Working Christmas

Christmas With Jim Glynn

Back in the day...I used to work on all the holidays. It was a part my job as Music Director for WUWM. I was responsible for scheduling music programming including on-air staff. Most of the music shifts were filled by volunteers and students. Full-time staff would fill-in as needed and, around the holidays we were needed. We did the work but, all of us would rather have been with our families.

The most memorable came around Christmas. To be sure, I didn't want to be there. But, something changed for me when filling in as board operator for Jim Glynn. Jim was a musician and one of our jazz announcers. His shift was on Friday nights. The music reflected his tastes and Jim as an individual. His music was mellow as was his conversation. I enjoyed the laid-back atmosphere he created. Jim preferred to be in the control room with the operator for better interaction so, the conversation between stopsets flowed freely and the topics were broad and always interesting.   

Christmas fell on the Friday and Saturday in successive years. Both years I brought refreshments; oranges, chocolate and tea. The music, conversation and treats were shared freely. I truly enjoyed the interaction with Jim. It was a great combination. Good Music - Good Food - Good Conversation. The flavors, music and the conversation made for memorable evenings. It's a Christmas experience I will always remember. Thanks, Jim and Merry Christmas!

WBEZ Workers Unionize

I admit that I'm a bit behind on news and trends in public media. My three paying gigs are taking up more of my time.

I find it intriguing that another public media outlet is unionizing. Chicago Public Media workers voted 40 - 7 in favor of joining the Screen Actors Guild-American Federation of Television and Radio Artists.

Does the need to organize represent that public radio is growing up, at least at the larger stations? It might also mean that workers feel a need to protect themselves against management. I do recall putting in a lot of hours and getting little in return because I believed in the mission. Being let go a few times flies in the face of those beliefs.

You can find more in Trib-Town with a link to an article in the Chicago Sun Times.

Contributions to Public Radio and TV intersect

As contributions to public radio continue to increase...the contributions to public television continue to decline.

This trend has everything to do with programming. The reasons for the sad decline in programming can be attributed to the splintering of the marketplace but, public radio is feeling the same pressures. Public TV has done, at least in part, this to itself.

Those of us who have been around the system for a while remember the research put out by Audience Research Analysis called the Stairway to Given.

ARA called it the Stairway to Given
1.      Aware of the services/a user of the service.
2.      The user relies on the service.
3.      The content or service must be personally important.                    

Personal importance and sense of community. This is the idea that the content and                     the services are the ties that bind together people with certain shared values.  

4.      Funding Beliefs – Users must believe their support is crucial. They must understand that funding from other sources is only a piece of the fiscal puzzle. Individual support is the most reliable source of income.  

5.       Household income is a contributing factor in whether someone will give, but that it is not nearly as significant as the other steps of The Stairway to Given. People give because they rely on the service, find it personally important and believe their contributions are truly needed.

It starts with the content. There's a direct correlation between the loyalty of the audience and its willingness to contribute. PTV seems to have lost that along the way. Each time I stumble across another showing of Celtic Woman or another broadcast of the Moody Blues, I've wondered if others have found this to be as far off mission as I do. Do these fundraisers really appeal to the core audience? And, if PTV can't fundraise around core programming, what does that say? The answer always seems to be more fundraising!

There's a really good graphic published in Current.Org that shows this trend. The statistics are provided by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting.

Maybe Fox News should be renamed

Obamacare v. Philippines typhoon: How cable covered two big stories

Pew Research offered information on coverage of two major stories during the same time period last week.

Pew did analysis of the amount of time spent on each story by Al Jazeera, CNN, FOX and MSNBC.
The two channels with a political agenda, Fox and MSNBC, spent most of their time on Obamacare. Al Jazeera and CNN were much more balanced in their approach.



Al Jazeera focused more on news. The American counterparts were more focused on opinion instead of news.  The report points out, "In the sample studied, it offered by far the least amount of opinion (41%) when it came to commentary and opinion versus reporting or fact-based statements. That compared with 72% opinion on CNN, 86% on MSNBC and 97% on the Fox News Channel."
The report also pointed out that Al Jazeera's audience is really small. Does that mean the American audience prefers opinion over news? ( I think the avoidance of Al Jazeera runs much deeper.)

