Converge - Latest Comments in General

Re: It’s Magic

toddmundt — Wed, 23 Jul 2008 14:06:33 -0000

Sure thing! Seemed like a good day for some fun. :)

Re: Google Gears, now ready for FF3

toddmundt — Wed, 23 Jul 2008 14:06:04 -0000

Sally - thanks for the note!

Re: It’s Magic

David Finch — Wed, 23 Jul 2008 14:01:05 -0000

It doesn't matter what age you are, a good magic trick works like medicine. Thanks for sharing!

Re: Google Gears, now ready for FF3

Sally Church — Mon, 21 Jul 2008 10:49:12 -0000

Hey Todd, I just spotted this!

Glad it stimulated something - offlining with Gears is a great tool.

Re: This NPR API is a BIG deal.

Jeff Hansen — Fri, 18 Jul 2008 18:37:59 -0000

Agreed! Here are some other examples of sharing content - we aired a recent Richard Florida speech on our local program "Speakers' Forum" and last night after the broadcast it was the #2 entry on a Richard Florida Google search. And in the National Newsroom of the Future project we're working to increase sharing of local news content across stations nationally, and there is a similar effort between local talk shows on stations in KOPB's Thinking Out Loud partnership group. Leveredging content for greater access and use is a good strategy.

Re: This NPR API is a BIG deal.

toddmundt — Thu, 17 Jul 2008 22:21:14 -0000

Andy - thanks for the comment! And for clarifying the benefit for stations.

Re: This NPR API is a BIG deal.

toddmundt — Thu, 17 Jul 2008 22:20:10 -0000

Andy gives a far more vivid description than I ever could, in the comments here. I just keep saying "This is big." LOL It takes a bit of explaining because it's complicated but then you see the light go off. I created a quick and dirty mashup and showed it to my boss this morning and he got excited about it.

Re: This NPR API is a BIG deal.

andy carvin — Thu, 17 Jul 2008 20:59:04 -0000

Rob: what this means is that anyone can now gain access to 250,000+ stories we've produced since 1995 and produce their own mashups out of them. Think of all the cool tools that've been developed for Twitter - Twittervision, Summize, etc - they're all made possible because Twitter allows users to tap into their databases, grab the content and make something new out of it.

For example, you could create a mashup that automatically generates a Flickr photo gallery based on keywords from NPR stories, and display it with the audio stream of each story. You could create a Google Map mashup that shows all the stories having to do with a geographic area. You could create Facebook widgets that play the audio of everything we've ever done related to the band Radiohead. You could create a mashup connecting our content to Twitter and do something so crazy I can't even fathom it. :-)

For stations, we're giving even deeper access to the API that we're giving the general public, which will allow you to put more NPR content on your site than ever before. Dan Jacobson can provide more details.

Re: This NPR API is a BIG deal.

Daniel Jacobson — Thu, 17 Jul 2008 20:48:14 -0000

"I am all for getting my content out there on other sites and in searches all over the web - but I want to be able to have the content that our station provides on air appear on our website. "

Stations are free to take the content from the NPR API and present it in a wide variety of ways to your audience, including posting the content on your websites. An example of a station using the API to present content on their pages is Minnesota Public Radio's All Things Considered Page. For any given date in mpr.org, they are calling our API to get all of the ATC stories (in an RSS format) for that date and displaying them on the page. They are only presenting headlines, teasers and links, but you can easily add richer content if you would like.

If you have any specific questions, you can either contact me directly offline, or you can contact your station rep.

Re: This NPR API is a BIG deal.

robpatrob — Thu, 17 Jul 2008 20:43:39 -0000

Todd
Please do old farts like me a favor - can you explain what this all means in idiom and language that I can grasp - the widget looks nice but what does it mean?
Thanks in advance
Rob

Re: This NPR API is a BIG deal.

toddmundt — Thu, 17 Jul 2008 15:08:11 -0000

Good point, Josh. I think it will do this. I hope... I have written this piece assuming this is or will be possible.

Actually, I should say it this way: I've written the piece from my own personal bias - a belief that the world outside our own web sites is much more important than our own web sites. But that said, our own web sites *must* be the best they can be, and in my opinion (sounds like yours too) that *must* mean a seamless integration of npr and station content on local web sites.

Re: This NPR API is a BIG deal.

Josh Andrews — Thu, 17 Jul 2008 15:04:44 -0000

Todd, we haven't had a whole lot of time to go through the API details this week, but I will agree it's a big deal IF it allows stations to port more npr content to their own sites. I am all for getting my content out there on other sites and in searches all over the web - but I want to be able to have the content that our station provides on air appear on our website. Our listeners will go to stations websites more than twice a month if we can be the portal to content that we are on our broadcast signal. If that is the case, than the API is a HUGE deal and fresh and welcome approach to the system from NPR.

Re: This NPR API is a BIG deal.

toddmundt — Thu, 17 Jul 2008 14:56:38 -0000

The number of public media site views per month is rough (if memory recalls, it's 2.6 times per month) and it comes from a report from a Public Media Metrics http://publicmediametrics.org/ presentation in Feb 08.

