Free Press has a provocative new report on the state of public media and how to more adequately fund it. Many of the reform group’s proposals involve siphoning income from commercial station advertising revenue or Federal Communications Commission spectrum auctions. I’ve got an overview of the document up on Ars Technica, which has generated quite […]
Archive | Public Radio
Turning "public radio" into "public media"
An interesting new report on an interesting public radio experiment has just been released. The document is rather elaborately dubbed Spreading the Zing: Reimagining Public Media Through the Makers of Quest 2.0. Once you get past the title, it’s definitely worth a read. The gist of the survey is a review of eight Corporation for […]
Website Campaigns to Keep the Public in Public Radio
My pal John Anderson at DIYmedia.net alerts us to a new group blog written by some fellow radio survivors who intend to hold public radio’s feet to the fire, called Keeping the Public in Public Radio (KTPIPR). Featuring the contributions of public radio supporters, authors and broadcasters, the site is covering the changing landscape of […]
NPR billboards return of Canadian indie band
National Public Radio Music released on-demand streams for a couple of indie band’s new albums on Monday morning: Broken Social Scene‘s Forgiveness Rock Record and The Hold Steady‘s Heaven Is Whenever. The streams are available on NPR’s “Exclusive First Listen” series. As I write this I’m listening to NPR’s stream of Broken Social Scene, a […]
NPR makes big promises for the iPad
“If you’re among the estimated 120,000 Apple enthusiasts who signed up to get an iPad on April 3, rest assured that you’ll be able to experience the NPR Web site in all its glory.” So promises Kinsey Wilson, Senior Vice President and General Manager, NPR Digital Media, in his latest blog post. NPR’s designers and […]
14,420 Radio Stations in the US
At the end of last month the FCC released its tallies for the total number of broadcast stations in the US as of Sept. 31, 2009 and Dec. 31, 2009. When you see the big number of 14,420 full-service radio stations it’s a big reminder that radio is still an enormous media presence in this […]
NPR listeners: Apology for Howard Zinn obit not accepted
It has been two weeks since National Public Radio more or less apologized for its controversial All Things Considered obituary of the historian Howard Zinn, and the bitter listener comments are still coming in. “I have read your post on the Zinn Obit and find it to be wordy gobbledeegook,” a listener responded several days […]
FCC Awards Full-Power Licenses to 5 LPFMs, Plus 52 More Orgs
The FCC opened up an important licensing window for new noncommercial FM stations in 2007, announcing the first round of license winners in 2008. However another 59 licenses remained up in the air due to the Commission needing to pick a winner amongst competing applications. The FCC announced those winners on Tuesday [PDF]. The Commission […]
What is a Radio Survivor? Paul’s P.O.V.
So, I guess now it’s my turn. What is Radio Survivor (the blog)? It’s all about the idea that radio is a hardy, useful, practical and proven medium with a lot of life left in it. A Radio Survivor (the person) is someone who continues to believe in the medium. A Radio Survivor is not […]
National Public Radio: Just call us 'NPR'
My friend and award winning documentary film maker Alan Snitow wrote to me a couple of weeks ago with a good question. How come you rarely hear anyone at National Public Radio call it “National Public Radio” anymore, just “NPR”? I went over to NPR’s web site to refresh my memory on this. By golly, […]