Radio Public

Local Public Radio: Crosscurrents

Roman — Sat, 04 Apr 2009 21:12:54 +0000

Local public radio is where it’s at, friends. My home station of KALW just finished up it’s pledge drive, and during their nightly news program Crosscurrents, they’ve been running some of the best segments since the show started in August and it’s been great to hear. Like Thea Chroman’s report on modern day Hoovervilles in Fresno, CA. And Zoe Cornelli’s visit to a cool old radio repair shop she’s always meant to stop in (but, put off for years). And Martina Castro’s public transit jam on the train in San Francisco with Rupa and the April Fishes. All great stuff. Plus, this reporter has done some stories he’s particularly proud of about drunken pub trivia and a new book about an adventurous writer arriving in San Francisco. Both of which are a little too random, arty and weird for the national magazines. Again: local public radio is where it’s at, friends. If you’re only listening to NPR, you’re losing out.

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Holding back the Red River

Josh — Thu, 26 Mar 2009 14:46:53 +0000

Minnesota Public Radio is providing extensive coverage of the rising waters of the Red River along the border of North Dakota and Minnesota. Officials are now predicting the river will crest at record flood levels this weekend and volunteers are scrambling to fortify sandbag levees. Online, MPR has numerous audio reports, photos, and a nifty time lapse video of the sandbagging operation taking place at the Fargodome.

Fox News gains from the rise of Obama

Josh — Tue, 24 Mar 2009 17:08:03 +0000

Media correspondent David Folkenflik had a story on All Things Considered yesterday about the fortunes of Fox News under an Obama White House. Ratings are way up for Fox since the inauguration, and the network has gladly assumed the voice of opposition to the popular president as he struggles with the economic crisis. Folkenflik compares the Fox surge to the experience of liberal media outlets, such as The Nation and MSNBC, which flourished during the Bush Administration. And let us not forget good ol’ Rush Limbaugh under President Clinton. Many point to the influence of his popular radio show as a contributing factor to the Republicans taking back the House of Representatives in 1994.

Jason Segel and the bromance

Josh — Mon, 23 Mar 2009 22:36:32 +0000

Terry Gross gave a scant 5 minutes to Jason Segel’s new film, I Love You Man, and quickly moved the conversation to a subject she was clearly more interested in – last year’s Forgetting Sarah Marshall, which Segel wrote the screenplay for and starred in. Segel is a good storyteller, and quite thoughtful about the Judd Apatow school of comedy. But somehow it’s Terry Gross that steals the show by enjoying herself to no end and belly laughing through the interview. Plus, there is an all time classic follow up question about Segel’s nude scene in Sarah Marshall.

The outrage machine

Josh — Mon, 23 Mar 2009 22:34:02 +0000

On the Media placed last week’s coverage of the AIG bonus scandal into the ongoing race to pin the economic mess on any person, corporation, or political party the mob can get its hands on. AIG is just the latest outrage issue, and served as a stand in for a high stakes game of musical chairs – with the losers likely left holding the blame for the entire economic mess. Meanwhile, Democrats, Republicans, and cable news networks are all quick to doubt the authenticity any rival’s outrage. Brooke Gladstone spoke with New York Times media reporter Jim Rutenberg about how the lines between the politics and the media coverage are converging.

Seattle P-I moves online

Josh — Tue, 17 Mar 2009 18:04:51 +0000

Today marks the last print edition of the Seattle Post-Intelligencer, as the newspaper ends it 146 year run in the Northwest. The paper will significantly downsize its staff and move the operation entirely online. Seattle’s KUOW has extensive coverage of the P-I story, including an overview of the paper’s history. There are a number of current and past radio segments available as well as an interactive timeline and photo slide-show.

Of doodles and migraines

Josh — Thu, 12 Mar 2009 17:34:59 +0000

Maybe I’m just burned out on economics coverage right now because it feels like the only stories catching my ear on public radio are those news-of-the-weird science stories. Today, Morning Edition treated me to two segments along those lines. The first one was on how doodling keeps the brain busy during those boring work meetings. The second piece was on new research linking migraines to weather shifts. Were there a water cooler at Radio Public HQ, the cat and I would be trading quips on both of these stories.

NPR CEO outlines priorities

Josh — Mon, 09 Mar 2009 20:25:24 +0000

On the Media invited Vivian Schiller, the new CEO of National Public Radio, onto the show to outline her priorities as she takes over the reigns during tough economic times. Schiller, the former head of NYTimes.com, looks to push NPR and the public radio system (kicking and screaming?) to embrace the Web to a greater extent. She also looks to usher in a new era of cooperation between NPR and local stations. Schiller wants stations to view NPR.org not as a competitor, but as a partner.

Schiller was a bit vague (and Bob Garfield did not press) on any NPR plans for fundraising. Last fall, it was announced that NPR was looking to accept donations from their online audience, bypassing local stations. Although there was talk of revenue sharing, the plan was shelved after meeting resistance from some stations.

Schiller has been hammering away with a conciliatory tone towards local stations – a refreshing change to the ‘you’re either with us or against us’ dynamic that existed for years. And with the introduction (and continued evolution) of the the NPR API, the content sharing and collaborative newsgathering she talks of is possible and could provide a tremendous amount of flexibility to meet the needs and desires of individual stations. But the very structure of the public media system has been called as an obstacle to this type of online growth.

To hear more of Schiller’s views on NPR’s role in the system, you can watch her talk at the recent Integrated Media Association conference (select “introducing Vivian Schiller” under the Media Player) and her appearance at the National Press Club.

15 Minutes of Pure Radio Joy

Roman — Fri, 06 Mar 2009 06:22:27 +0000

This could also be titled, “Why Can’t U.S. Public Radio Do This, Part II.” As I was becoming more aware, I learned that Mr. Thorn made an appearance on a BBC Radio 4 show called “All of the Planet’s Wonders” featuring UK comedian Josie Long and produced by Colin Anderson. It is simply the most charming and delightful radio programme (sic) I have ever heard. It demands repeated listens for full effect, but it will be the best 15, 30 or even 45 minutes you will spend all day. Go now to hear episode #3, because per BBC rules, once the week is over it’s taken down, gone forever, and you’ll have to be content with episode #4. P.S. I can’t wait for episode #4!

Taste test: the Dinner Party Download

Josh — Thu, 05 Mar 2009 23:18:02 +0000

This afternoon I gave a first listen to The Dinner Party Download, a podcast out of KPCC in Pasadena hosted by APM producers Rico Gagliano and Brendan Newnam. Named one of iTunes top podcasts for 2008, each episode is a loose collection of quick features & short interviews themed around the phases of a dinner party – the ice breaker, small talk, guest of honor, etc. The Dinner Party Download doesn’t veer far from the post-Ira-Glass public radio aesthetic, but it’s a quick and enjoyable 15 minutes (I even went back for seconds). I think it’s great that more stations are looking to innovate on a smaller scale like this, but I don’t see Program Directors willing to think of their on-air schedules beyond the standard 30 and 60 minute blocks.