Music for Hot Weather

This is like the ultimate mix tape. So self indulgent. If you're self inclined to force your musical taste on your listeners...what musical connections can you make for the hot steamy weather we're going through right now? Here's what I came up with.

• Summer in the City - Lovin' Spoonful
• Summertime Blues - Eddie Cochran
• Hot Fun in the Summertime - Sly and the Family Stone
• In the Summertime - Mungo Jerry
• Summer Breeze - Seals and Crofts
• Sunny Afternoon - Kinks
• Summer Nights - Rascal Flats
• Summertime - Ella Fitzgerald
• Thunderstruck - AC/DC
• Riders on the Storm - The Doors
• Racing in the Street - Bruce Springsteen

What are your suggestions? Add to the list.
Updated suggestions include
Summer - War (From Deb Grehn)
The Kid is Hot Tonight - Loverboy
and Rosalita - Bruce Springsteen (From Mike Arnold)
Summertime Blues - Blue Cheer (From former bandmate Glenn Hahn)

Amateur Athletics Hurt By Public Media Cuts

When the Greek government cut public broadcasting in Greece they did a lot more than save 300 million euros.

They cuts eliminated over 2000 jobs. They eliminated opportunities for independent producers. A source of income for those producers. Thousand people out of work means less spending and a slower economy. And then there are the unintended consequences. They made content go dark for millions of viewers and listeners that relied on the services. And, they've put content partners in danger too.

Athletics-Greek is saying the elimination of public broadcasting by the Greek government has put their organization in danger. Reuters is reporting ERT was Greek athletics' main outlet for broadcasting and with its current status in limbo following the government's decision to close the organisation due to austerity measures, Kostas Panagopoulos fears for the future exposure of the sport in the birthplace of the Olympics.

Is this the true intent of trickle down economics?

Here's a link to the Reuters article:
http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/06/16/athletics-greece-television-idUSL3N0ES06M20130616

Austerity puts an end to Public Television

Greece is trying to show the EU it is sincere about cutting public sector jobs. In a show of austerity they shut down their public television service (ERT). Greek officials called the 300 million Euros spent on their public broadcasting service incredibly wasteful.  An article published by euactive.com says the service will come back as a slimmed down version.

There was an immediate storm of protests from labor leaders, journalists and, junior partners in the ruling coalition. In a show of solidarity, commercial broadcasters protested by taking their live programming off the air for six hours.

WNET Makes Fun Of Commercial TV

A new ad campaign celebrating the 50th anniversary of the public television station makes fun of Reality TV. A series of five posters are appearing on the New York Subways. (see posters here) The posters feature fictitious shows like, "Bayou Eskimos" and "Married to a Mime: She's Got Plenty to Say."



Some funny ideas but, is this humor at the expense of others. Is it ever wise to belittle the competition?  We did some of this in my early years with public radio. Then it dawned on us that belittling others was not a core value of our listeners. Instead we needed to focus on our core and the core values of our listeners. We needed to focus on the unique value of our content. The posters get at that after snarky comments. "The fact that you thought this was a real show says a lot about the state of TV. Support quality programming. Join us at thriteen.org."

Research and Caveats

This was posted on my other blog...but this has implications for press coverage of medical research.

Research and Caveats

There are always caveats when it comes to medical research. New research published in WebMD suggests that word games may predict gains for kids with autism.  Study co-author Geraldine Dawson says,

"Essentially, children who showed a different brain response from the left hemisphere to a known versus unknown word made better progress by age 6," Dawson said. "This measure may help us identify early on which children could benefit from extra help, such as an alternative communication device, so that they can have the best possible long-term outcome."

Dawson is the chief science officer for Autism Speaks.

The study's lead author, Patricia Kuhl, of the University of Washington in Seattle, said in a university news release: "We think this measure signals that the 2-year-old's brain has reorganized itself to process words.

There's a caveat: 

"The authors describe their findings as having only 'theoretical implications' at this time," said Dr. Andrew Adesman, chief of developmental and behavioral pediatrics at the Steven & Alexandra Cohen Children's Medical Center of New York, in New Hyde Park. "Although this study may be of some interest to parents and clinicians who care for children with an autism spectrum disorder, there is no clinical justification for parents to pursue any specialized [brain] testing at this time," he said.

Caveats are important and should have a place of prominence in reporting. Recall the research link between childhood vaccines and autism. The research was faulty. Medical officials in Great Britain are reporting increases in cases of the Measles about a decade after the link was implied. ABC News is reporting a large increase more than a decade after false research caused parent to refuse a vaccine that would have prevented the disease.

The caveat in this article well placed well below the fold. So many parents with children on the spectrum are looking for hope. We need to make sure the balance of the reporting goes beyond. It can be a matter of placement.

NEPR increases news presence in New York and the Berkshires

The Berkshire Eagle reports that New England Public Radio is adding WNNU-FM to its group of stations.

New England all-news network will now be heard at night in South County

WNNU will broadcast NEPR's all news and information service currently airing in the same area on NEPR's WNNZ. WNNZ is required to reduce power at night limiting its coverage. It is hoped that the 270 watt FM will help fill-in some of the nighttime holes.

It will do more than that. Baby Boomers, the primary market for NPR news and information, prefers to listen FM signals. WNNZ is an AM station.

