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Public Radio seeks a breath of fresh air
The Boston Globe-Democrat ^ | 3/19/07 | Alex Beam

Posted on 03/19/2007 10:39:00 AM PDT by raccoonradio

Like newspapers and television news, public radio has a graying audience. "We have learned in focus groups with younger listeners that they are interested in many of the topics that NPR covers, but often find the programming boring or staid," a perhaps too candid confidential NPR document states. This same NPR memo calls the network "a national institution of weight, merit and immeasurable value to our democracy" -- a heady self-assessment to be sure.

Enter "NPR Zack: A New Space for Younger Listeners."

"We thought Zack is exactly the kind of name NPR staffers would give their male children," one NPR-nik explained to me. Its radio namesake is slowly taking shape at NPR headquarters in Washington, and in New York. Originally envisaged as a full-blown, 7 a.m.-to-10 p.m. alternative public radio channel, Zack now has more modest ambitions. The first shows, which had been scheduled for next month, will go on air in the fall. "In a perfect world, we'd love this to be the first piece in a longer stream of programming, but we can't start it out like that," a spokeswoman explains.

The main purpose is to compensate for the Mother Channel's hipness deficit among the 25-to-44 age group. "You are actively discovering the world . . . and so are we," explains the above-mentioned document, part of NPR's "visioning process." "We will curate for you, and you can trust us to reflect your lifestyles and interests." In addition to current affairs reporting, Zack also aims to feature contemporary music, staff DJs, and "newshounds" who "will follow the day's big stories and tell the story to the host and the audience, using relevant news and interviewclips." Didn't these used to be called "reporters"?

(Excerpt) Read more at boston.com ...


TOPICS: Miscellaneous
KEYWORDS: npr; old; radio; zack
>>Public Radio seeks a breath of fresh air

How about some conservative views?

So NPR wants to reach younger listeners. You mean the young'uns don't find Garrison Keillor hep? And then there's the lovely Terry Gross-Me-Out...

1 posted on 03/19/2007 10:39:05 AM PDT by raccoonradio
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To: raccoonradio
who needs Ann Coulter! we got...

2 posted on 03/19/2007 10:45:53 AM PDT by raccoonradio
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To: raccoonradio
Here is Fresh Air's topic for today. As you can see, it is fair, balanced, unbiased and has no hidden political agenda:

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=8992128

Fresh Air from WHYY, March 19, 2007 · Blackwater USA is a secret army based in North Carolina with a sole owner: Erik Prince, a radical right-wing Christian multimillionaire. Jeremy Scahill talks about his book Blackwater: The Rise of the World's Most Powerful Mercenary Army.

3 posted on 03/19/2007 11:05:57 AM PDT by Yo-Yo (USAF, TAC, 12th AF, 366 TFW, 366 MG, 366 CRS, Mtn Home AFB, 1978-81)
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To: Yo-Yo

Proof!


4 posted on 03/19/2007 11:09:34 AM PDT by raccoonradio
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To: raccoonradio

So many young people are looking for truth. Natural truth. Spiritual truth. NPR really doesn't have a chance of attracting them.


5 posted on 03/19/2007 11:37:31 AM PDT by polymuser (There is one war and one enemy.)
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To: raccoonradio

"We thought Zack is exactly the kind of name NPR staffers would give their male children,"

Yeah. See, speaking as one of those young-ish listeners, to me Zack is the name of a character from the video game Dead or Alive that sounds like Dennis Rodman and dresses like a Teletubby. That doesn't sound to me like a radio station that I'd like to listen to.


6 posted on 03/19/2007 12:19:25 PM PDT by Starter
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To: raccoonradio

>>The big question mark hanging over new, alternative programming is how to broadcast it. "The gold standard is to have a viable, second FM channel," says Bob Lyons , WGBH's director of new media, "but it's real expensive to do that." Almost every radio station in Boston uses a high-definition broadcast signal, which allows it to beam out more than one show at a time. (WGBH broadcasts continuous classical music on its HD signal, the same one that carries WGBH-FM 89.7.) But hardly anyone owns HD radio receivers, which cost around $200.

How many years till the price gets more affordable...
you never know, though.


7 posted on 03/19/2007 12:43:54 PM PDT by raccoonradio
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To: raccoonradio

lolz

Compared to that, Howie Carr "is a very attractive guy."

< /chris wallace >


8 posted on 03/19/2007 1:44:31 PM PDT by martin_fierro (< |:)~)
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