Giving Thanks

Written by: WAMCRadio    Filed under: Alan Chartock     Comments: Comments Off   

What more can all of us say to all of you than thank you? We say this with the deepest gratitude for your understanding, love, patience and decency. We say thank you because of your willingness to sacrifice in order to keep WAMC going. A million dollars is an incredible amount of money. We have all built this radio station together. We have made it what it is today. We have held each others’ hands and kept going despite Governors who would have shut it all down; wars that we shouldn’t have had and repeated onslaughts by groups on both the extreme right and extreme left who would have muted our collective voice. You know that WAMC is committed to giving everyone a chance to speak. You know that our “listener essays” give perspectives from all kinds of people. The other day we had a letter from a perfectly well meaning woman who said that she noticed that among our Congressional Corner interviews we had been interviewing Congresswoman Nan Hayworth from the lower Hudson Valley. The woman wrote, “Please stop doing that.” In a single word, the answer is, “Never.” Once people can stop a conservative Republican from speaking, someone else will tell us to stop interviewing Maurice Hinchey or Bernie Sanders or Herb London. At that point, why have a radio station?

I think that one reason so many people gave this massive amount of money, a million dollars in ten days, is because they know that WAMC tries to be an honest broker; to keep the flow of ideas going. I’ve said it again and again: “You can’t have real democracy unless you have information.” Yep, information is the only way we can make intelligent choices. To me, it is pretty clear that the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, which gives out money to help stations keep going, is itself on life support. The Republicans in Congress want to kill it. They’ve said so. Congressman Chris Gibson, another regular on the Congressional Corner, bucked his party when he voted against the orders of his Republican leadership. Gibson, a decorated hero, Colonel, Ph.D. goes his own way. When some in his party were decrying Barack Obama for withdrawing troops from Iraq, Gibson commended the President. If you listen to the Congressional Corner on the Roundtable or online at WAMC.org, you can hear these people for themselves. As I told you, it’s information.

Our children can hear a great Tanglewood concert or an opera for themselves. As we shut down arts and music programs in our schools, the best antidote is to educate our kids through the radio. When they hear their parents listening, they learn. From politics to the arts, WAMC has grown and will continue to grow as each person who listens puts something in. If everyone were to do something we could do a lot more. To all of you who pledge in each and every drive, I can only say that I am in awe of you and your loyalty to an idea called WAMC and public radio. We’ve said it over and over again, “Any jackass can kick down a barn.” All of us have made the station what it is. As long as we can keep going, we will have something quite unique in the United States. We will have the courage to keep going, to keep testing ideas. As long as our resolve, or the resolve of our children and our friends and neighbors stays firm, we will have a great station.

I end as I began, a heartfelt thank you for your spirit and generosity and decency. I love you all.

WAMCRadio

WAMC/Northeast Public Radio is a regional public radio network serving parts of seven northeastern states. These include New York, Massachusetts, Connecticut, Vermont, New Jersey, New Hampshire and Pennsylvania. Stations and translators are in twenty locations throughout the region. Alan Chartock is President and CEO of the network. Our studios and offices are located at 318 Central Avenue in Albany, NY. WAMC/Northeast Public Radio is a member of National Public Radio and an affiliate of Public Radio International. Financial support comes from listeners who contribute annually in fund drives and other appeals as well as from underwriting by businesses, grant support for WAMC's National Productions and governmental sources such as the Corporation for Public Broadcasting and the New York State Education Department.

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