[blasdel]

Using the NPR model is pretty despicable if you're getting funding through more traditional means too.

For instance, Jesse Thorn (who's background is in public radio), asked for and got $15k in public donations to fund the first season of his web series: http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1136753854/put-this-on-s... — the problem is that his show is itself advertising — NPR does pledge drives to avoid ads, and here he is using the same mechanism to fund the production of commercials!