Old Haunts

Checking out old haunts. WUMB was my radio home for an ever so brief moment. Looking at the website....

Nothing much has changed

Looking at the ratings...

Nov 2016    AQH   Share   Daily Cume   Weekly Cume    Cume Rtg      TSL

WUMBFtlr  800        0.2      15,500            49,200                1.1                 1:45

Nothing much has changed

As long as the University supports them they will keep hobbling along. If that support were to fall away, the end would be swift and painful. The audience is just too small to support the station. By comparison, WERS has four times the share and almost four times the cume rating.

There is a critical mass when it comes to fundraising for public radio. The size of the Core Audience is the determining factor and the amount of time they spend with the radio station. Audigraphics made it easy to measure the size of the core, how often they tuned in and the duration of each occasion. Benchmarks for the core were about ten occasions a week with each occasion lasting about an hour. With an Average Quarter Hour Audience of 800 in the Boston Market and the audience turning over 19 times a day (62 times a week) it does not appear that WUMB has the numbers to support itself.

I was hired in 2010 to help turn things around. I didn't get a chance and that was disappointing. The lack of change since then is equally disappointing.  

Warning For the Media...

From the Pope.

In a story heard on NPR, Pope Francis warns against the infatuation with scandal, citing 'Coprophilia.' Coprophilia is an abnormal interest in feces. He used Coprophilia as a metaphor. The Pope said, "Disinformation is probably the greatest damage that the media can do, as opinion is guided in one direction, neglecting the other part of the truth," Francis' message was directed at news media, but it could easily be applied to the manipulation of information by fake news producers.

Purveyors of misinformation alleging sex trade out of restaurant involving Hilary Clinton recently caused an incident at a pizza parlor in Washington DC, brought one of the parents of the Sandy Hook tragedy under attack of threats by people who believe the Sandy Hook shootings to be a hoax, and the continued false allegations that President Obama's mother-in-law will be getting a $160,000 for baby sitting for the Obama's daughters.

The Pope went on to say, "I believe that the media should be very clear, very transparent, and not fall prey — without offence, please — to the sickness of coprophilia, which is always wanting to communicate scandal, to communicate ugly things, even though they may be true." The Pope made his comments in an interview with the Belgian Catholic weekly Tertio.

He added, "And since people have a tendency towards the sickness of coprophagia, it can do great harm." It already has.

There Is Something We Can All Do.

If you are unhappy with the results. If you are distressed by the lack of civility that has led to our deep divide...Doing nothing is not an option.

If change is going to happen...it is in our hands.

And what'll you do now, my blue-eyed son?
And what'll you do now, my darling young one?
I'm a-goin' back out 'fore the rain starts a-fallin'
I'll walk to the depths of the deepest black forest
Where the people are many and their hands are all empty
Where the pellets of poison are flooding their waters
Where the home in the valley meets the damp dirty prison
And the executioner's face is always well hidden
Where hunger is ugly, where souls are forgotten
Where black is the color, where none is the number
And I'll tell it and think it and speak it and breathe it
And reflect it from the mountain so all souls can see it
Then I'll stand on the ocean until I start sinkin'
But I'll know my song well before I start singin'
And it's a hard, it's a hard, it's a hard, it's a hard
It's a hard rain's a-gonna fall

Bob Dylan - A Hard Rain's Gonna Fall

Remember the post 9/11 line, "If you see something, say something?" How about, "If you see something, do something?" The Blue Eyed Son in Dylan's song went places and saw things, and heard things. He saw and heard so many things that seemed unjust. From a biblical perspective injustice is what happens when someone uses their power to take from someone else the good things God intended them to have: Their life, their liberty, their dignity, or the fruit of their love or their labor. (Jim Martin/The Just Church) Instead of walking away, he decided he was going to do something about the injustices. To the Blue Eyed Son this was all a call to action.

Deporting the Immigrants - Bad Economics?

