Is WBEZ missing a bet?
The current pledge drive runs through the end of this week. The station is drilling into our heads the reasonable argument that if we like the station’s programming we ought to help pay for it. The dominant chord struck is celebratory, but there’s an undertone of fear and urgency. A note of, if not us, who?
I hear Jerome McDonnell and Shannon Heffernan talking up their station’s coverage of education—which damn well deserves all the praise it gets. WBEZ is “killing it” on education, says McDonnell. “We have Linda Lutton because you give us money,” says Heffernan. McDonnell chimes in, “Linda’s putting gas in her car, going on to all those schools, talking to all those people—that is you paying for it!”