Swift.)
The satire has received attention from The Periodic Table and City Pages' Blotter, among others.
Kling's op/ed piece and MPR's efforts to de-rail the Central Corridor Light Rail project from going down Cedar Avenue in Saint Paul have been reported on in a number of news outlets, including:
- MinnPost.com's "Central Corridor supporters fear MPR objections could derail LRT project" [http://www.minnpost.com/stories/2008/12/16/5302/central_corridor_supporters_fear_mpr_objections_could_derail_lrt_project]
- Saint Paul Pioneer Press / TwinCities.com's "Tune in, not out" [http://www.twincities.com/opinion/ci_11264860?nclick_check=1]
- TCSidewalk's "Kling-On Attack" [http://tcsidewalks.blogspot.com/2008/12/kling-on-attack.html]
- Minneapolis StarTribune's "LRT on Cedar to stay put" [http://www.startribune.com/local/stpaul/36607544.html?elr=KArksLckD8EQDUoaEyqyP4O:DW3ckUiD3aPc:_Yyc:aUUT]
- Across The Great Divide's "Just When I Thought Things Were Getting Clearer" [http://greatdivide.typepad.com/across_the_great_divide/2008/12/just-when-i-thought-i-was-getting-better.html
- Hubs And Spokes' "Met Council says 'Nice try to MPR'" [http://hubandspokes.blogspot.com/2008/12/met-council-says-nice-try-to-mpr.html]
- MSP Magazine Adam Platt's "The Grinch Who Stopped Central Corridor?" [http://blogs.mspmag.com/adamplatt/2008/12/the-grinch-who-stopped-central.html]
- Saint Paul Pioneer Press Joe Soucheray's "Maybe Minnesota Public Radio will stop the bluster about LRT and just leave" [http://www.twincities.com/ci_11299806?IADID=Search-www.twincities.com-www.twincities.com]
- Shot In The Dark's "MPR: Not On My Street, Part I" and "MPR: Not On My Street, Part II" [http://www.shotinthedark.info/wp/?p=3894, http://www.shotinthedark.info/wp/?p=3895] which also appeared on True North [http://www.looktruenorth.com/limited-government/local-control/6301-mpr-not-on-my-street-part-ii.html]
The comments/replies posted in response to these articles by readers have been very interesting.
UPDATE 01/05/09: More articles have been appearing regarding MPR and Bill Kling's efforts regarding the LRT Central Corridor project. In fact, the MPR news network issued a story, later distributed by Associated Press, that reports the problems can be mitigated and funding has already been set aside to do so.
- Coyote Blog's "We Love [Name of Government Project] As Long As Someone Else Bears the Cost" [http://www.coyoteblog.com/coyote_blog/2009/01/we-love-name-of-government-project-as-long-as-someone-else-bears-the-cost.html]
- Mercury Rising's "Is It About The Wires?" [http://phoenixwoman.wordpress.com/2009/01/05/is-it-about-the-wires/]
- MinnPost.com "Central Corridor light-rail leaders urge Minnesota Public Radio to get on board" [http://www.minnpost.com/politicalagenda/2009/01/05/5577/central_corridor_light-rail_leaders_urge_minnesota_public_radio_to_get_on_board]
(While the Pioneer Press usually allows comments on articles and op/ed pieces, there is no such option provided at this time for readers to respond to Kling's original op/ed piece.)
{ 9 comments… read them below or add one }
Boy, the way Kling is taking up airtime to run his commercials attacking the Met Council you can understand why first Hatch and now Swanson were/are too scared to do their job and defend the WCAL trust. Kling would've torpedoed their gubernatorial campaigns faster than he can spin Pachelbel's Canon.
I agree that "Greed is Good" would be an appropriate addition to the St. Olaf catalogue. It could bring Thomforde back as a visiting "scholar", if nothing else. (He could team teach it with Kling, with perhaps a guest lecture from McDaniel and maybe even Piper.) With Petters, Madoff, et. al. there would be a multitude of mentors for the students to learn from and, no doubt, emulate.
Ooh, Kling in the bell tower of Boe. Ah, but that's another metaphor.
From an email by Andy Driscoll to his listeners:
==================
Former State Senator and author John Milton takes Bill Kling to task. Kling must not win this one. Every point in Milton's brief admonition is on the money; MPR knew all of this from Day One and is just now wanting to raise dust? Shame on Kling. Using the public's airwaves to advance a personal agenda is a nasty turn for a public radio station. MPR has long since evolved into just another corporate media empire. A sad commentary on the genre.