Deporting all these immigrants and keeping out those refugees could put a serious dent in our economy.

How an Illegal-Immigrant Crackdown Could Hit US Economic Growth - Wall Street Journal Blog

NY / Region|'Economic Tsunami': Fearing Donald Trump ... - NY Times

Head off Trump-style anti-immigrant politics by using economics to ...  - CBC

Refugees revitalize American cities - Boston Globe

If Trump cuts DACA US loses $433.4 billion in GDP - Fusion

Globalism -- Not Nativism -- Is What Made America's Cities Great - Forbes

The Insane Numbers Behind Trump's Deportation Plan - Money

National Academy of Science: Immigrants benefit US - The Tennessean

Two cities that have seen growth by accepting immigrants? Dayton, Ohio and Ithaca, New York.

So...what's the wisdom of closing the borders and expelling the outsiders? 

Race in America

Post Racist America?

I don't think so!

I see and hear racism a lot. Maybe it's because of how my family embraces diversity. Maybe it's because of how this election has brought a deep divide about hate and bigotry.

I was waiting in line to buy a newspaper this morning. The man in front of me was teasing the woman behind the counter calling her Momma. After he left she confided, "I'm not his Momma. I hate when he calls me that. He works here. They're all like that, you know." 

He was black. She was an older white woman.

There was an implicit bias in what she said. I was on the verge of saying something like, "This man does not represent an entire race. His actions represent himself. Why don't you just ask him nicely to stop?"

I let it pass. Maybe I shouldn't have.

Layoffs - Are they the easy way out?

I was reading about layoffs at a public media company. For this particular company, layoffs are commonplace. They've been a common tool...a regular part of the corporate landscape for nearly 30 years. The human toll created by the constant cycle of hiring and layoffs has mounted over the years. Is this really an effective management tool or is this a sign of poor management? Hiring is done in anticipation of funding from viewers, listeners, corporations and foundations. When the funding doesn't reach anticipated goals, shortfalls result and layoffs follow.

Recently I ran across this article which states, "Layoffs are often a sign of failure by top executives to properly manage a business and forecast needs — and failure of board members to ensure that the right management is in place."


Why Layoffs Are for Lazy Corporate Overseers


Other highlights...

• Compensation insulates most executives from layoff shocks. 
• Layoffs often demolish an employee’s social circle and identity.
• CEO's have come to think of certain employees as deadwood.
• CEOs weren’t concerned with employee hardship, layoffs don’t bother board members much either.
• Boards show a lack of accountability, because rather than ding management for these failures, boards reward management for these missteps.

In reality there is ample evidence to suggest that companies that constantly layoff staff are not really positioning themsleves for a recovery. They are actually in trouble. A recent paper published by the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania says that instead of laying off companies should be investing in people and innovation. That's not going to happen if a company hires an innovator and then eight months later lays that person off.

According to the article companies can offer early retirement, slowing down hiring and retraining workers.

For more go to  How Layoffs Hurt Companies.

Are We Focused on the Listener?

Kyle Munson, a columnist with the Des Moines Register, admits I'm a public radio nerd and proud of it. 

Kyle values the sane approach and depth of understanding that Iowa Public Radio and NPR provides in the tumultuous and hateful atmosphere of this political season.  "I crave the sane, illuminating haven of IPR, where not everything must be staged as arch conflict."

 Kyle typifies the core listener as defined by PRPD's Core Values. The measurable cohort that defines the audience is education. No matter the political leanings there is a thirst for knowledge and understanding. A variety of experiences enhances their lives and those experiences are actively sought.

In a competitive marketplace it is seldom possible for public media outlets to be all things to all people. Focusing on a single format and doing a few things well often make more sense. But...there is room for more voices.

Think about this...In the bigger markets there is room for creativity and diversity if all involved share in the effort. The same model could then be applied in all markets. There needs to be a willingness play well with others. If we are focused on the listener and how they use media, we can better understand how to serve them. If we work together, we will succeed.