Kevin Klose, president and chief executive officer of National Public Radio, said he has been listening to public radio for the last 25 years because it provides in-depth news coverage.

“There’s not extensive news coverage in commercial radio,” he said. “I think they’ve left the responsibility for doing radio news to National Public Radio.”

Klose said NPR’s mission has remained consistent through media changes and technological advances.

“Our mission is to provide news information and cultural programming,” he said. “I think it’s a huge accomplishment that we do that at a very good level.”

Klose said NPR’s hard work paid off in 2000 when they won the National Medal of Arts, presented by former President Bill Clinton.

NPR’s focus has shifted in response to Sept. 11, 2001 he said.

“We’re now living in the post-9/11 world,” he said. “We have to figure out how to best report on the issues that came out of those attacks.”

Klose said NPR has been criticized for presenting Middle Eastern points of view along with American perspectives.

“We’re determined to tell all sides of this story,” he said. “That means an advocate of one side may not be hearing everything they’re wanting to hear. That’s a criticism we continue to take.”

Klose said NPR’s live, top of the hour news reports can inform college students who want to know about a world outside of campus.

“Eventually, everyone will graduate and you have to know the world you’re going into,” he said.

David Long, general manager for KURE 88.5 FM, said students interested in public radio could benefit from the lack of commercials the station offers.

“Students should listen to KURE and other non-mainstream radio stations because you’re exposed to a wider variety of music than you would hear on a Clear Channel station,” he said.

Klose said students in all majors should take advantage of every learning opportunity they can on campus. He said salespeople, engineers, astrophysicists and farmers all need to know how to write clearly to be competitive in today’s job market.

“Students must be able to express themselves in clear, declarative, American English sentences,” he said. “Anyone in any circumstance will have a better life if they can do that.”