I was pleased to see the letter to the editor (BDN, Jan. 30) from Phyllis Rees of Trenton regarding Maine Public Radio. She brought up the subject that needs to be addressed – the management of Maine Public Radio and, for that matter, Maine Public Television. Both are in serious trouble. The programming decisions made by MPBC President Rob Gardiner and other members of management, both in television and radio, are lacking in creativity and do not demonstrate a commitment to excellence in broadcasting, which I assume are paramount to the mission of public broadcasting at national and state levels.

For too many years now, Gardiner’s commitment has been to repetitious programming. If a half-hour of “Hyacinth” on Friday night TV is good, then an hour and a half must be better. If an episode of “The Antiques Road Show” pleases the viewers, then “The Antiques Road Show” almost every night of the week will please them even more. If one episode of a nature program is enjoyable, then three hours back to back will make the viewers even happier.

Now the head man brings the same limited vision and thinking to public radio in Maine. Talk is good; talk all day will be better. It will also be easier. Pull the programs in from the national source, set a few controls at the station, turn out the lights and let it go on automatic. Pretty soon there won’t be a need for any staff at all, maybe not even Gardiner.

I did not attend the recent meeting of MPR’s Board of Trustees. A friend who did described the Catch-22 the board is in regarding programming decisions. The board president told the assembled crowd of the board’s written policy not to deal with programming decisions. On the face of it, this seems a ludicrous policy, since programming is the heart of radio’s purpose. If the board stays away from that there is not much of substance for it to do.

I understand from others, who in recent weeks have been informing themselves about MPR’s history, that this prohibition against board input on programming may be in state statute. There was legislative opposition to the prohibition at the time the proposed legislation was discussed. If the prohibition on board input about programming is law, then it is too bad the opposition voices were not heeded at the time. But the Legislature can rectify this by changing the law now.

The crowd at the January MPR board meeting was told that if they had programming concerns they should go to the Community Advisory Group. But under the board’s policy of having nothing to do with programming, it would do no good whatsoever for the community group to come to the board with programming advice or suggestions.

I have also now spoken to a member of the Community Advisory Group. It meets only twice a year, attendance is sporadic and this member feels it was meant to be a rubber stamp for decisions that MPR management has already made. So it is not a pro-active group that we can expect to carry the discontent of many MPR listeners to either the management or the Board of Trustees.

At the January board meeting, Gardiner or Charles Beck, vice president of radio services, told the crowd that, from the changes it was implementing to mostly talk radio, the staff expected about a 3 percent decline in members or listeners, and about a three percent gain. All this ill will and unhappiness for a result that is no better than a draw?

This brings up the all-important issue of money, one to which any board (and any management) should be expected to pay attention. I suspect Gardiner and Beck have asked the board to look at this issue almost exclusively. It is easy and probably all too common for boards of directors to become so focused on “the bottom line” that questions related to the organization’s or business’ mission are left by the wayside. Left behind, in this case, is MPR’s mission to excellence in broadcasting, to meeting listening needs in all parts of the state and taking account of its wide audience of varying ages and cultures.

I would not fault the board or management for paying attention to MPR’s finances. The information about the 3 percent gain or loss, however, does not indicate that listener support in the form of donations is at issue. It seems, then, like another example of poor management that those in charge are not paying better heed to the persistent complaints about the new programming on public radio.

Now to thoughts about that new programming. I am sick of a full day (with only three to three and a half hours of music in the morning) of talk. The creeping advance of talk grew from a walk to a run and now to a virtual marathon. I do not happen to be one of the discontented who listened to the Opera. But I’ve always liked the fact that it was there and available for those who do want it, and occasionally I would listen to a part or all of an opera and feel the better for it. Likewise, I am not crazy about organ music, but I have been glad “Pipe- dreams” has been available (at a reasonable time) for those who like it above all things.

I am not even a particularly avid classical music fan, but I long for it now in place of “All Things Considered” that comes on even earlier, the noontime slot that has gone, over time, to two hours of talk, and now with the “marathon” mentality, the entire afternoon is turned over to more talk. The world is full of enough talk as it is. Respite is needed and MPR used to provide us with some of that.

Maine’s state budget provides 19 percent of MPR’s funding – a substantial portion of its resources. A joint legislative hearing by the Appropriations Committee and the Education Committee took testimony on MPR on Jan. 24. No final decision has yet been made about the state’s budget. All of us who have concerns about the programming changes should contact our legislators and ask them to consider very carefully whether MPR deserves the amount it is receiving.

As well as sending copies of your letters to your legislator, also send them to Mr. Neil Rolde, chair of MPR’s Board of Directors, in care of Maine Public Radio, 1450 Lisbon St., Lewiston 04240. I also believe it is time to begin talking to MPR’s underwriters, sponsors and individual donors about their continued support of mostly-talk radio.

Jane Weil lives in Steuben.