NPR's Project Argo getting underway

National Public Radio's $3 million Project Argo will officially launch September 1. The idea behind the project is for national headquarters to invest in local news reporting that benefits both local affiliates and the national news shows. The money comes from Knight Foundation and the Corporation for Public Broadcasting and is being used to create a network of local blogs (twelve so far).

One of the new blogs funded through Project Argo is at KPCC (or Southern California Public Radio, as the Pasadena-based station prefers to be called). The blog is titled Multi-American and is written by former San Diego Union-Tribune reporter Leslie Berestein Rojas. Here's how she and the blog are described:

Leslie most recently covered immigration on the U.S.-Mexico border for the San Diego Union-Tribune. She has retraced the steps of migrants along desert smuggling trails, investigated immigrant detention contractors, and told the stories of families left behind in Mexico’s migrant-sending towns. A native of Cuba raised in Los Angeles, Leslie has also written for Time, People, the Orange County Register and the Los Angeles Times. She has reported from Mexico, Central America and the Caribbean.

Multi-American is both a news project and a discussion forum. It’s also part of a partnership between Southern California Public Radio and NPR involving a dozen public radio stations around the country, among them 89.3 KPCC, in which we’re experimenting with filling the gaps left in news coverage by a shrinking media industry. KPCC’s Jason Kandel is managing and editing the project.

Nieman Journalism Lab has a list of the other blogs around the country. There are two in San Francisco for some reason.

The new boss

National Public Radio named a new chief executive today. From the New York Times (in more ways than one):

Vivian Schiller, who heads the online operations of The New York Times, will leave the paper to become the president and chief executive of National Public Radio, the network announced on Tuesday.

Ms. Schiller, 47, will take over NPR on Jan. 5, heading a nonprofit corporation with a budget of more than $150 million and an endowment of more than $240 million. It provides news and entertainment programming to more than 800 public radio stations around the country and claims an audience of 26 million people.

In case you were wondering, no, I don't work for NPR.

Schiller on public radio's future

The team at Nieman Journalism Lab interviewed Vivian Scihller, head of National Public Radio, about the nonprofit's "public media platform." Here's her description of it:

So the idea is: What if it wasn’t just NPR content, but a vast amount of public media content and data that could be available in a large — you know, sort of an API on steroids, a public media platform. Think about NPR content: all the content from the public radio stations, all the content from the other radio producers and distributors like PRI and APM and PRX, all the content from PBS. Now imagine all the content from the other new media players, all the new not-for-profits, like the ProPublicas of the world, and all the local, online journalism startups. And then you can go on and imagine data.

The full interview is here.

Budget cuts raise concerns for NPR stations*

The Wall Street Journal reports on a growing rift between National Public Radio and its member stations over NPR's recent decision to cut its radio programming while making investments in its online operations.

The Journal quotes an email written by KCRW General Manager Ruth Seymour, who expresses concerns that the cash-strapped NPR is veering away from its commitment to radio, and hurting member stations in the process:

The most baffling and egregious development is NPR's firing journalists at the same time as it appears to be hiring more online staff. Experienced broadcast journalists -- like John McChesney, Jacki Lydon, Kim Masters -- were let go. Since that time the network has posted at least five online jobs.

Moreover, NPR's lack of interest in producing new programs for radio is alarming. Radio is our core business and our greatest achievement. Now some of the most gifted independent producers tell me that they are bypassing NPR and distributing their programs elsewhere. This is an ominous portent for the future of our network.

Those of us who venerate broadcast journalism and believe that it is our central mission (and I count you among us) are dismayed by these developments.

Faced with a $23 million deficit, NPR recently instituted layoffs and canceled its West Coast shows "Day to Day" and "News and Notes." Member stations worry that other programs could suffer, too, which in turn could cost them when fund-raising season comes around. They also took issue with statement made at an NPR staff meeting that member station could raise funds directly for NPR. From the WSJ:

Some member stations fear NPR budget cuts might hurt the quality of marquee public radio shows "Morning Edition" and "All Things Considered," making it harder for local stations to raise funds during those shows, which typically bring in the lion's share of listener donations and corporate underwriting...

Currently, station fund drives raise money for the stations themselves, although some of the money goes toward dues to NPR for its programming.

*Note: I should make clear that I am a producer at KCRW (see bio in right hand column). I have no say or role in station management and learned about this story from reading the Wall Street Journal.

More cuts to public radio

They aren't buying and they aren't giving either.

Citing a precipitous drop in donations, public radio station WNET in New York plans big staff cuts to save money. This follows last month's staff cuts at NPR West.