Since Fox News is 97% opinion...are they really a news organization? Maybe they should just be FOX.

Layoffs Continue in Houston

Houston radio station fires its main on-air talent

Bold Predictions Fall Short

The news from Houston is stunning...but not in a good way. Four mainstays KUHT's classical service (KUHA) were let go. Back when KUHT acquired KUHA from Rice University...management predicted Houston Public Media would double its audience. Despite the predictions, layoffs started in 2011 and have continued. The article in Culture Map - Houston says the layoff came shortly after a disastrous on-air drive for KUHT and KUHA. An update to the article states, "A media relations representative claims that the leaked results of the recent fundraising drive are not accurate — and that they did not play a role in the layoffs."
The four let go include Bob Stevenson, Elaine Kennedy, Chris Johnson and Chris Hathaway. Bob Stevenson has been a part of Houston Public Media for decades.

Recurring Fundraising Dream

There was a time when I was responsible for the fund drives at WNPR. That continued even after Connecticut Public Broadcasting united donor development into one department. The fund raiser became a partnership...a collaboration.

Dreaming about Fund Drives
Just before every drive I had a recurring dream. In that dream nobody called. Since I was also responsible for content, the dream also meant that my choices for programming had no appeal to the audience. The axiom of "Significant Programming for a Significant Audience" proved false. The implications of the dream was that the programming was not significant and the audience it generated was not interested in voluntarily supporting the programming. The dream never came true. I worked with some talented content people who worked hard at programming that appealed to a significant audience.

There were ways of measuring what we were doing that helped predict what areas of our scheduled would be successful during the fund drive and what areas would be more difficult. I wrote a couple of articles with the help of the folks at Audience Research Analysis for Audience 98. You can read about it. Public Service Economics and Connecticut Public Radio By The Numbers. It's public radio geek. When I presented this stuff to upper management and the board, their eyes glazed over. They didn't get it. Because of the time put into the research, because we did our homework trying to understand how the audience used the content, the bad dream never came true.

That Same Old Feeling
I'm experiencing some of the same foreboding. We're about to launch an appeal for donations for the FOCUS Center for Autism. I'm working for them as Development and Marketing Coordinator. The audience is much smaller but, the content is significant and meaningful. FOCUS Center for Autism became a non-profit organization in 2000 under the name of FOCUS Alternative Learning Center. What began in 1996 as an after-school program and a camp in the summers for children and adolescents on the Autism Spectrum is now an intensive and growing clinical continuum of care. In 2009 we expanded our Extended Day Treatment Program to include the morning hours and to offer a Clinical Education Program that targets children who are having a difficult experience in their traditional school system. This program coupled with our After School Program offers a comprehensive clinical model that promotes social, emotional and academic growth. The FOCUS Extended Day Treatment Program has developed into a well respected community-based model of treatment that has now served over 500 children and families.

The challenge is getting the word out to a much smaller audience.
 

Lead in Mugs

An Unsafe Premium
Vermont Public Radio discovered that one of the mugs it offered in the middle of the last decade has high levels of lead. VPR reports they tested all 34 of the mugs produced in the past decade after concerns were raised recently. 11 mugs contained lead. One was found to have unacceptable levels. Members are being notified not to use the mug. The issue is being reported in Foster's Daily Democrat.

What's Next?
Many of public radio's and public TVs mugs come from a couple of sources. Where they are actually manufactured might be an issue. Does this mean public broadcasting (and other non-profits) should get their mugs tested? I have several mugs I got as premiums. I'm drinking out of one right now. It does give me pause.

Public Radio Fundraising

Fundraising Off Message 
What would happen if a portion of the pitches focused on outcomes?

So much of what I'm hearing locally is all about premiums. There are long descriptions about mugs, holiday wreaths and CD's.  Are these things really the reason listeners tune-in to public radio?

Outcomes
Part of the pitch should be about outcomes. The outcomes should be from the listener's perspective instead of the station's internal focus. An internal focus might be something like, "With your contributions, we were able to hire two new reporters. We're hoping for more this year!" An example of a positive outcome from a listener's perspective might be testimonials about the value of reporting from a listener's perspective. "You're reporting on the plant closure in the Quiet Corner" gave me a greater understanding to the implications of long term unemployment on the economy. The stories in your series brought home the human toll of joblessness." Something like this takes preparation but, is effective in driving home the unique value proposition  of Public Radio's content.

