I received the note below from Tom Crann, host of All Things Considered and thought his words were worth sharing with you, Friend.
MPR is funded by listeners, and Member support is truly critical at this time. With recent losses of program support related to the pandemic, every donation makes a tremendous impact for this vital public service. If you can, please make a gift today to sustain the services you rely on.
Even in trying times, some things remain constant. MPR’s dedication to our audiences — to you — is unwavering, today and always.
Listener support is essential to keeping our services available to everyone.
Thank you,
Lindsay Kimball Director of Membership
----------Original Message--------- From: Tom Crann, Minnesota Public Radio Date: April 7, 2020 at 6:41:36 PM CST To: Lindsay Kimball, Minnesota Public Radio Subject: What a week!
Hi Lindsay (and your terrific membership team),
I’ve been seeing the MPR NEWS IS HERE FOR YOU “donate now” banners and I wanted to send you an update on what our members are supporting.
I’ve been hosting All Things Considered from my “home studio” for over a week now. I’m all set-up in the spare room of my house. It’s been a challenge, made much more workable because of our amazing technical team from “ops.” They’ve been supporting the newsroom in getting us all set up to report, file and even host the show from home for weeks now. It’s an amazing feat. They’re the best in the business.
Our reporters and editors are almost all working at home, and they too have digital connections that make them sound as good as possible when we connect with them on air.
Friends, and even colleagues here at MPR, have been surprised that there’s so little difference in the sound from the usual studio broadcasts. That’s the goal, and it has worked as smoothly as possible, even though it’s pretty complex. Everybody is adapting to new ways of getting the news out to the audience. But you can’t tell when you look at MPRNews.org or listen on air. I keep hearing from listeners directly and through social media that they really appreciate having MPR News steady and solid, with information they need at a frightening time. And as a listener, I know our music stations Classical MPR and the Current are just what we all need when we need a break from the sometimes-tough news. I am also heartened to see and read fundraising success stories at public radio stations around the country. Here’s hoping that people are clicking that “donate now” button.
I just wanted to let you know that what they’re supporting is pretty extraordinary right now, even if it sounds as solid as they’re used to everyday.
I say often that our members are “always amazing but never surprising!” That’s never been more true. Stay safe and well. –tjc
