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?

I find it hard to believe that in a nation that has just elected its first Black President, we've placed such a low value on the Martin Luther King holiday. I've heard radio talk-show hosts call it a "pseudo-holiday" and "half a holiday" because so many businesses choose to ignore it! People would get pissed if they were suddenly ordered to go to work on Memorial Day or the 4th of July. Hopefully, President Obama will see to it that the King Holiday becomes a full-fledged REAL holiday, not only in the eyes of the Nation, but in the eyes of the private business sector.

A few weeks ago I published an article entitled "The Situation" on my blog*spot blog. This was before the conflict escalated in Israel. In the post, I noted that there are some who would argue that the Middle East is setting the stage for the next (last?) major World war. There are others who invoke the biblical warning of "wars and rumours of wars."

In his newspaper column, Israeli Nechemia Meyers writes about the range of terrorist rockets: "According to maps we see almost every evening on TV, it now reaches only a dozen kilometers south of Rehovot, where we live. There is no reason to doubt that it will soon reach us too."

Meyers brought something very interesting up... it reminds me of the argument people use here in the US sometimes. You'll see Pakistani and Indian businessmen and women coming to New York, living in cramped quarters with several others, working two or three jobs and saving that money for a year or two. Then they buy into a business: a convenience store, pizza shop or gas station. Observers then attack less fortunate Americans with the argument "if they can do it, and they can barely speak English, why can't YOU?" Anyway - here's what Meyers writes about the Palestinians in Gaza: "They are still there after six decades because their Arab brothers want them to be there (emphasis mine). Rich, underpopulated Saudi Arabia and the Gulf States could easily absorb them as they have absorbed untold thousands of Indians, Pakistanis, Thais, Filipinos and others, who do work that could be done by Palestinians. But most of the Arab states would rather have the Gazans remain a festering sore in Israel's south rather than to rehabilitate them as Israel has done with Jews from Arab countries... One can only dream of another scenario, one in which peace and cooperation between Israelis and Palestinians would make life easier on both the frontlines and the home front." Isn't that what all "ordinary citizens, everyday people" really want? Peace and cooperation? Can the leaders not make it so?

I've thought this out a bit farther in the interests of clarifying something. Follow me now:
- In the U.S.A. blacks have been socially disadvantaged for many years.
- The Civil Rights Movement (inlcuding the JFK era and the social disorder that raged thru the later sixties into the early seventies) paved the way for many changes which
- really started to "set" during the mid-1970s when there was increased interracial activity on may fronts.
- As the harsh reality of the 1980s set in and hip-hop was born, an mist of hopelessness settled over many inner-city neighborhoods, while at the same time, Indian and Pakistani people (along with other foreigners) came to the States and began to establish the businesses mentioned above.

Even now, many of the poor black families in the US share a common bond with the Palestinians in Gaza. Although other Arab countries could give the Gazans jobs, they choose not to. Although the United States could give jobs (training and loans) to black citizens, those jobs and benefits are going to foreigners. Something is wrong with both pictures.

I was twisting the radio dial at home during breakfast when I stumbled upon the Righteous Brothers version of "Little Latin Lupe Lu." How diverse pop music was in the 60's thru 90s... today, all you need is one hit song with somebody saying "Ay, Ay, Ay" in a cute and original way, and all of a sudden you've got a slew of what we used to call "biters" who steal the riff and put it in their own song. Two things are killing Rap & HipHop: the first of course is the language, glorification of violence and dehumanizing of women. The second is stealing riffs or entire songs from others. For heaven's sakes, be original, dude!

We have XM sat radio in the car, and I enjoy popping thru the channels listening to all kinds of stuff. New York City radio is always hot and diverse with a station just about anywhere on FM and AM dials! Albany radio is an entity unto itself: up here people have been buzzing about Imus' return to 770 WABC. Locals are very aware that WFAN 660 and WABC 770 can be received here. The more localized buzz involves Paul Vandenburgh's return to to the airwaves on his own station at 1300 AM. I first met Paul at the old WWCN 1460 when he showed up seeking employment. He seemed like an okay guy. That Friday I was called into the general manager's office. He said to me "Dave, I'm going to be away this weekend. There's two guys that want the afternoon weekend talk show slot. Could you listen for me and pick the one you like best?" I did, and it was Paul, hands down! Off the bat he displayed that local, folksy, Paul style that has entertained Albany area audiences for years. Talk 1300 should be on the air soon.

The laundromat I usually take the clothes to suddenly stopped piping B95 thru the speakers, after playing that station nonstop for about the last 20 years... It switched over to the Country Music station, WGNA. I finally saw the owner and asked him what happened... sit down for this: he said he'd been getting complaints about the music. ??? "Did anybody ever complain before?" "Nope, but I've had several from different people in the last month or two, so I changed the station!" Go figure!

I think it's quite humourous we have so many "radio experts" in the Capital Region. Whatever the case, 2008 should be a very interesting year...