Andy Driscoll
–
Andy Driscoll, Producer/Host
Lynnell Mickelsen, Co-host
Truth to Tell & CivicMedia/Minnesota
KFAI Radio, 90.3 Minneapolis/106.7 St. Paul/Streamed@ KFAI.org
651-293-9039 / Fax: (same, call ahead)
———-
From: "John Milton"
Date: December 19, 2008 4:06:33 PM CST
To: "Bill Kling"
Subject: MPR vs Central Corridor
Bill –
I just heard your misleading appeal to listeners on KNOW, to join you in trying to derail the Central Corridor project. In this crusade you've chosen, you are not partially wrong — you are entirely wrong. Keep reading . . .
1. I have read the relevant documents in this dispute, and to any impartial observer they do not support the conclusion that MPR must win this battle or move out of downtown St. Paul. That is just your way of throwing your weight around.
2. The documents clearly show that MPR, and everyone else who cares to read them, could and should have expected the alignment to pass down Cedar Street, as planned before you built your new palace.
3. In the rest of the world's cities, far larger and more advanced than St. Paul, radio/TV/network communications have thrived in close proximity to underground and street-level transit. Only MPR says that the line can't be built without disrupting your broadcasts.
4. So far on the Hiawatha Line, the complaint has been that the trains run so silently that people don't know they're coming. There goes your argument about "noise in the background" while you're broadcasting.
5. I find it despicable that you have fanned the fears of the church people alongside you in order to serve your interest.
6. I assume that since so few of your major donors are based in St. Paul, the delay or even killing of the Central Corridor project is not a big threat to most of them.
Rather than follow your advice (to help you pressure the Metro Council to bend over for King Kling), I will simply not contribute to your wholly-owned enterprise in the future, and I will urge my friends, one by one, to follow suit.
I hope you lose this one, Bill.. Arrogance shouldn't always prevail.
– John W. Milton, Afton, MN
Bill Kling, who owns the MPR empire outright (and never discloses his compensation), is intensifying his attack on the Central Corridor light rail system, intending to derail it if he gets his way, and threatening to leave St. Paul if he doesn't. Those of us who've experienced his methods when he destroyed WCAL know that there's no way to prevail unless we beat him decisively.
Please ask your SaveWCAL members to send letters to the editor of the Pioneer Press and StarTribune, urging MPR to work with the Central Corridor people on a solution that allows rail transit to connect the Twin Cities, and mitigates the noise factor for MPR on the agreed upon Cedar Street route in St. Paul.
Now is the time. If King Kling wins, we lose light rail for an indefinite period, perhaps forever. Please write letters now, and pass the word. Thank you!
Kling has clearly miscalculated.
With his ultimatums…he's now further isolated himself from some of the key power players that he's so carefully cultivated over so many years. He's been flying so high (in his own mind), for so long, that he's failed to notice reality:
He's flying too close to the "sun", that strange "burning" smell, and his (and MPR's) rapid loss of "altitude".
The wounds keep on coming…not only LRT, but also fundraising failures leading to staff and program cuts in the newsroom and elsewhere, member furor over cancellation of the Morning Show… etc.
Regarding the "comments unavailable" on TwinCities.com. Apparently, if any reader "flags" any comment on a posting (reporting it as spam, abusive, inappropriate) etc. then the site takes the entire comment stream down and prohibits additional posting. Instead, they could have chosen to hide the offending comment and leave everyone else's legitimate thoughts up for all to read.
This means, for example, that anyone at MPR or pro-Kling could effectively strangle conversation by simply flagging a comment. Not saying they did. Just saying they could. Sheesh! Talk about preventing free speech!
Dear Folks,
The issue is not vibration for recording & broadcasting, you are being fooled.
The big flap at MPR is the overhead wires obstucting the view of the Capitol from Kling's office – that's all it is . . .
How's your work view?
Bill Kling and MPR's refusal to appear on KFAI or elsewhere to discuss the Central Corridor light rail issue is exactly why we need more than one public/ community radio network, here in Minnesota.
It's also yet one more of many, many reasons why SaveWCAL's
work is so important.
Kling seems to ignore that it is the public that truly "owns" the airwaves and it is the public that deserves the widest possible access to them, not Kling. The public also deserves the widest, most competitive public radio system possible, not Kling's version, which seeks to limit, control, and then profit from the lack of competition.
Now we see one of the darkest outcomes of "Kling's public radio": a near-monopoly, which now refuses to be held accountable, or even answer, to anyone. Thank goodness we still have KFAI and its sister stations of IPR* (Independent Public Radio), to raise raise these important issues, when MPR will not.
Yet, if Kling and his buddies have their way, their "wild-west" public-radio take-over schemes will continue without challenge, and IPR's days could be numbered. So too, could dozens of other independently-held public and community radio licenses here in Minnesota, and around the country.
Yet Kling seems to have over-stepped in many ways recently, including repeatedly lobbying/advocating for a political position over its own airwaves, which could threaten their 501 c3 non-profit status, not to mention the rapidly evaporating goodwill among its own supporters.
The bigger they are, the harder they…
This is the modern-day version of David vs Goliath.
And the winner will be…….David!