Covering Issues and Ideas

Transcending Geography

This article is not about local vs national coverage. It is about getting the most out of what stations can offer locally. Thinking about coverage from the perspective of the listener will help guide the focus of your content. It is an argument I made for years in music programming. It is an argument that often fell on deaf ears. That is, until we found ourselves creating barriers between our programming and the audience we were hoping to serve. Change came about slowly, but I like to think at WNPR we learned our lesson. It bears repeating.

Users of public media transcend local. Research I was a part of at Connecticut Public Broadcasting demonstrated clearly the world perspective public radio listeners have. This worldly view is not just a phenomenon in Connecticut. Broader research conducted for the public radio system through The Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB), The Public Radio Program Directors Association (PRPD) and others demonstrated the preference of public media users to look at issues from a broader perspective. The Sense of Place Study clearly pointed out that local coverage for the sake of being local was not an effective use of the media's resources.

Covering Issues

At WNPR we decided in 2006 when looking at format change to look at the issues and ideas that defined where we live rather than geography. Part of reason was pragmatic. Connecticut is governed by over 160 town governments. The attitude in Connecticut is that the issues in Hamden have no relationship to the issues in Waterbury. Or, that's in Hartford...not here. The thinking in the system at the time was to center coverage on a region like Chicago, New York or the Twin Cities. Connecticut did not have a regional center. Focusing on one area would make WNPR local and irrelevant to much of the state.. We decided to look at issues and ideas from a much broader perspective.

Others are taking this approach. WAMU recently announced they would realign their news coverage to key issues rather than geography. The key areas of their coverage will be Transportation and Development, Education and Inequality, Race and Ethnicity, Power and Influence, and Arts and Culture.

WUWM in Milwaukee is also covering news from an issues perspective. The news drop down  menu on  their website reveals coverage in the Environment, Economy & Business, Politics & Government, Education, Health & Science, World, Arts & Culture, and Project Milwaukee. Station Manager Dave Edwards mentioned that this approach is working out well for his station.

A Lucrative Decision

The decision at WNPR to focus on issues and ideas proved beneficial to the audience and the station. Increases in audience and loyalty followed. The launch of Where We Live by a very talented staff highlighted and enhanced coverage engaging the stations audience, Opportunities to develop partnerships in the community followed and so do did funding opportunities.

A Collaborative Effort

CPB announced in February a collaboration they are funding for regional coverage among several stations in New England. The geographic coverage will focus on issues and ideas. According to a release from Vermont Public Radio, "The New England News Collaborative (NENC) will produce multimedia coverage focusing on the region's energy usage, climate, transportation infrastructure, and its people and immigration issues. This robust partnership will produce dynamic reporting projects for on-air broadcast, digital and web presentations, and a series of public Town Hall-style meetings centered on issues facing New England and its residents."

WNPR will run the collaboration which will depend on the talents of reporters and producers across the New England states. The stations involved in the project are Connecticut Public Broadcasting Network, WBUR,Maine Public Broadcasting Network, New Hampshire Public Radio, Vermont Public Radio, New England Public Radio, Rhode Island Public Radio, and WSHU Public Radio.

Beyond Seed Money

The ability of the stations to keep the project going after the grant runs its course will depend on how willing they are to play nicely with each other. Certainly, the coverage will present opportunities for growth on all platforms. It will be up to the station to use the content to leverage partnerships and funding opportunities and put that revenue back into the partnership. It can work. 

Layoffs at Maine Public Broadcasting

MPBN to lay off up to 10 people

Cuts in government funding at the state level and the sequestration are resulting in layoffs at MPBN. MPBN President and CEO Mark Vogelzang told the Boston Globe that the layoffs are the result of a projected $400,000 shortfall created by the cuts and less than expected revenues in member donations. The result is the laying off of up to ten employees and the suspension of the production of MPBN's weekly public affairs program, Maine Watch. Maine Watch airs on Maine Public Television. Most of the layoffs are among the video production unit.

Local productions for public television are expensive. This would seem to be the case for Maine Watch. I'm drawing the conclusion that production costs could not be offset by donations at least not in the short term. Sequestration cuts started too far into the fiscal year to be offset. Vogelzang called them the tipping point.

The cost of local television production were a constant source of concern when I worked for a joint licensee. Funding for local productions were dependent on upfront funding from corporations and foundations. Viewers were more interested in supporting specials like "Celtic Woman." The exception in Connecticut was viewer support for UConn Women's Basketball. This was unique and compelling programming that garnered enough support from the community to be self-sustaining. UConn Women's Basketball is now on a cable sports network. The network offers greater reach into the New York market.

Brownback Puts Public Broadcasting on Notice

Kansas governor Sam Brownback spared public broadcasting in the current budget by not using his veto power. He told them to be ready for cuts next year. Approved funds were recently vetoed by Virginia's governor,  Bob McDonnell. You can read more in The Republic of Columbus, Indiana. Cutting the funding would save about $1.5 million out of a $13.8 billion budget.

In other public broadcasting news...WNET has reached an agreement to run the public television station of the New Jersey Network. The fate of NJN's current employees is not known. "Talks concerning the future of New Jersey’s radio assets and broadcasting operation are continuing," According to treasury spokesman Bill Quinn "No agreement has been finalized." There's more at nj.com.

Maine public broadcasting cuts remain likely

Sen. says Maine public broadcasting cuts remain likely | SeacoastOnline.com

The move will eliminate state funding for public broadcasting in Maine. It is easy to say listeners and viewers will need to take up the slack. Some stations are better prepared to take a 20 percent cut than others.

A solid member base of support begins with the programming. Audience 98 outlined this concept with Fundamentals In Brief.

"But the most powerful force affecting giving is not in their control. Programming not only causes audience, it also causes audience support. Fundraising is always about programming. That’s the indisputable fact of 15 years of research, reconfirmed by AUDIENCE 98^®."

• Giving is the product of two programming factors (the value listeners place on the programming and the amount of listening done to it) and one development factor (the efficiency with which fundraising efforts turn this into financial support).
• Effective fundraising activities can raise giving and gift amounts above public service predictions.
• Fundraising practices can lower giving and gift amounts below public service predictions when they attenuate or otherwise interfere with public radio’s service to listeners.

There are many other factors. One is that size matters. The size of the audience and the size of the core audience (P1 listeners) determines the ability of the station to raise enough funds to become self-sustaining. External factors like market size are important too.

For three decades I was involved in public broadcasting through a variety of positions at Public Radio Stations and in Public Media. Much of my experience centered on fundraising and donor relations.  During my tenure as Program Director and Station Manager we built audience and support through programming appealing to core values of the public radio audience. We had about 200,000 listeners with about 85,000 in the core. Through our services we were able to build and sustain relationships resulting in significant support. Basically what we accomplished was the development and creation of content meeting the needs of our clients (listeners). The content fit in with their lifestyle and beliefs. The public radio audience was mainly made up from two VALS types, innovators and Thinkers. We deliberately targeted them. We fashioned messages reminding them of the value of the programming. A guiding principle was community service resulted in community support. 


These two highly educated groups take up the mantle of social responsibility and are motivated to support causes for the greater good. These are individuals who believe in the value of continuing education and believed public radio was fulfilling that need. By focusing our programming and our messaging towards these two groups, we became self-sustaining.

(It should be noted that this is not a model embraced by Public Television.)


There are many more factors that go into good fundraising. The Development Exchange is a great resource. So is the Station Resource Group. But, it all begins with programming.