News Coverage Declines

The idea of running a newspaper as a non-profit like public radio came up again. Mercury News Columnist Mike Cassidy included that idea in his latest column.

Over 20 years in public radio taught me that raising funds at a public radio station is not as easy as it sounds. Public radio's success or failure depends on its content.

Raising money for public radio goes something like this. The content creates the audience. If the content resonates with the values and beliefs of the audience they are more likely to support the content. If the audience perceives the content to be valuable and unique they are even more likely to support the content (programming).

The programming also has to attract a large enough core audience to sustain the programming. The idea is to create significant programming for a significant audience. In public radio, if the core audience tunes in about nine times a week and, they spend about ten hours a week listening to a station, they are the listeners most likely to become contributors. Very few web users spend that much time on any one site. The relationship that creates support is much more complex than this, but these are the basics.

The scary part of the demise of newspapers is who becomes the watchdog? Who will have the resources it takes to do investigative journalism?

Readers of Mike Cassidy's column had a lot of other ideas that followed a few themes.
http://www.mercurynews.com/business/ci_13432751

Bids For WLIU Due This Week.

Long Island University is taking bids Wednesday for their radio station WLIU. There's a local group in the running to make a successful bid. The unknown factor is that there might be a religious broadcaster with deep pockets that might outbid Peconic Public Broadcasting.

Robert Altholz, Long Island University's treasurer and vice president for finance, told the AP he has a fiduciary responsibility to accept the highest bid. Those trying to save WLIU as a local public radio station are hoping community goodwill will also be a factor. LIU says it is spending $1million a year on the station. They say they can no longer afford to do that.

Read the rest Frank Eltman's article from the AP.

There are two unsettling aspects to this story. First, Long Island University will sell WLIU to the highest bidder. The community groups that want to buy the station could easily be outbid. Second, it is not clear that the station staff will be paid during the extension period. “In the meantime, Mr. Smith has something else to worry about. The State University at Stony Brook has granted a reprieve that would allow the station to stay on the Stony Brook Southampton campus, formerly occupied by L.I.U.’s Southampton College, until Dec. 3, but the private college’s original Oct. 3 cutoff date still stands, as far as the station’s employees’ paychecks are concerned.”
You can read more in Kate Maier’s article in The East Hampton Star.

'Prairie Home Companion' Host Garrison Keillor Suffered Stroke.

Sometimes I wonder about the fragile state of Public Radio’s hit shows. A Prairie Home Companion still matters to public Radio’s core audience. When I worked for WNPR fundraising around the program was often hit or miss. That didn’t mean the audience did not appreciate the program. The weekly audience was usually around 40,000 persons. The average audience was usually over 12,000. Core loyalty was usually over 70%. A Prairie Home Companion was a destination for the core audience. The core is the group of listeners most likely to give to public radio.

So what’s the big deal if Garrison decides in two years he wants to retire? Or, what if the Tom and Ray decide, because of failing health, to hang it up? It means that the audience that is most likely to contribute will be spending less time with their public radio station. The less time these listeners spend with their station, the less likely it is they will give.

The new compelling programming that draws in the core and creates new audience is in short supply. The latest public radio hit is Wait, Wait, Don’t Tell Me! WWDTM is at least ten years old. It took a few years before it developed into the show it is now.

Garrison says he'll be back in just a couple of weeks. For now public radio does not have to face this issue.

What happens if public radio loses a hit like A Prairie Home Companion? Is there something in development that can replace it? I hope so. Like A Prairie Home Companion and Car Talk the go to place for the core might have to develop locally first.



You can read more about Garrison’s stroke in the Huffington Post.

Al Franken Draws US From Memory

A video from Minnesota Public Radio shows Al Franken drawing a map of the U.S. from memory. I’m guessing it did not cost MPR thousands of dollars to shoot edit and post this. It might cost that much if public TV were to produce it.

Support For WLIU Prompts Involvement From Local Politicians

Hamptons.com is reporting that two Long Island Politicians are becoming involved in the effort to save WLIU. A few weeks ago Stoney Brook Southampton announced they would be selling the station. According to the article Assemblyman Fred Thiele (R-Sag Harbor) and State Senator Ken LaValle (R-1) will be holding a press conference with general manager Wally Smith on Wednesday, Sept. 9 at 11 a.m. to highlight the growing support for keeping the community radio station alive.

There's been interest in buying the station from public broadcasters from off the island and from religious broadcasters.



The Long Island Business News reports that religious broadcaster are buying up public radio stations at a quick pace. "From January 2008 to June 2009, 28 public radio stations have been sold, 13 to religious groups."



Two of the religious groups buying up stations are Family Radio and Education Media Foundation. Family Media has been in operation since 1959. Education Media Foundation owns and operates at least 245 radio stations.