Past Is Prologue?

An interesting piece on the eclectic Delancey Place blog reminds that reactions and expectations about to technology change are often far from how it turns out. While mostly focused on the postal system, they also mention radio:

When Thomas Edison invented his improved telephone receiver in 1877, he thought it would become a medium for broadcasting concerts and plays to remote auditoriums. For twenty-five years after radio was developed at the end of the nineteenth century, people chiefly regarded it as a means of ship-to-shore communication.

Drizin Joins AIR's Makers Quest 2.0

Julie Drizin is taking over as talent manager of the Public Radio Makers Quest 2.0, an initiative of the Association of Independents in Radio (AIR) to cultivate new producer-driven projects, as Ingrid Lakey goes on maternity leave as of Wednesday. Lakey had been with MQ2 since last September.

Drizin is an award-winning producer and manager who began her career at WXPN in Philadelphia. She also served as news director for Pacifica Radio, senior producer of NPR’s “Justice Talking,” managing producer of news/talk programming at WETA in Washington, DC and, most recently, assistant director at J-Lab: The Institute for Interactive Journalism.

AIR Executive Director Sue Schardt said:

Julie has some big shoes to fill. We’re excited at the experience and new thinking she will bring to MQ2, and to the impact our producers are having as they help to lead and reshape the industry.

Drizin will be the liaison to the MQ2’s eight producers whose projects are under way and with the station and network MQ2 incubators and partners: NPR, APM, KPCC in Los Angeles, Youth Radio, PRI’s Studio 360/WNYC in New York, and KUOW in Seattle.

Genachowski Confirmed as FCC Chief

Julian Genachowski was cleared by the Senate yesterday to become chair of the Federal Communications Commission. Republican Commissioner Robert McDowell was also reconfirmed.

Broadcasting and Cable reported:

Genachowski is now cleared to take the helm, with acting Chairman Michael Copps returning to commissioner status after a roundly-praised spearheading of the final push toward the analog shutoff-initially slated for Feb. 17 before being postponed until June 12.

The Obama Administration is also moving to fill the other vacancies on the Commission:

Things were moving swiftly Thursday. The White House announced its intention to nominate former NTIA acting head Meredith Attwell Baker to a Republican seat, followed within hours by its notice that it had sent that nomination and of South Carolina utility regulator Mignon Clyburn to the Senate, where they must now go through a confirmation hearing and full Senate vote.
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This American Life Nominated for Radio Hall of Fame

Public radio show This American Life is among the current nominees for induction into the National Radio Hall of Fame. TAL is nominated in the "national - active" category.

Online voting ends at midnight on Aug. 1. Registration on the site is required to vote.

See all RHOF nominees.

Cast your ballot.

See the complete list of members of the RHOF.

Two other public radio programs are already in the hall: All Things Considered and Car Talk. The list of inductees with public radio cred includes: Bob Edwards, Susan Stamberg, Garrison Keillor, Karl Haas, Marian McPartland, Tom and Ray Magliozzi and Red Barber.

HD Radio Team Plans New Ad Campaign

The HD Digital Radio Alliance will launch a new ad campaign that focuses on HD Radio’s sound quality and access to more local stations. However, the ad push will also promote the first portable HD Radios.

The ad blitz begins Monday and runs on in the top 100 markets for 13 weeks.

Twice, a consumer electronics blog elaborates:

The new campaign, described as “light, fun and very informative,” introduces radio airwave explorer Jean Luc Tuner, who “discovers the beauty of upgrading to HD Radio technology — more stations for free,” the alliance said. They also explain, “If you don’t have an HD Radio, you’re not hearing HD Radio.”

Retiring But KQED's Clarke Not Headed for Rocking Chair

Jeff Clarke, president and CEO of KQED, San Francisco, announced his retirement Tuesday. He has been at KQED since 2002 and been in broadcasting for 44 years.

Clarke, who is 62, will remain in his post until June 30 of next year or until a successor is named.

He told The San Francisco Chronicle, "... the time has come for me to go and do some other things I enjoy in life."

Andy Carvin on the End of Passive Listeners

This is a quote from NPR's Andy Carvin:

As social media strategist, my job is to develop ways for NPR to engage the public — and vice versa — as a way to expand and strengthen our journalism. Public radio has always had a strong community of listeners, but we didn't have the tools available for them to interact with us, and each other. Social media is changing all of that; "listeners" no longer have to be passive.

