On Wednesday
(11/17) the public media trade publication of-record – Current – published a
detailed report about salaries and other compensation for many top public media
executives [link]. Almost as soon as the digital ink dried, observers began
speculating that the compensation data may fuel another round of CPB bashing in Congress.
A typical reaction
to the Current article warns that
high executive salaries may discourage listeners and viewers from pledging:
If this list goes viral, I can envision
a substantial - and justifiable - public backlash. Don't many Pub Radio
stations tell their listeners at Pledge Time "we need your $50 to keep the
lights on"? Many might now say - justifiably - that you need the $50 to
help pay your GM their $400K salary...
The salaries play
into the narrative that public broadcasting is doing so well it doesn’t need
taxpayer money or CPB. In 2011 former
Senator and current Heritage Foundation president Jim DeMint wrote in the Wall
Street Journal:
When presidents
of government-funded broadcasting are making more than the president of the
United States, it's time to get the government out of public broadcasting.
This mantra has
replaced the alleged “liberal bias” as a way to argue against public funding of
public media.
EDITORIAL COMMENT: On the list
below you will see names you recognize because of their excellent work at local
stations. With very few exceptions, the
executives on the Current list are
appropriately paid. Some need a raise, for instance, Wally Smith at WPPB,
Southampton, Long Island.
There is no doubt
the info published in Current will go
viral and it should. It is the public’s right to know when tax dollars and
public institutions are involved. I
salute reporter Ben Mook for his work on this and other topics. Current has emerged from years of
sleepwalking to become a vital mirror and conscientious voice about how public
media operates.
Last April we
reported on salaries for public and religious broadcasters [link]. That post
went viral – over 4,000 page views so far. I reported some of the same salaries
but Current’s list is larger.
HIGHLIGHTS FROM THE CURRENT LIST
This is an abridged
version. You can see the complete list (81 names) at [link]:
ST
|
STATION
|
MARKET
|
EXECUTIVE
NAME
|
AMOUNT
|
TAX
YEAR
|
AZ
|
KJZZ
|
Phoenix
|
Jim Paluzzi
|
$141,466
|
2014
|
CA
|
KCET-TV
|
Los Angeles
|
Al Jerome
|
$186,916
|
2013
|
CA
|
KCRW
|
Los Angeles
|
Jennifer Ferro
|
$311,523
|
2013
|
CA
|
KDFC
|
San Francisco
|
Bill Lueth
|
$255,852
|
2013
|
CA
|
KUSC
|
Los Angeles
|
Brenda Barnes
|
$226,012
|
2013
|
CA
|
KPCC
|
Los Angeles
|
Bill Davis
|
$441,535
|
2013
|
CA
|
KSJV
|
Fresno
|
Hugo Morales
|
$125,925
|
2013
|
CO
|
KCFR
|
Denver
|
Max Wycisk
|
$234,057
|
2012
|
MI
|
WUOM
|
Ann Arbor
|
Steve Schram
|
$229,500
|
2014
|
MO
|
KWMU
|
St. Louis
|
Tim Eby
|
$140,709
|
2013
|
NC
|
WUNC
|
Chapel Hill
|
Connie Walker
|
$150,014
|
2014
|
NY
|
WNYC
|
New York
|
Laura Walker
|
$790,115
|
2013
|
NY
|
WPPB
|
Long Island
|
Wally Smith
|
$36,000
|
2013
|
OR
|
KOPB
|
Portland
|
Steve Bass
|
$394,921
|
2013
|
PA
|
WXPN
|
Philadelphia
|
Roger LaMay
|
$234,000
|
2013
|
PA
|
WYEP
|
Pittsburgh
|
Abby Goldstein
|
$112,166
|
2013
|
PA
|
WHYY TV/FM
|
Philadelphia
|
William Marrazzo
|
$580,080
|
2013
|
WA
|
KPLU
|
Tacoma
|
Joey Cohn
|
$125,000
|
2014
|
WA
|
KEXP
|
Seattle
|
Tom Mara
|
$197,232
|
2013
|
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