Three items regarding our local news: An embarrassing goof at Channel 3, the Incredible Shrinking Freeploid, and an ill-timed fundraiser at VPR.

WCAX oopsie: You know you’re in trouble as a Republican candidate in Vermont if… WGOP can’t get your name right. In a brief item written by one of its news anchors and posted on its website, the station refers to the Republican US Senate candidate as “James MacGovern.”

Er, the guy’s name is “John.”

Extra embarrassing for Mr. MacGovern: there are 18 viewer comments posted under the story, and NONE of them pointed out the error.

(If WCAX is reading this, the error may be fixed by the time you click on over.)

How small has the Freeploid gotten? We can all see, every morning, how much smaller the physical newspaper has become. But here’s an even starker indication: The ‘Loid wants to sell off its landmark downtown headquarters. And there’s a rather amazing statistic in the article:

The seven buildings on College Street that will be offered for sale total about 55,700 square feet, but the newspaper’s Information Center and business operations require only about 10,000 square feet.

So in the past, the Freeploid’s news and business operations required almost six times as much space as they do now. There’s the impact of all the outsourcing and cutbacks.

The company plans to retain ownership of its printing facility and mailroom on South Winooski Avenue, but it wants to sell off the downtown space and become a tenant, occupying a sliver of its former HQ. Sad.

After the jump: Why now, VPR?

Did VPR think this through? As anyone who listens to public radio is aware, it’s fundraising time at VPR. Ah yes, that magical time of the year when they pre-empt one-third of their drive-time programming, plus smaller chunks in the off-hours, to do the necessary job of begging for money.

A common refrain in this fall’s drive? The value of public radio’s election coverage.

Which it is PRE-EMPTING to raise money.

I know that mid-October is the standard time for pubcasters’ major fund drives, and there are some very good reasons for that. But during the height of the campaign? Less than three weeks before Election Day? Really?

Did anyone at VPR give this any thought? Or did the fundraising process simply roll on as usual?

It’s too late to fix this now, but I have two ideas for 2016. One, do the drive in late September and early October, before the campaign reaches its height. Or two, postpone it until shortly after the election and couple it with a very active mid-October pitch during regular programming breaks. 30-second spots or live reads, saying “We’re postponing our fund drive in order to bring you complete election coverage. This reporting is only possible with your help. Please consider making a pledge now, so we can continue to bring you complete coverage.”

Are both of those options so unworkable? Would the financial returns be so much lower? Somehow, I doubt it. But public radio has become a very large, high-stakes enterprise, which has to maintain a sharp eye on the bottom line. Sometimes, to the detriment of its supposed mission.