DISQUS

Josh Andrews · 3 years ago

Thanks for this post, Todd. I have been thinking about how to get user content on air. We really need to think about how to to foster a creative culture around audio. While podcasts have grown, they are mainly people sitting in a room with a mic talking/commentary/essay. Sure, that can be fine, but it is one-dimensional. I want to see listeners having the tools and desire to document the sounds and people they encounter on a daily basis. Just as the web has changed the way people take and share photos, can it do the same with audio? If so, then we will have diverse and suprising content that will enhance the sound of our stations. I will be in Boston for Beyond Broadcast and look forward to continuing this conversation.

John Proffitt · 3 years ago

Geez, Todd... If you're ever looking to hire IT/content people, give me a call! ;-) I work in one of the many public broadcasting companies that fear even a commenting system, much less user-generated content. We seem to believe the audience is to be talked AT and not interacted WITH, at least if you judge us by our actions.

There's such an exciting frontier ahead of us, both for the public media professionals and the audience, but getting to it seems as though it will take the retirement of a generation to get there. Hopefully that will come to pass before the financial systems for public media collapse (another area that needs radical rethinking, I suspect).

Anyway, thanks for your comments. I've printed this article out as a guide for how to proceed in the online space. I've always felt a commenting system alone would be a less-than-exciting addition to the site. This is the context in which to present it, it seems to me.

John Fisher · 3 years ago

I found this while looking for a BBS about NPR. I think your points are good, and it's interesting to get a bit of the insider's view. I might write a piece on my own blog...

I think NPR needs an external source of comment. It's fine to run a letters-to-the-editor online, but there should be an independent source of criticism. My cohorts and I have been complaining of declining NPR quality for years, and I see very little space to discuss it online. In fact I think every media-source people care about ought to have a watchdog. In my case that would also include the LA Times, which has Truthdig.

If there is such a site for NPR I'd like to hear of it. Else I may get frustrated and start one.

Jeff Hansen · 3 years ago

Gather.com and Public Action are both important to track as efforts to provide new public broadcasting platforms for interaction with listeners/users. Todd's comments are very helpful as I've not seen much analysis yet. I'd like to add that I think public radio could do a lot more with the simple live call-in that would greatly enhance interactivity with listeners at stations. I don't mean to the exclusion of new platforms like gather.com. At KUOW we're experimenting with this in the evening on a new program called Power of Voice, Monday's at 8:00 p.m. I would love to get feedback from people like you who are interested in this subject. You can hear the show live Mondays at 8:00 p.m. PT on our stream or air, or Tuesday morning at 10 a.m. PT on KUOW2 (go to kuow.org and click on KUOW2), or as a podcast from iTunes. Thanks Jeff