WHILE the National Public Radio news program “Weekend Edition” might not have the visual drawing power of CBS-TV’s “Sunday Morning,” it does have an ability to get people to think and in some cases help them make decisions.

That’s why an upcoming visit to Columbus by the NPR program’s senior producer Peter Breslow and journalist Susan Stamberg bodes well for the city in its effort to bring more people to this community.

Breslow and Stamberg are expected in Columbus later this month to conduct interviews with those familiar with the Columbus story that will be incorporated into a broadcast later in the year.

Columbus went through a similar — although smaller in scale — experience last year when CBS-TV “Sunday Morning” anchor Charles Osgood and a large crew spent several days taping segments for the popular weekend program that focused on arts and entertainment.

A major portion of that particular episode was dedicated to Columbus and the city got even more national exposure through subsequent showings.

Although it would be difficult to define the show’s impact on a scientific basis, there is no doubt that it and a national promotional campaign by the Indianapolis Museum of Art on behalf of the Miller House resulted in thousands of tourists visiting the city last year.

The city was a good match for “Sunday Morning” because of the program’s audience which leans to such subjects as art and architecture.

That’s a similar draw to the one that NPR’s “Weekend Edition” edition gets. It’s from that kind of audience that Columbus currently draws much of its customer base.

The point to stress in this message is that word about Columbus continues to spread in the right places. A great many in the audience for CBS’s “Sunday Morning” and NPR’s “Weekend Edition” have the financial wherewithal to not only visit but enjoy extended stays in cities like Columbus.

Economically that translates into significant revenues not only for the IMA and the Columbus Area Visitors Center but for local inns, restaurants and shops.

The ripple effects of this kind of promotion are enormous. Columbus not only gets mention on national media programs but the people who come here because of those programs continue to spread the word about the city after they have returned to their homes and friends.

It is a kind of promotional campaign that would normally cost hundreds of thousands in advertising dollars. For considerably less, Columbus receives an enormous return.

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