As addressed to the manager of KCNV in Las Vegas, NV:

With regards to KNPR and its fund-raising efforts, I would like to take this opportunity to express my opinion.

I believe that I have GÇ£more rightGÇ¥ to say what I'm about to say because I have and am supporting the stations, than if I were not currently a supporter. In all honesty, my support is far more for KCNV than it is for KNPR.

I donated my wife's car last year. I also pledged during your fall campaign.

These donations may seem like small potatoes when compared with many of your donations and pledges, but we are both in our 70s and our financial circumstances are far from what they were when we first moved to Reno in 1986.

First, I proudly admit that I am an unapologetic conservative, which likely puts me in a minority among your supporters/members. I am working in a capacity where I have KCNV on during working hours for the pleasure of my clients. As an honest conservative, since I am accepting something I believe has value, I am contributing to the stations.

However, I no longer have any faith in the news reporting of NPR. In an overall climate where less than 4% of journalists' financial donations went to the Republican party/candidate - and probably less than that where NPR personnel are concerned - during the recent political season, too few stories show real objectivity. Between the selection of topics and the approach taken regarding those topics, NPR's agenda is readily apparent.

When I leave this job, I most likely will drop off your membership rolls, as well. I can find music I like at no charge on the Internet; I can find news I trust on the Internet. When I'm in the car, I can listen to stations somewhat less highbrow in nature, and my next vehicle may even be able to tune into satellite radio for a fraction of what I donate to the stations.

As for the proposed budget which would cut off Federal funds for PBS/NPR, I actually approve. Why should someone who doesn't use those services - for example, someone whose idea of GÇ£classical musicGÇ¥ begins and ends with The Beach Boys, the Beatles, or A Fifth of Beethoven - have any of their money taken from them and given to a service which exists to please people who can afford to pay for the service themselves?

I can understand providing GÇ£seed moneyGÇ¥ to get a concept off the ground, though I even have reservations about using tax dollars in that manner. (See GÇ£SolyndraGÇ¥) But at some point, the concept should graduate to a self-supporting level. An example of this would be the support the government gave in the early years of electrification of the country. Even today, there are areas which are GÇ£off the grid,GÇ¥ but the people who live in those areas have found ways to accommodate their needs.

But after five decades, the Corporation for Public Broadcasting has served whatever purpose it originally had; now, it's simply one more trough for the government to fill for unappreciative swine, who could fill it themselves.

J.D. Jenkins
Las Vegas, NV