NPR Faulted for Neglecting Classics

The National Endowment for the Arts has faulted National Public Radio for abandoning classical and jazz music in favor of more profitable formats, such as talk radio and news, reports The Washington Post.

In a report issued last week, the federal agency said that when public-radio stations cut specialized music programs, they neglect their cultural mission to support genres that commercial radio ignores. Since 1998, for instance, the number of commercial classical-music stations nationwide has dropped from 40 to 28.

Most listeners, the endowment says, first encounter “minority” forms of music through public radio. That has become more difficult lately, since the ratio of music to talk on public radio—which once tilted heavily in favor of music—now favors talk.

NPR countered that it has not abandoned those genres but has instead shifted niche-music programming to the Internet. Furthermore, it says it must respond to changes in the marketplace that have made news programs more popular.