Inkwell: Authors and Artists

    
Ernesto Aguilar, in RadioWorld, notes that Inside Radio recently​
named KQED as the nation’s number-one news/talk station. He​
examines how QED turned around the steep decline in listeners in​
2023.

>>"Something everyone in radio should ask of their stations is this:​
What does this station sound like to people who weren’t raised on​
it?"<<

Thoughts?

https://www.radioworld.com/columns-and-views/heres-how-san-franciscos-kqed-reb
randed-to-boost-listenership
  

    
Very interesting article, thank you. As I try to address what the​
value of KKCR is to our community and really talk about it, maybe a​
rebrand and listening with a new set of ears could do us some good.
  

    
The article suggests that a name change is just about all of what​
changed.  Just dropping "public radio" and adding "news" did all​
that?  And mainly because it's easier to find it using Alexa?
  

    

I am all for federal funding of public broadcasting in the US, yet​
public media has been a big outlier in getting federal funds. 

News funders and philanthropies are now very, very interested in​
building back local news. I think a lot of us reflexively assume​
that means creating online publications that replicate the role of​
local newspapers. 

Can grant money replace the federal funding stream for public TV and​
radio? Is this partly a question of capacity to do all the work​
involved with getting more grants, now that the CPB is defunct?
  

    
Good question, Emily. Iʻm bumping up our grant writing program at​
my small community station and even just communicating with a grant​
writer and giving her the requisite information is a time sucker.​
The requirements from each funder is different, too, so navigating​
all that is itʻs own chore. I have found that there are larger​
philanthropies giving to orgs that are regranting those funds to​
smaller stations and thatʻs nice. It makes your eligibility highly​
specific, though.
  

    
I wonder if this news is good for folks in this conversation
https://current.org/2025/10/national-federation-of-community-broadcasters-land
s-1-25m-macarthur-grant/
  

    
That is great for the NFCB.  I wonder how they will spend it..
  

    
Well deserved and well timed. A small amount though, relatively.

I feel that one of the challenges of this conversation is that​
"public radio", even as funded by CPB, covers such a broad range of​
institutions, activities, infrastructure all to keep this larger​
enterprise of non-commercial audio broadcasting (and podcasting?) up​
and running, and potentially healthy and growing in its ability to​
serve its mission. 

Just as a minor example of one specific area of important support​
for the system, when I started out in the 1980s, there were a number​
of opportunities designed to get skills to a new generation--I went​
to all-expense-paid workshops in music recording offered by NPR in​
Colorado, to a week-long production workshop at Western Public Radio​
in SF with 7 others one of whom was Andrea DeLeon, now longtime NPR​
Northeast bureau chief. There was the Satellite Program Development​
Fund,  which was the beginning of Sean Barlow's Afropop, and Ira​
Glass got one too if I recall as his first larger project.

I guess my point is, what we really need is a comprehensive view of​
the whole system--which is something public radio has drifted away​
from. I'd like to say the end of CPB funding might help move us back​
in that direction, but without substantial resources to do things, I​
frankly don't see how. (If I'm wrong, that would be great.)
  

    
I don't see how either in this every-station-for-itself climate. ​
And NPR doesn't do much of that kind of skill building among​
affiliates the way they used to.  NPR does have some funds set aside​
to help poorer station make their payments to NPR.

One of the great things about the NFCB annual conventions are how​
that breadth of styles and focuses come together to help each other​
out.
  

    
>broadcasting (and podcasting?)

I used to think of podcasting as sort of the minor leagues; a​
talent/content pipeline to the big broadcast platforms.

Now I think of it as pickleball; it's not developing tennis players,​
it's displacing tennis. The migration from RF to digital is​
proceeding at all deliberate speed, and neither commercial nor​
"public" broadcasting seems to see it coming.

Neither broadcast nor tennis are going away, but their place in the​
food chain for popular attention is degrading. 
  

    

<anni> and I are planning another Grateful Dead marathon for January, and
we're hoping to share it wiht other community stations on the mainland, with
regular cutaways for local pitching.
  

    
First I would say..."podcasting" is a completely inadequite name.​
Its like we decide to call it "text" or "writing" to apply to​
newspapers, novels, poetry, live texting... Each of these their own​
uses, conditions of use, production processes, social and cultural​
values, formal qualities and history, etc. It would be helpful if we​
could have an intellectual ecosystem where they wouldn't be​
mindlessly lumped into one pile.

Take daily live news programs, networked nationally. Expensive and​
labor intensive, requiring lots of staff and travel and facilities.​
Heard by millions (still). The impact of this is diminishing as​
attentions diverge, and yet...millions. It has a important place in​
the the future world of media consumption and a functional​
democracy.   This is a wildly different thing than local​
station/podcast programming, yet both are important and I wouldn't​
say one more than the other. We don't ditch poetry because we have​
magazines.
  

    
I am sure I am not the only broadcaster who is constantly hearing people
talking about my "podcast."

I invite people to appear on my weekly call-in show (on satellite radio),
and even then they ask "when do you record your podcast?"
  

    
Public radio has podcasts as well, but podcasts have specific​
characteristics that differ from radio or other similar forms of​
(audio) content delivery. Podcasts are pre-recorded and available on​
demand. Listeners can subscribe and automatically receive new​
episodes, pushed to their devices. True podcasts are delivered via​
RSS feeds and podcast apps (Spotify, Apple Podcasts, etc.) They're​
delivered online, not via broadcast. Anybody can make a podcast, on​
any subject - overhead is minimal.
  

    
>>They're delivered online, not via broadcast.<<

the BBC World Service sometimes broadcast (the audio content) of​
productions they call podcast (which includes video as well as​
audio) before making it available via online.
  

    
The BBC is increasingly blurring the line between shows recorded for​
broadcast and those for podcast.

And these days for some of the biggest shows they will record the​
contributors in a studio in front of cameras and do a 'visualised'​
podcast version of it to show on TV as well. They are doing their​
absolute best to make the licence fee money stretch as far as it​
will possibly go.
  

    
"Megaphone" Mark Andrews was cancelled from NPR. Launching a​
podcast...

https://www.gocomics.com/doonesbury/2025/11/02
  

    
Mark Slackmeyer, right?
  

    
Could be. I thought his dad (corporate raider profile) was named​
Andrews, but that rings a bell.
  

    
My brother who works outside LA and drives round that area​
extensively for his work, listens almost exclusively to podcasts​
that he downloads onto his phone and then bluetooths over to his​
car.  He likes comedians, from whom there is an abundant supply.

I drive around a lot too, but since I am usually alone in the car, I​
can listen to music I like without interruption or requests to turn​
down the volume.  So I alternate between that and listening to the​
local radio.
  

    
I want to apologize to all of you. I had been waiting, lazily, for​
an email notifying me that this had started and let it fall off my​
radar. Then we had a death in the family and everything fell off my​
radar.  

I will find time to go back and read and if I can offer anything, I​
will, but you've all probably gone home to have dinner by now. ​
Sorry...

I still love public radio and am still fighting for it, even when it​
fights back:  https://www.capelocalradio.com/updates
  

    
Never too late to hear from you, Jay. Our condolences on your family's loss.
  

    
Yes, condolences, and feel encouraged to add your thoughts once​
you've read through it all.
  

    
We haven't formally closed this discussion, and it may well prove​
evergreen; your observations are ardently anticipated. And your​
loved one's memory for a blessing.
  

    
Jay, condolences from me, too. Please feel free to sustain the​
conversation. This one will continue a while.