WAMC already broadcasts in that area which will set up competition for the NPR news audience in the Berkshires and a portion of New York State. NEPR's Executive Director of Broadcasting, Richard Malawista defended in an interview with the Berkshire Eagles. Malawista says his station's presence in the market by saying there's room for both in the Berkshires.

According to Census data this is what the two station will be sharing.

• The Berkshires has been losing population over the past decade...about 1%. 
• There are about 130,000 full-time residents.
• NPR's audience is highly educated. 30% of the population of the Berkshires has a college degree. That compares with about 39% for the rest of Massachusetts.
• About 12% of the population lives below the poverty level compared with 11% for the rest of Massachusetts.
• 19% of the population is over 65. That compares with 14% for the rest of the state.

when did i become a fundraiser?

I was recently asked how a non-profit could wean itself off state funding and become independently funded by corporations, foundations and donors. The person asking assumed I knew how to do this. After all  the public radio station I used to work for in this market would be self-sustaining if not attached to the public television station.  Memberships and underwriting support make up about 92% of the funding for the station. Grants have taken on a much greater role since WNPR changed formats in 2006 but, member support continues to be the most reliable source of income. A combination of compelling content and effective fundraising makes the job so much easier than when I first got into non-profit fundraising three decades ago in Wisconsin. 


When did I become a fundraiser? I think it started about a month after volunteering at a public radio station in Milwaukee. I went on the air asking for donations. We did everything wrong. We threatened, We cajoled. We browbeat and lectured. We even got angry when nobody wanted our mugs and totebags. We sounded desperate. We sounded awful. It got worse as the campaign became longer. The downward spiral desperation was fueled by the lack of calls.


Our fundraising skills aside, there were other reasons nobody called. A bigger reason was that nobody really cared. Nobody cared because the programs and programming wasn't very appealing. It might be safe to say, nobody was listening. At least, when we started fundraising. We (I) did not understand the direct correlation between our content and our ability to raise funds. It was later when I finally understood that programs and programming create an audience. If the audience finds value in the programs offered, if the programs resonate with the values and lifestyle of the audience and, the listeners understand the importance and need for their support, then they will contribute. Everything we did mattered. Our content generated listening and loyalty. The better the content at attracting our core audience, the more likely it was that we could raise contributions around that content.

My short answer to the non-profit was, if they can increase individual support and corporate support (foundations/grants) they could untether themselves from federal and state money. Seems easy enough. Nothing is easy when it comes to fundraising. 

I was told in a job interview last week that fundraising on public radio is a breeze. Just go on the air and thousands of listeners flock to their phones and make a pledge. In fact, most listeners hate fundraisers. They barely tolerate membership campaigns.  As soon as we open our mikes to ask for money, half our audience goes away. As the drives wear on, more listeners escape. Fundraising on public radio (and public TV) was described by David Giovannoni as being like trimming toenails with a shotgun.  Some of those I worked with aggravate the problem. They believe the longer they talk, the more money they will raise. The believe their powers of persuasion wears down the listener. In a way it does. They tune away. They did capture listeners (and viewers) as they tuned in. 

The point the questioner was making was valid. They do not have the reach of 200,000 listeners or 500,000 viewers to draw from. Awareness of what many non-profits are trying to accomplish does not come anywhere close to those numbers. The advantage is the constant awareness of public media's core audience for its broadcast services. If the quality of content consistently meets audience expectations,.  the more likely it is the audience will respond to requests for voluntary donations. 

For non-profits the answer is, a broad base of support from all types of givers. To gain a broad base of support non-profits need to increase awareness of the vital importance of their services. A combination of effective communications and development messages based on the core values of the non-profit and potential donors need to intersect. So many non-profits are looking for a couple of big givers to make fundraising easy. It's also the mindset of some in public broadcasting. It was for one of the CEO's I worked for. Despite having 70,000 donors from all over the state, he valued that one big gift more than the many he had. I have to admit the home run of $100,000 or $1,000,000 all at once is a rush but, as we found out, when a major donor stops giving we were left scrambling to make up the difference.  A broad base of support is important.

A concept we're working on for the FOCUS Center for Autism is "Outcomes." Demonstrating positive outcomes are essential when making the case for support. (Not what you're doing...what you've accomplished from your constituents' perspective.) Not sure what outcomes are all about? This video helps explain.

Demonstrable outcomes help in many ways including with grantors, donors, foundations and major givers.

For public radio...sheer numbers are important. The size and loyalty of the core audience drives membership. I watched for certain benchmarks from among the core. We used Audigraphics. I looked for about 90,000 core listeners who tuned in at least nine times a week for about nine hours each.

The base for other non-profits is much smaller. But loyalty to the unique values they have to offer is much higher. I'm involved in stewardship for a church. There are about 300 regular givers. Instead of an annual median gift of $125...the annual median gift approaches $2,000. The core values of the givers closely match the core values of that church resulting in a much higher annual gift.

Can non-profits offering social services generate this type of giving? Outcomes might be a good place to start.

• Don't underestimate the value of developing relationships with potential big givers.
• Develop relationships with your donors. They know people.
• Non-profit board members must help out. They should be contributors and be willing to network with others to garner support.
• Testimonials help...a lot.
• Keep listening.
• Keep learning.