TOTN Departs - Changes at WNPR

WNPR announced several program changes today. Among those changes is a scaling back of one of WNPR's longstanding local programs.

Here's what was in the announcement:

Dear Mr. Grehn, As Talk of the Nation signs off the air today for the last time, I want to let you know about some schedule changes. Here & Now debuts on WNPR on July 1 at 2 p.m. (The program will air Mondays through Thursdays at 2 p.m.). Here & Now is a daily news magazine which aims to guide us through the streams of news and information. Learn more about hosts Robin Young and Jeremy Hobson below. Here & Now hosts A regular presence on WNPR for 33 years, the Peabody-award-winning Faith Middleton Show will air at 3 p.m., Monday through Thursday. The Food Schmooze remains in its regular spot on Wednesdays at 3 p.m. with a repeat on Saturdays at noon. Faith MiddletonCredit: Heather Colt Starting Friday, July 5, Science Friday will expand to include the entire 2 hours. Hosted by Ira Flatow, Science Friday focuses on science topics in the news and features discussions. It will air from 2– 4 p.m. Ira Flatow This is just the beginning; we have some significant service changes lined up that we hope will enrich WNPR for our listeners. Stay tuned for additional updates – including the launch of a completely overhauled news website. Thanks for listening and thank you even more for your support! Together, we'll make WNPR even better. WNPR will air half of Here & Now to make room for the Faith Middleton Show. The Faith Middleton show is making room for Science Friday. So is Here & Now, the replacement for Talk of the Nation.  Listening to radio is personal and habitual. In the past, changes to the Faith Middleton Show caused a lot of heat. It will be interesting to see how the changes are received. Changes to the website will be welcomed. In the interest of full disclosure, you should know that I was employed by Connecticut Public Broadcasting for 21 years.

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.