This comes from an interview that appears on the Point of View blog. Carvin talks about social media, "friends" and embracing "your inner community organizer".

Effron Joins The Takeaway at Executive Producer

A former major player in the MSNBC cable television operation has been named executive producer of The Takeaway, the morning drive-time show produced by Public Radio International and WNYC Radio, along with The BBC World Service, The New York Times, and WGBH Boston Radio.

Mark Effron, who spent four years as vice president of daytime programming at MSNBC, will join the program hosted by John Hockenberry.

Said Dean Cappello, chief creative officer and senior vice president of programming at WNYC"

"The world of journalism and media is changing so rapidly that public radio needs the experience and competitive savvy that Mark clearly brings. He's a great leader at a time of tremendous opportunity for The Takeaway and public media."

"Mark's extensive news experience at both the station and network level, along with his experience in new media, make him an ideal fit for this position," said Melinda Ward, Senior Vice President, Content at PRI.

Most recently, Effron helped develop and run Titan TV Media, a digital network that helps local affiliates to create fully-monetizable web properties. Effron is also a prolific writer on industry trends, with particular focus on those that involve the crossroads of new media and traditional media.

Johnson Leaving NWPR

Veteran public radio programmer/manager Roger Johnson has taken an early retirement offer and will be leaving his position as Station Manager of Northwest Public Radio at the end of the week.

Roger has worked in public radio for 35 years and is a former member of the PRPD Board. Prior to moving to Pullman, he was Program Director at KPLU, Tacoma.

In a note to colleagues he wrote:

For now, I’m going to take a little time off. But I know I have many good years left, so we'll just have to see what develops. Please keep in touch.

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Norris Takes Leave to Write Book on Race

ATC's Michele Norris is going on leave for the summer to work on a book about race in America. The book will be published by Pantheon, and the tentative title is Say What?

Norris told The New York Observer the book will be about the “hidden conversation on race” that has occurred since the 2008 presidential campaign. She said, " People talk about race one way in public and they often — not always but often – talk about it in a different way and at a different tempo in the private sphere. And I just want to pull back the curtain a little bit.”

The idea for the book came out of a series of three discussions on race she and Morning Edition’s Steve Inskeep conducted in York, PA.
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WFUV' Adds Video Podcasts to iTunes

AllAccess.com reports that WFUV, New York's Triple-A public station, is now offering video podcasts of "exclusive live sessions" from the program Alternate Side for download on iTunes.

The article reports:

New video podcasts will become available on iTunes every Monday, with this week's clip being OF MONTREAL's cover of THE BEATLES' "I'm So Tired."

NPR Names Stencel Digital News ME

This from an NPR internal memo by Dick Meyer and Kinsey Wilson published by mediabirstro.com's Fisbowl DC:

We are very happy for NPR that Mark Stencel will be joining us as the new Managing Editor, Digital News beginning July 20. Mark is one of the most experienced, versatile, serious and well-liked news leaders of his generation. His mix of experience in breaking news, political reporting, digital innovation, technology leadership and the business is wholly unique and impressive.

After a long run with The Washington Post, Mark joined Congressional Quarterly in 2005. He is currently the Executive Editor and Deputy Publisher of Governing magazine and Governing.com.

Can First Lady Reverse Decline of Jazz?

Michelle Obama was pronounced the savior of American couture before the last inaugural ball was over. The First Couple is being credited for bringing back romance and date nights, and the Obama himself was called the President of the Geeks recently by comedian John Hodgman.

Now, the First Lady is being looked to to save jazz.

Writing on The Daily Beast, Judith H. Dobrzynski says a new National Endowment for the Arts study shows jazz listenership in decline. However, when the First Lady held what she called a "jazz studio" at the White House, people took notice.

Dobrzynski wrote of the NEA study:

The music that drew more than one out of 10 Americans out of their homes to concert or club sessions in 2002 attracted only 7.8 percent of us last year. Worse, jazz, which had always appealed strongly to the 18- to 24-year-old demographic, is now luring an older crowd: The median age of jazz consumers jumped from 29 in 1982 to 46 last year.

She adds:

The Obamas, being way more cool, would have a much bigger impact with young people. If they keep jazz alive at the White House, and gain media attention for it, they could help replace jazz’s aging audience.