Balance
It is not about what we need. It is not about the premiums. Premiums are inducements. The real reason people listen is the compelling content. If the content matches the lifestyle and values of a large enough portion of the audience on a consistent basis, listeners become contributors. There needs to be a balance in the message points. Talent needs to make sure there is a balance between the case and the close. Long pitches focusing on a mug or a bouquet of flowers as a premium might motivate some donations but, they are off point. They ignore the built-in advantage of listener loyalty to content that matters.

Poor Health Coverage/Poor Reporting

Public says news coverage of health care law shortchanges practical information

Pew research says most of us are unhappy with the way the Affordable Care Act is being covered. According to Pew a majority of Americans say the news media’s coverage of the law has been focused on politics and controversies, rather than how it will impact people. By focusing on the rhetoric, the public is being shortchanged on the facts on how the plan will affect them.

The Kaiser Health Track Survey (the source for the survey) suggests the reporting on the issue has resulted in a lack of trust of the media on this issue.

"More than half (53%) of those surveyed say there is not a news media source that they trust for information about the health law; 44% said there were news outlets they trusted. Of those who said they trust one or multiple news sources, 19% cited cable TV, with 10% naming Fox News and 5%  naming CNN. Broadcast TV outlets and newspapers ranked second at 7% each."

I clicked through to the Kaiser Health Tracking Poll. Only 3% trust NPR's coverage and 2% trust PBS' coverage. The coverage of late on NPR has been more about how the ACA will be implemented but, public perception is that public broadcasting's coverage is not to be trusted. This runs counter to public broadcasting's perception that it the nation's most trusted news source.  http://www.publicpolicypolling.com/main/2013/02/4th-annual-tv-news-trust-poll.html

Stretching the Meaning

This may be a stretch but, an interpretation of the research may be that the public is tired of the partisan politics perpetuated by cable news outlets like Fox, MSNBC and conservative pundits. The controversy is wearing all of us out when the real story is how the ACA is going to work. "How is this change going to affect my health coverage?" Partisan politics and partisan media coverage that fuels the partisan divide is getting us nowhere.

WNPR.ORG coming back Updated

This is long overdue. Wnpr.org was supplanted a few years ago by yourpublicmedia.org in an effort to create a more robust news website. WNPR took a risk when they did this. The move abandoned a really effective branding...WNPR. It also led to confusion. They were always talking about two websites and one of them took the listener away from WNPR. When the change was made it was deemed necessary because the experience of navigating through the CPBN site was frustrating. Unfortunately the move to yourpublicmedia.org left listeners confused. The question was...are you WNPR or are you Your Public Media?

Why did the change fail? I think the motivation for the change was internally driven. It was not driven by the user experience. To make things worse, the partnerships developed with yourpublicmedia never really evolved. It was always hard to find WNPR's content on the site. At least from my perspective, the user experience was frustrating when trying to find stories aired on WNPR. I gave up.

Now all they have to do is find the resources needed to keep the site updated and relevant.

Music for Change (Another Mix Tape)

Autumn arrives Saturday. With the change of seasons it's to think about making changes.  It also a time for new beginnings. The school year begins. For some companies the new fiscal year starts October First.

I've come up with a few tunes about changes. Some are obvious. Some deal with the subject indirectly. As always, your suggestions are welcome.

See You In September - The Happenings
September in the Rain - Frank Sinatra
Wake me Up When September Ends - Green Day
September Song - Willie Nelson
Autumn Leaves - Cannonball Adderley
Changes - David Bowie
A Change is Gonna Come - Sam Cooke
Everybody Oughta Make a Change - Eric Clapton
Change Partners - Stephen Stills

Change Partners - Antonio Carlos Jobim/Frank Sinatra
Different Today - Kenny White
Something in the Air - Thunderclap Newman

Staff Reductions at NPR

I hate this. It brings back bad memories of when CPBN was going through another round of layoffs. There were many of those at CPBN. For a lot of reasons I knew mine was coming. I could only wait for that shoe to drop. It was an awful feeling. 

