I thought that the link here was pretty interesting in how it discussed the difference between NPRs interest and individual stations. NPR can, and does, distribute onli…ne pretty successfully. I love NPR and almost all of my NPR listening is through online distribution and not through affiliate stations (I am eagerly awaiting the day when one of the Sunday Puzzle winners says “Oh, I don’t listen to a station. I get the podcast”).

The real long-term problem for NPR stations doesn’t seem to be loss of federal funding or this sort of idiotic sting operation. It seems to be that it is that they’ll see more and more of people just listening online, going around the traditional station distribution model, and less and less of people giving money to a specific station as members.