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CPB Givesaway Money to The Takeaway

The Takeaway -- the morning news program created by Public Radio International, WNYC, WGBH, the BBC World Service and the New York Times -- has received CPB funding for a second season. This second grant from CPB is for $1.35 million.

The Takeaway, hosted by John Hockenberry, also receives support from Liberty Mutual and the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation, with additional support from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, the Rockefeller Foundation, the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation, the Skoll Foundation, the Henry Luce Foundation, the Freeman Foundation and the Starr Foundation.

Next for HD Radio: Traffic Reporting, Addressability & More

What's up with HDX Radio these days?

Robert Struble, iBiquity’s chief executive, told the Wall Street Journal:

The next thing for us is real-time traffic reporting, the ability to transmit traffic data as its happening. Both car buffs and people just listening to the radio will want to use this. Also, we’re looking at addressability — things like targeted content, so a station can send content to a certain listening area and not another, which is one of the great things about multicast. And lastly, image support. With all these radios you’ve got great screens, especially in cars, so you’ll be able to see station logos, album art, maybe even sports scores. When you’re on a digital platform, you can just continue to grow and grow.

Read the full interview.

'Pirate' Mom's Penalty of $80,000 Per Song Stands

Jammie Thomas-Rasset, the Minnesota mom who was convicted of illegally downloading music from the Internet, was found liable to pay $80,000 per song, or $1.92 million.

A federal jury earlier this week ruled that Thomas-Rasset violated the copyrights on 24 songs. The single mother of four used the Kazaa peer-to-peer file-sharing network to download the songs over the Internet. The original suit was brought by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA).

This is the only file-sharing suit to have gone to trial, which now asks Internet service providers to send warnings to users they suspect are illegally downloading music. The RIAA has brought some 30,000 suits against illegal downloaders.

In a story on Information Week, Thomas-Rasset is quoted saying, "There's no way they're ever going to get that [money]. "I'm a mom, limited means, so I'm not going to worry about it now."

Third Coast Comes to PRPD Conference

We’re pleased to announce that PRPD and AIR are bringing the Third Coast Festival to the PRPD Public Radio Programming Conference this year in Cleveland, OH. The conference, which is the largest industry gathering focusing on programming, takes place September 15-18 at the Renaissance Cleveland Hotel.

Third Coast organizers Johanna Zorn and Julie Shapiro will develop special sessions designed to appeal to both producers and programmers, and bring their signature to celebrating the best in audio craft.

Independent producers who are AIR members may register at PRPD member rates, a significant savings. PRPD has also arranged for discount airfare on Continental, discounted conference rooms rates, and a free public transit pass for every registrant to get around the city and to and from the airport..

This first time collaboration takes advantage of the changing landscape of the public media industry to bring together producers and programmers, two constituencies who closely share values and objectives. It’s also a way to inspire creative exchange between stations and the broad network of producers represented by AIR and Third Coast as they both look to develop new approaches to attracting audience across platforms from radio to cell phone. We’re grateful to the National Endowment for the Arts whose support for AIR and Third Coast’s makes this collaboration possible.

PRPD is working with AIR and Third Coast to create a special set of sessions for PDs and producers alike focusing on storytelling, format, and a special pitch session designed to support producer/stations collaboration. Details of sessions and other conference events will be released in the weeks ahead. If you’d like to be added to the distribution list for updates, send an email to info@prpd.org

To register, get conference information, and to get hotel reservations go to: http://prpd.org/training/Conference/conference_general.aspx


Stay tuned for more to come!

For more information:

Johanna Zorn at Third Coast
312-948-4652 or jzorn@chicagopublicradio.org

Erin Mishkin at AIR
617 825 4400 or erin@@airmedia.org

David Hollis at PRPD
315-824-8226 info@prpd.org
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NPR Starts ME 'Open Mic'

NPR is hosting a new series that has the interviewee becomes the interviewer on Morning Edition.

"Open Mic" will allow writers, directors, composers and artists to explore a subject that they are curious about. The first interviewers will include designer Jonathan Adler, memoirist Simon Doonan, composer Lin-Manuel Miranda and author Neil Gaiman. Each will pitch an idea and work with the Morning Edition team to make it happen.