Employees at NPR are going through that feeling now. According to an article in the Everett Herald, NPR is offering buyouts to reduce staff by 10%. (Public radio offers buyouts to cut staff 10%)
The reduction is being put in place to offset a $6.1 million deficit. All this comes on the heels of the announced resignation of Gary Knell. Knell is leaving to become CEO of the National Geographic Society. Paul Hagga, Jr. become the interim CEO on September 30.

the RIF will intensify the debate on how NPR funds itself and, where they should be spending their revenue. Can the network sustain itself with a combination of funding from Member's dues and underwriting? Will NPR need to bypass the stations and go directly to the listeners? If NPR cuts out the stations, what then? Has there been too much emphasis on new media efforts and not enough on it's core...the radio audience? Or, has radio become become a cash cow with slowing receding fiscal relevance?

Fundraising - Do we talk about ourselves or the donor?

Focusing on Donors, Not the Charity, in Your Appeals

Check out this podcast from the Chronicle of Philanthropy. So much of what I hear and read...especially on public radio and television...is all about "we need." "Another big pitch is, "We're great! Support us!" There's also an addiction to the premium. There's a fear nobody will give unless we're immersed in the give and get. I'm hearing this on both radio and TV.

We can go beyond fundraising that annoys and drives listener's and viewers away? Public radio loses half its audience as soon as it opens its mikes during a fund drive. Public Television can't raise money around its core programs. Is it the programming creating the problem for Public TV? 
When something compelling hits the air like Downton Abbey, the funds flow in. 

Answer this, "What are the positive outcomes from the listener's or viewer's point of view?" 

A thank you gift or a pair of tickets is not a positive outcome. It is an inducement.

August Wilson Plays Coming to WNYC

Drama's Return to Radio
Ten plays by August Wilson are being produced for performance in WNYC's Jerome L. Greene Performance Space. The plays will be webcast on the greenspace.org one time only. Starting in January they will be broadcast on WNYC and other radio stations.

Taking a Risk
WNYC is taking a programming risk presenting plays on the radio. This despite doing this for all the right reasons. Drama was a staple of radio in the 30's and 40's. After Television took over the form in the 1950's, drama on radio faded to black on the radio. That is, with the exception of some public radio stations. In the 1990's, drama on public radio finally faded to to black. There just wasn't that much listener interest.  One of public radio's researchers was asked (many times) what's the best time to air drama on the radio? The answer was 1947. That answer is still true. Listening to long form plays is not how radio is used by listeners. Listeners tune in and tune out at all times at their own convenience. Appointment listening is rare and getting rarer on the radio. On demand and time shifting is increasing in importance but TSL is not in hours but in minutes.

You can read more about the series in Newsday.
http://www.newsday.com/entertainment/columnists/linda-winer/august-wilson-plays-coming-to-public-radio-1.5926653

The Language of News Changing for Latinos

A Growing Share of Latinos Get Their News in English

According to a report published by Pew Research in July, "a growing share of Latino adults are consuming news in English from television, print, radio and Internet outlets, and a declining share are doing so in Spanish." The report goes on to say television is the most likely place Latinos get their news followed by radio, Internet and print.

Relevance Is Important

The challenge for public radio and public television is relevance. Latinos are still looking for news in both languages but, they want coverage of issues that relate to their experience and is relevant to their daily lives. Survey results show that Latino news consumers still perceive news from Spanish language sources to be more relevant to their experience. One solution would be to hire more reporters with Hispanic heritage.

Horse Show on the Radio

Peconic Public Radio will offer live coverage of the Hampton Classic on the radio. Why is this noteworthy? The Hampton Classic is a horse show.  Why not? I used to think dog shows and golf were not quite right for radio, and yet, there they are. And, I once did five hours of live broadcasting from the Lakefront Festival For The Arts in Milwaukee.

According to Southampton Patch, WPPB’s Hampton Classic Series will offer a “ring-side seat” to the events, bringing participants and celebrities in front of the microphone to offer their comments.  WPPB personality Bonnie Grice, the host of "The Eclectic Café," will be interviewing sponsors, riders, various personalities to get what Fickett called, “the big picture on the Classic” 

WPPB will offer ten hours of live broadcasting from the event. Pass the pate and the bubbles in that wine are too fat to be Champagne.