Re: This NPR API is a BIG deal.

Ann V. (Monkeygrrl) — Thu, 17 Jul 2008 14:43:35 -0000

Todd--Were do the statistics of blog views and pub site views come from? I'm working on a project... Thanks!

Re: Peak Oil… Meet Public Media: Engaging the Community

toddmundt — Wed, 16 Jul 2008 15:19:01 -0000

Thanks, Keith - great listing!

Re: Peak Oil… Meet Public Media: Engaging the Community

Keith_Hopper — Wed, 16 Jul 2008 15:14:32 -0000

Great post, Todd. Here are many good public broadcaster-initiated community conversations around oil, gas prices, etc. from shows "NPR's Car Talk", "PRI's The World", and stations WOSU, KQED, Oregon Public Broadcasting, KUER, etc. here: http://is.gd/USE

Re: Peak Oil… Meet Public Media: Social Media for Ourselves

toddmundt — Sat, 12 Jul 2008 23:03:23 -0000

In Iowa, the news team decided on Google Talk and they all used the same platform. I suppose that's the exception to the rule and in other situations, it's the same as in our personal worlds: our friends have their particular IM preferences. I have a client that signs into all of them at the same, otherwise I'd go crazy trying to keep track of which colleague uses what.

Thanks!

Re: Peak Oil… Meet Public Media: Virtualizing the Workplace

jmproffitt — Sat, 12 Jul 2008 01:28:10 -0000

To my knowledge it hasn't been published at all. The stations I'm talking about aren't "mine" so I can't speak for them. If someone wanted to inquire about this (from Current or otherwise), I'd start with the GM of KSKO in McGrath, Alaska. They've been hit really hard and are trying to survive, but the future is murky at best.

The only thing that's official and public is that the Alaska legislature passed a one-time $400,000 payment to the statewide public radio system to help with rising fuel and healthcare costs this year. No commitments into future years.

Stations in Alaska -- like much of the rest of the country, I suppose -- don't like to talk doom-and-gloom in public, for fear of scaring away supporters.

Re: Peak Oil… Meet Public Media: Social Media for Ourselves

Josh Andrews — Fri, 11 Jul 2008 18:08:22 -0000

IM Client preference and use vary from team to team. We are all on the same page in new media, but frankly, I have no idea how to chat up one of our reporters on a moment's notice, short of walking over to their desk. A work in progress to say the least.

Re: Peak Oil… Meet Public Media: Social Media for Ourselves

toddmundt — Fri, 11 Jul 2008 16:00:40 -0000

Very, VERY good point, Josh... thanks! Email hasn't aged well. What kinds of communication at Chicago PR take place over chat? Do you have one specific IM service? Or do people use multi-IM software like Adium and others?

Re: Peak Oil… Meet Public Media: Social Media for Ourselves

Josh Andrews — Fri, 11 Jul 2008 15:55:12 -0000

I'd also add the use of a solid chat application that every organization should make mandatory. Email in-boxes are bermuda triangles for task oriented communication.

Re: Peak Oil… Meet Public Media: Virtualizing the Workplace

toddmundt — Fri, 11 Jul 2008 14:13:25 -0000

Yes, Iowa Public Radio's news department has functioned well, spread out over 4 locations, with a daily conference call, emailing of scripts, an ftp site and heavy use of Google Talk. Thanks for the comments!

Re: Peak Oil… Meet Public Media: Virtualizing the Workplace

toddmundt — Fri, 11 Jul 2008 14:12:08 -0000

I'm really sorry to hear that it's come to this. These public radio stations are the only local radio in many Alaskan communities. John - I'm not as connected to Current as I should be. Has this story been widely published?

Re: Peak Oil… Meet Public Media: Virtualizing the Workplace

jmproffitt — Fri, 11 Jul 2008 05:46:23 -0000

Separately, I totally agree that reporters should be "virtual" employees. Even when our folks are working in the same physical space, they're still exchanging files and info via e-mail (and lately, chat) and even use a blog for some coverage planning.

Why they have to be in our office is unclear to me, except for a couple times a week to "touch base" with the whole crew. My understanding is that the always-out-of-the-office mode is typical for newer services like Pegasus News in the Dallas, TX area. It's the smart way to go, even without a fuel crisis or a peak oil situation.

Re: Peak Oil… Meet Public Media: Virtualizing the Workplace

jmproffitt — Fri, 11 Jul 2008 05:43:44 -0000

Here's an interesting angle on the cost of energy. There are several public radio stations in rural Alaska that actually buy their own diesel fuel supplies in order to power their generators that power their transmitters.

Those stations are dying, and fast. They're appealing to the state for more money, and they're getting a little bit now, but in the end, they're likely to be killed off. One station has already dropped its membership in the statewide network because they can't afford the fees anymore. This is a once-proud station that had 5 reporters on staff but now has 1.5 people on staff total.

This is, of course, a rare example. But it's quite real for the folks in rural parts of Alaska that in time will lose their public radio service entirely -- in towns where public radio is the only broadcast service of any kind.