Adler is the first to appear on Thursday. Miranda's piece will air later this month. in late June. Gaiman's story will air in July.

Audience as Program Director?

A new online service allows listeners to vote on what music they wish to listen to.

Starting today, Jelli will start streaming music music online 24-7. Listeners can log in and vote on a song, which either "rocks" or "sucks". How democratic.

But, wait, there's more! San Francisco's LIVE 105 KITS-FM will use Jelli to experiment with allowing listeners to program the music they want to hear played on the air. The Jelli-ified segment will air from 10 p.m. to midnight each Sunday.

Author of 'The Social Media Bible' Offers 10 Commandments

Lon Safko is the the author of The Social Media Bible, and has handed down his own (not quite) stone tablets with social networking rules we ought to follow. His Ten Commandments or things we ought to be doing include:

1. Thou Shalt Blog (like crazy).
2. Thou Shalt Create Profiles (everywhere).
3. Thou Shalt Upload Photos (lots of them).
4. Thou Shalt Upload Videos (all you can find).
5. Thou Shalt Podcast (often).
6. Thou Shalt Set Alerts (immediately).
7. Thou Shalt Comment (on a multitude of blogs).
8. Thou Shalt Get Connected (with everyone).
9. Thou Shalt Explore Social Media (30 minutes per week).
10. Thou Shalt Be Creative (go forth and create creatively)!

Read the details.

And, go forth, be fruitful and multiply the number of your Facebook friends.

Radio Listenership Increases

Eight percent don't, 92 percent do.

Listen to radio that is. The most recent RADAR 101 National Radio Listening Report finds that 235 million Americans (92 percent) listen to the radio. That's up from 210 million a year ago.

Demographically speaking, 92 percent of Black Non-Hispanic persons and 93 percent of Hispanic persons, age 12 and older, turn on their radios each week. It also reaches more than 94 percent of college graduates ages 25-54.

Public Radio Talk Show Handbook Now Online

The Public Radio Talk Show Handbook is public radio’s first comprehensive online guide to creating and producing local news/information/talk programming.

Written by Local News Initiative Project Manager Marcia Alvar, KUOW Program Director Jeff Hansen and PRPD President Arthur Cohen, the handbook identifies a broad array of best practices and tools to help stations deliver high quality local shows on a consistent basis.

Click here to see the handbook’s Table of Contents.

With input from station program directors, show producers and hosts, the guide provides sound advice covering all aspects of local show production – from that first idea for doing a show to the demands and details of day-to-day production;

* The Listener Service Foundation - What we know about public radio listeners; who they are, what draws them to us and what they expect when they tune in.

* Building a Strong Infrastructure – A checklist for planning your program’s mission, format, staffing, funding and sustainability.

* Editorial Planning - Proven practices, tips and tools for selecting and shaping your show’s content.

* On the Air - Hosting and interviewing, caller screening, handling and the craft and formatic details and promotion and marketing that go into making great shows.

* A growing collection of Tools and Examples is also provided.

PRPD and the LNI want to add even more tools and resources so if you’ve got something to share with your public radio colleagues, we invite you to email it to us at info@prpd.org.
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Facebook Asks, 'What's Your NPR Personality?'

Finally, solid proof that social networking websites are indispensable to living a full and productive life in the 21st Century.

Facebook subscribers -- and you know who you are -- can now take a quiz to find out "What's Your NPR Personality?"

All you have to do is answer several quirky questions and you get your results; questions like:

• Which demographic has a crush on you?
• How would your voice be best described?
• Which adjective best describes you?
• What do people love about you?

But, wait! There's more.

Chicago Tribune writer Christopher Borrelli recently created a quiz where one must consider a name and decide if it is a.) A Star Trek character b.) An NPR personality or c.) a food additive.

And, wait, wait (with apologies to ... Don't Tell Me!) there is this, also from Facebook:
"Yesterday evening, over one dozen National Public Radio journalists, hosts, and correspondents were seriously poisoned after eating a contaminated flan at the organization’s annual “Holiday” Party ... In order to continue our quality programming while the victims recover, temporary on-air replacements are needed immediately. If interested, please complete the 9 items that follow so that we may match you to the most appropriate position.