Peconic Public Radio Covers Hampton Classic

WNED and Buffalo Niagara Film Commission

The Buffalo Niagara Film Commission is moving in with WNED. They're not just shacking up. According to an article in Buffalo Business First WNED and the Commission plan to do business together.  Commission Executive Tim Clark says, "among the advantages of being based out of Western New York Public Broadcasting’s downtown Buffalo headquarters is having immediate use and access to its elaborate sound stage. It also ties in Western New York Public Broadcasting’s goal of producing more public broadcast films locally."   

Sometimes multi-platform can mean an alliance  between old media to reach  broader audience. Really! An alliance like this would be good here. They have two really good studios that often stand idle. Putting people to work is never a bad idea.

Working Mix Tape

Labor Day is coming. I thought I would get an early start on musical connections. As a backdrop to all this is the widening gap between the top 1% and the rest of us. We're working harder and keeping less.

I recently read an article in the Huffington Post about the widening gap between the very rich and rest of us. Among the 10 worst countries with a huge gap between the wealthy and the rest of the population is the United States. Big government is often blamed but, this has more to do with accumulation of wealth by the top 1%. That accumulation is being stimulated a regressive tax system that cuts taxes for the wealthy. That's according to reports generated through the Gini Coefficient. The gap is the worst it has been since the start of The Great Depression.


Everybody Knows - Leonard Cohen
Everybody knows that the dice are loaded
Everybody rolls with their fingers crossed
Everybody knows that the war is over
Everybody knows the good guys lost
Everybody knows the fight was fixed
The poor stay poor, the rich get rich
Thats how it goes
Everybody knows

Working For A Living - Huey Lewis and the News
Big Boss Man - Jimmy Reed
Take This Job and Shove It - Johnny Paycheck
Call It Stormy Monday - T-Bone Walker
Working In A Coal Mine - Lee Dorsey
Coal Tattoo - Judy Collins
Chain Gang - Sam Cooke
Back On The Chain Gang - The Pretenders
Work Song - Nina Simone
Lift Up Every Stone - John Hiatt
Working for the Weekend - Loverboy
Someday - Steve Earle
Get a Job - Silhouettes
Mill Worker - Emmylou Harris

What are your favorite work songs? I would like your input. Feel free to add to the list.

WDFH sells to WQXR

New York Public Radio's WQXR gets a long sought after market with the acquisition of WDFH. WQXR now has a signal into a large portion of Westchester County in New York. An area it covered before migrating to 105.9-FM in New York. 105.9's signal was not as strong as the original WQXR when it was owned by the New York Times. New York Public Radio is already looking into alliances with arts organizations in Westchester County.

WDFH had been struggling financially for a long time. WDFH has plans to relaunch as a production company. Among their first projects is the LGBTQ program, "OutCasting."  OutCasting has been picked up nationally. The new production company hopes to have more offerings soon after acquiring funding.


http://www.lohud.com/article/20130730/NEWS02/307300038/WDFH-Westchester-sells-signal-classical-WQXR

Malatia Resigns

WBEZ's Torey Malatia resigned. The Chicago Tribune has more. 

The news is a shock to me. I'm not sure why. I guess I considered Torey a contemporary. He was at WFMT while I was in the midst of a job search. He turned me down..gently. I appreciated the way he handled it.







Among the accomplishments:

• WBEZ became a news and information powerhouse in Chicago.
• He launched local efforts like Eight Forty-Eight
• Wait, Wait, Don't Tell Me
• This American Life
• and 
• Vocalo

According to a report in Crain's the relationship between Malatia and the Board had been acrimonious for some time. Among the Board's concerns, according to Crain's, was a lackluster performance in the ratings in the Chicago market.

Delmarva Public Radio's New General Manager

Delmarva Public Radio has new leadership. Dana Whitehair takes over the fiscally troubled stations. The two services have been running deficits for more than a decade. Salisbury University and the foundation that ran the stations were looking at options that would have eliminated most of the local services. After a concerted effort by the community, the University decided to fund Delmarva Public Radio on an interim basis to see if the stations can become self-sustaining. Sustainability will be Whitehair's challenge.

Dana Whitehair has previous public radio experience as General Manager of WNCW, Spindale, NC and Manager of Technical Services at KUT, Autin, TX.

There's more at Delmarva Now.