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. 

Shape of Things To Come

The Shape of Things
The Shape of Things to Come was an okay movie. It was adapted as Things to Come (1936) Actually, it put me to sleep. There way too much preaching. The song by the Yardbirds (Shape of Things) was much better. Jimmy Page plays the solo. But that's not the point of this posting.

In a recent blog I pointed to a frequency swap in Rhode Island that allows Latino Public Radio to offer programming 24/7 and gives Rhode Island Public Radio an FM signal on Providence. The other winner was Wheeler School. The Head of School, Dan Wheeler is quoted as saying, "streaming the student shows is actually the way our students listen to the radio these days."  The programming that was previously aired on 88.1 FM the Wheeler’s student station, will shift almost entirely to Internet streaming through a new website.  www.wheelerschoolradio.org.


The Future of Radio
I recently had a discussion with Paul Kamp and Richard Cerny of Backbone Networks Corporation. They see what Wheeler has done as the future of College and High School Radio...and perhaps the future of radio. They have 40 clients for their service. College Radio does not need to be tied to expensive terrestrial based stations. Backbone and their major competitor Live 365 make "Having your own Internet radio station is a lot easier than you ever imagined. Backbone Radio is truly a radio station on your Macintosh." Now, think about what Dan Miller said. "Streaming the student shows is actually the way our students listen to the radio these days." Cerny and Kamp also pointed out that Internet Radio is coming to automobiles. Some luxury models will be offering it soon. The same things was supposed to happen for HD Radio but, I don't think the same fate lies ahead for internet radio because of the proliferation of mobile media. The only thing holding back mobile media is spectrum. Demand for mobile media is likely to spur more spectrum. There does not seem to be a lot of demand for HD Radio.


Being There
The way the audience get their information and entertainment is changing rapidly. Public radio needs to be on the platforms being used by its audience and future audience. WUMB (A station I spent a cup of coffee with) is doing some of this by offering multiple streams of programming using Live365. The offer Celtic, Contemporary Folk, Traditional Folk, Blues and and a couple more streams on their 24/7 Music Streams. It's an attempt to super-serve their audience. Clear Channel is now offering I Heart Radio. Clear Channel is putting their 750+ radio stations on platforms that are preferred by many younger listeners. It also links their stations offering a service that promises to be similar to Pandora allowing users to create their own radio station. WUMB is not necessarily going after the same demographic, but on-line listening and mobile media is being adapted by a broad spectrum of public radio's older demographic.  WUMB has an iPhone App for their terrestrial signal. I'm not sure they have it for the Music Streams.


Backbone is optimistic about the future of internet radio. Their service can be used by low power stations, community radio stations, college stations and high school stations to extend their reach. It can also be used by stations willing to cut the chord entirely.

R.I. Latino radio station going 24/7

This is a win/win/win situation in Rhode Island. The Latino community gets full-time public radio service, The NPR station Providence gets the FM signal it was desperately seeking in Rhode Island's major market, and The Wheeler School keeps it's student station on the Internet while offering NPR programming to Rhode Island. "Dan Miller, who is Wheeler’s Head of School, said, “Because we are the license-holder, we can not only bring Rhode Island Public Radio to the FM dial, but we can also help create a permanent home on the AM dial for Latino Public Radio.” The lease-agreement “also creates an affiliation between Wheeler School, Rhode Island Public Radio and National Public Radio, which we consider to be a very positive affiliation.” He said streaming the student show “is actually the way our students listen to the radio these days."

R.I. Latino radio station going 24/7 in new place | Rhode Island news | projo.com | The Providence Journal