Dallas Pubcaster Pays $18 Million for Christian Station; Plans to Convert it to Triple A Format

North Texas Public Broadcasting (KERA in Dallas-Fort Worth-Denton) plans to launch a second public radio station which will broadcast music.

KERA's board will pay $18 million to Covenant Educational Media for the licensing and transmission properties of KVTT-FM91.7, which broadcasts religious programming.

KERA President and CEO Mary Anne Alhadeff says the new station will star up this fall with a Trip A format.

The Dallas station formerly broadcast music, but 13 years ago switched to an all-news format.

Covenant Educational Media is California-based company headed by Fletcher Anderson. It also owns KAAI-FM, a Christian rock station in Grand Junction, CO.

Sheryl Flowers, EP of the Tavis Smiley Show, Dies

Sheryl Flowers, who had a solid career in public radio, died yesterday in Los Angeles after fighting cancer. She was 42.

Flowers was executive producer of the Tavis Smiley Show and had been part of the News & Notes staff. She also worked at KPFA, Berkeley, and received a public affairs fellowship at WGBH, Boston.

"Without Sheryl's particular genius, our company's capacity to empower listeners and viewers over these years would have been severely diminished," said Tavis Smiley.

Flowers also worked for several publications, and from 1997 to 1999 was the voice of Mavis Beacon, the animated instructor of the world’s best-selling typing CD-Rom “Mavis Beacon Teaches Typing”.
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Everyone Complains About the Demise of Journalism , But ...

Whatever will become of journalism?

At least one print publication has taken time from wringing its hands to consider that question and make suggestions. (Although, it does seem to perpetuate the belief that "journalism" is defined as only print journalism.)

Writing in Time magazine, James Poniewozik suggests some possible solutions. They include:

* Day jobs.

* Crowdsourcing.

* Interested parties.

* Nonprofit foundations.

* Product placements and sponsorships.

* The business is the news outlet.

* The news outlet is the business.

* Experts become journalists, instead of vice versa.

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WRHU to Celebrate 50th Anniversary

Plans are in the works for a gala celebration of the 50th anniversary of WRHU -- Radio Hofstra University -- in November.

The event for the non-commercial station located on Long Island is planned for Nov. 6-8. It is expected to attract WRHU alumni and those who worked for its two predecessors, WHCH ( Hofstra College Hempstead ) and WVHC ( Voice of Hofstra College ).
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PI Chosen to Report Public Radio Streaming

CPB has selected NPR's Public Interactive to collect report all music streaming by public radio to SoundExchange. The press release about this arrangement stated:

Public Interactive will serve as the single collection point for reports which will be consolidated and sent to SoundExchange to ensure that performers and sound recording copyright owners are accurately paid for the use of their recordings.

The process will begin immediately with PI contacting stations:

to initiate the new reporting process and to schedule webinars and system interconnects. The first round of reports is due to SoundExchange in mid-July.
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Specialty Radio Show Speaks Listeners' Language

“This is really old-fashioned radio that has the special effect of making people feel they are part of this close-knit community and speaking in their language.”

That was Gaspar Rivera-Salgado, project director at the Center for Labor Research and Education at the University of California, Los Angeles quoted in a New Tork Times article today. He was talking about Filemón López's radio show La Hora Mixteca” (a.k.a The Mixtec Hour), which is broadcast on 12 stations around the country, including Radio Bilingüe.

The program is aimed at Mixtec Indians, one of the indigenous peoples of Mexico. The article says 150,000 work in California's agricultural fields.

ESPN Will Charge for Online Content of Magazine

ESPN, the most ubiquitous four letters in sports, is going to start charging folks to access content from one of its websites.

The plan calls for moving content from its espenthemag.com to its for-pay ESPN Insider service.

A Business Week website article quotes ESPN Publishing's general manager, Gary Hoenig, saying,

"Why is it, in this business, we are apologetic when asking [consumers] to pay for what we give them online?" he asks. "It's not like people in the milk business who think 'we should give it away for free—we can make money on the cartons.'"
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Blogger Has Seen the Future of Mainstream Media and Spells it N-P-R

Josh Catone, a blogger for Mashable, says NPR is the future of mainstream media.

Why?

Catone sites three reasons:

"... going local is a way to reach disenfranchised listeners, provide more utility, and potentially offer greater value to advertisers when the ad market rebounds.

