I've been so lazy when it comes to LiveJournal! Time to put a nice new post up, a rather long one that's just a bit too long for my regular blogspot readers! Like you, I've been hearing a lot about the decline of print media and how the bloom has dropped off radio's bush. A New York Times op-ed columnist recently described the American press as being on "suicide watch" with "newspaper circulations and revenues...in free fall." The Capital Region's Metroland weekly ran a story entitled "Death on your doorstep" in which Chet hardin wrote "A single Web site wipes out hundreds of millions of dollars in classified ad revenue in a few quick years; legions of anonymous bloggers (I like this part) exert sway over public opinion equal to that of any self-respecting, war-mongering newspaper baron." But while all media is hangs on for dear life through the "digital earthquake," public radio is gaining strength, particularly NPR, and that's GOOD NEWS!

National Public Radio (NPR) ratings have increased steadily since 2000, and they've managed to hold on to much of their 2008 election coverage listenership bump (with over 26 million people tuning in each week so far in 2009), unlike many of their mainstream media counterparts.

Compared to cable news, where most networks are shedding viewers, and newspapers, where circulation continues to plummet, public radio appears to doing a lot better at it than the rest of the traditional media. I don't believe its what NPR or PRI or Radio Pacifica is doing differently. I think the key is what public radio is doing BETTER.

Case in point, the station I work for, WAMC, is a REGIONAL news powerhouse. In the unique
Upstate New York / Capital Region area, people have what I refer to as "regional alliances." You know people like that: your buddies who travel to the City whenever they get the chance. Your co-workers who root for the Boston Red Sox. Your neighbors who take regular trips up to Montreal. The people at church who are heading out to the Utica Zoo this weekend. Not to mention those who work in state government, hailing from all 4 compass points! Then there's the "Berkshires" crowd, and the Saratoga art and track patrons, etc. etc. etc.

In my opinion, WAMC is successful because it localizes the regionality… where else on the radio dial could you hear current temperatures for Albany, Glens Falls, Utica and Plattsburgh during a newscast?

According to NPR CEO Vivian Schiller, the network has a culture incredibly devoted to local coverage. "To me, local is the big play, because local commercial radio has abandoned the local market. Local newspapers are withering or sometimes dying. The big national media companies, including excellent ones like The New York Times, cannot afford to be covering every single community. So that leaves a big, gaping hole to serve Americans' local coverage," (that's what she told mediabistro.com in April!)

Published reports say NPR has a "three-prong strategy" including a focus on LOCAL newsgathering and informational coverage as well as adoption of social media. WAMC excels in both areas, but that unique twist, that ability to "localize the regionality" is what propels 90.3 into the stratosphere. So you have a great radio station, a great internet presence and a truly local "personality" (if radio stations can have personalities) that instantly befriends any listener.

The only other public radio station that makes me feel welcome anytime I tune in is WFUV down in New York City. What NPR has become aware of, and what WAMC has been channeling so remarkably, is what some industry folk refer to as "hyperlocal content." The Capital - Saratoga - Central NY - NYC area is so unique that I don't believe what WAMC does would work anyplace else.

According to mashable.com, Alex Iskold, the CEO of semantic web application company AdaptiveBlue, in 2007 predicted the rise of hyperlocal information, indicating that extremely targeted local advertising could be the path forward for the ad industry.

"Despite globalization, hyperlocal information is very valuable both to people and advertisers. In the coming years, we will be seeing the rise of a new way to look at information - geography. Inspired by utility and the promise of hyperlocal advertising, startups are racing to build businesses that deliver highly relevant, local information to users," he wrote.

Mashable.com also takes note of another aspect of NPR's winning approach: their adoption of social media. NPR is one of the few mainstream media organizations that is leading the charge in social media channels. Their Twitter account has over 780,000 followers, making it one of the top 25 on the social network (and third among news organizations behind only the New York Times and CNN). Their Facebook Page has over 400,000 fans. Mashable.com goes on:

…NPR has embraced social media in more ways than just having an active presence on top social media channels. They've also put social media to work for them. In October of 2008, for example, NPR asked listeners to factcheck the US Vice Presidential debates and communicate findings via a Twitter (Twitter reviews) hashtag. And in February, NPR's social media strategist (@acarvin) talked about Twitter on air, including hundreds people tweeting back comments in the conversation. Their conclusion? Twitter lets us all share the media consumption experience together, and that's a very positive thing.

NPR (and WAMC) don't stop at social networking, either - their social media efforts extend to podcasts, blogs, mobile apps, and even their own social network. NPR has been recognized for these efforts year after year with multiple Webby Awards.

NPR's 26.4 million weekly listeners are 11 times more than the daily circulation of USA Today, and greater than 9 times more than the prime time viewership of the #1 cable news channel in the US, Fox News. They have 860 local stations in their member network and operate 38 news bureaus around the world - 18 in foreign markets, which is greater than any other news gathering organization. NPR's amazing growth over the past 10 years prompted FastCompany magazine in March to call NPR the "most successful hybrid of old and new media," and wonder if NPR could be the savior of the news industry.

THIS IS THE IMPORTANT SENTENCE:

And they owe that success to the culture of open access and audience participation that they've cultivated over the past decade.

WAMC has been doing that for MORE than a decade! Where else could you get a mix of national, world and local programming including LOCAL news as well as reports from BBC and NPR?