Podcasting Roils NPR Fund Raising

Roiling, says the dictionary, is stirring up some sediment through agitation.  Maybe that's the case with the current NPR podcasting effort, for which I'm playing a small steering committee role.  Maybe not.  I'd argue that podcast listening is probably largely listening that wouldn't otherwise happen.  And some of us need our sediments stirred.  But nothing roils like that tsunami of disruptive change that's about to wash over traditional media.  Those who are participating -- NPR, stations and independent producers -- are effectively arguing that public radio needs to be part of, not a victim of, the tsunami.  So consider that when you read this article by Steve Friess in Wired.  --Dennis

Comments

[Todd Mundt]

I think this is the correct perspective - thanks for putting the Wired story in its proper light. Stories like this do more to point out the difficulty that public broadcasting is facing as an industry in adapting to this disruptive change, than they point to any alleged loss of support because of podcasts. We've grown comfortable, but this change challenges some of the fundamental tenets of the public radio model. It's time to begin a new, substantial discussion within public broadcasting about issues like greater collaboration and "bypass."