"... they’re one of the few mainstream media organizations that is leading the charge in social media channels.

and "... they have an organizational level commitment to allowing listeners and readers to access their content on their own terms."
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Nielsen Shutters Radio & Records

Add the venerable Radio & Records to the list of publishing victims of the rotten economy.

The magazine carried a story today that, in part, said:

The current state of affairs has left The Nielsen Company with no other alternative but to immediately cease all services, products and events related to Radio & Records. The magazine's final edition is the (Friday) June 5 issue. Electronic products end today, the Web site will be taken offline soon.

R & R's Cyndee Maxwell said,

"I deeply regret that this day has come. The good news for some other companies out there is that we have many fantastic people who are now available to put their excellent talents, abilities and skills to work for someone else."

Bob Wilson R & R launched on Oct. 1, 1973.

Radio Royalty Bill Appears Blocked

Inside Radio has reported that enough signatures have been gathered from House members to block the proposed radio loyalty bill.

...opponents say they've now collected 219 signatures on a House resolution opposing the fee. That's one more than needed -- and is likely to keep Democratic leaders from scheduling a vote on the bill.

A complete list of signatories is included in the web psoting.
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Registration Opens for PD Workshop in Cleveland

PRPD is now accepting applications for the 2009 PD Workshop, the workshop designed for PDs or other members of your programming staff who would benefit from a better understanding of programming basics. This is the 16th year that the PD Workshop has been offered.

The 2009 PD Workshop will be held Sept. 13–15, just before PRPD's 2009 Public Radio Programming Conference at the Renaissance Cleveland Hotel.

Considered one of the premiere training opportunities in public radio, the PD Workshop is a hands-on intensive that brings together colleagues from around the country who share the challenges you face every day in your radio station.

The workshop leaders are Scott Williams (Program Director, KBAQ KJZZ, Phoenix) and Sheila Rue (Program Director, WUSF, Tampa).

PRPD members who attend the workshop and conference are eligible for a $200 discount on workshop registration.

Because of the highly interactive nature of the workshop, and the goal of providing individualized training to each attendee, space is limited to just 18 participants.

Click here to see a tentative agenda.

Click here to apply online.

For further information write to info@prpd.org
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Planet Money Correspondent Hammered for TARP Interview Kerfuffle

It was not a shining moment for NPR and its new cross-platform effort, Planet Money, when the podcast's Adam Davidson interviewed Elizabeth Warren, the person overseeing the Troubled Assets Relief Program, a.k.a TARP.

Alicia Shepard, NPR's ombudsman, recounted the confrontational May 8 interview of TARP's Warren by Davidson. In a lengthy explanation of what went wrong in the interview, Shepard concluded, "No one was expecting a fight. But that's what happened. And it should not have."

In short, Davidson, who said he was not fully prepared for the interview and tired from a recent NPR trip, spoke over Warren's replies to questions, raised his voice (as did she) and admitted he lost his cool, failed to be precise and used "sloppy language".

The result was a 13-minute podcast filled with what Shepard called "pyrotechnics." As a result, her email in-box and voice mail filled with complaints.

Davidson apologized, but it is clear he took his lumps.

In her recounting of the incident and the outcome, Shepard wrote:

Planet Money is far too valuable a resource for explaining today's strange and hard-to-fathom financial information to let one botched interview derail it. But judging by the volume of criticism, it will take some time for Davidson to earn back the trust and respect initially (and deservedly) showered on him.
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NPR Creates New News Desk

Today NPR is launched a new News Desk to oversee the full day's news discussions with senior show and desk staff. In an announcement to stations on Friday, they explained :

The News Desk is intended to be a single information-gathering and decision-making unit for daily news and a resource for reaching and sharing timely consensus approaches to news coverage.

Extending the Hub concept first developed in 2006, the News Desk:

...will provide a place for supervising desk editors and supervising show producers to meet regularly to discuss news developments and to make decisions on assignments. To help share information, the News Desk will create a unified passoff that provides quick and easy access to critical information, ranging from the most recent assignments made in response to a breaking news story to contact information for traveling reporters and producers.

This arrangement is needed because, as the release states, NPR's news department

...has grown over the past decade into a seven-day-a-week, round-the-clock, multi-platform news-gathering operation. This growth and change, much like NPR's growth and change over the past 30 years, evolved without a strong central nervous system.

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