From the New York Observer:

Neal Shapiro, President and C.E.O. of WNET.org, told The Observer on Thursday evening that his organization, including the stations, will be cutting 8 percent of its budget for the upcoming fiscal year. The cuts will be achieved, according to Mr. Shapiro, through cost-cutting measures (such as reductions in back-office costs) and by reducing the current staff by roughly 14 percent.

Out of roughly 500 individuals, 85 or so will be losing their jobs.

The current round of cuts comes at a time when for-profit media companies across the country are suffering from a significant downturn in advertising. Public media outlets are faring little better. Back in December, executives at National Public Radio announced that they were cutting 7 percent of NPR's work force and slashing expenses across the board. It was the first major round of layoffs at NPR in roughly a quarter century.

Public radio's ratings game

Some good news (and job security) out of the recent ratings results for KCRW. First, the overall numbers, as reported by Jim Rainey at the LA Times:

General Manager Ruth Seymour of KCRW-FM (89.9) told me last year she didn't think much of Arbitron's new Portable People Meter. The meters counted just 289,000 weekly listeners for KCRW in August, well behind another public-radio fixture, KPCC-FM (89.3), which had 549,000. Though Seymour has retired, she owes me a "toldya." The most recent Arbitron report puts KCRW at 514,000 weekly listeners, right on the tail of KPCC's 544,000.

In addition, Public Radio International, which distributes KCRW's "To The Point," reported a 28-percent increase in ratings for the national syndicated talk show. The increase was largely due to WNYC in New York putting TTP back on the air, although there was growth in Washington and Dallas as well.

Study: NPR is a party that you're not invited to

A new study says that National Public Radio needs to shed "perceptions that its programs are elitist and stuffy" if it wants to grow its audience. From a Current report on the study:

When encountering public radio, news consumers from various demographic groups share a common problem: They feel excluded. “It is really important that people hear themselves in the programming,” said Margaret Low Smith, v.p. of programming. “We’re talking about a private party, versus a party where everyone’s included and planning the same party,” she said. 

Quoted in a presentation on the study is a young adult Latino user of new media: “NPR, I feel, is mostly for educated adults from middle class and up. That is my impression.”

Some objections to the traits of NPR News are sure to prompt pushback from listeners and producers who value complexity and ambiguity, and don’t mind lots of words. Wordiness is a problem for one white woman who spoke to researchers about NPR: “I think it can be clever and quirky, and smart and insightful. But I don’t choose to listen to it because it’s too much talking for me.”

Smith believes there are ways to welcome more people to the audience without sacrificing quality. “It’s not about being not as smart or not as deep,” she said. It’s about telling stories with an ear that detects exclusion. NPR hosts do that now, she said, by quickly interrupting interviews with an identifying phrase when someone drops a name that would be unfamiliar to many people. 

To be consistent in catching off-putting insider assumptions, “it’s critical that people at the editorial table reflect a range of economic positions in life, a range of political views and a range of color,” Smith added.

The study was conducted by the Los Angeles-based firm SmithGeiger.

KPCC into expansion

The Pasadena-based pubic radio station KPPC has moved into a new building, plans a new morning show, and has expanded its newsroom. From the LA Times:

At a time when many public broadcasters are financially strapped -- reliant on shrinking government funds, meager college support, and subscription drives dreaded by listeners -- KPCC has thrived by tapping a board willing to write big checks and hit up their rich friends for contributions. Taking the lead are Gordon Crawford, managing director of the Capital Group, the Los Angeles investment fund manager, and Jarl Mohn, who built E! Entertainment Television.

-snip-

In the last 10 years, KPCC has won more than 230 regional and national journalism awards, and grown from a weekly audience of about 200,000 to nearly 600,000, second in size only to WNYC-FM in New York among news and information public radio stations and consistently ahead of KCRW-FM locally. (Classical music programmer KUSC-FM is the top rated public radio station in Southern California.)

SCPR has about 30 reporters, with bureaus in L.A., Orange County, the Inland Empire and Washington. (Times columnists Patt Morrison and David Lazarus and other staff members are frequent contributors to KPCC programming. Times reporters and editors appeared on KPCC programs about 150 times in 2009.)

The big merge

Wired has more on the big public media platform merger being shepherded by NPR president Vivian Schiller. From the story:

The country’s five silos of public radio and television are spilling into each other with a joint program that will allow them – and eventually the public itself — to build apps, stations, websites and other media services combining audio, text and video content from every public radio and television outlet in the country.

-snip-

The Public Media Platform will cross-pollinate news across those five networks, and will provide data analysis to help reporters inside and outside those organizations present complex information more effectively. Both will be subject to various licensing rules, but the idea is to allow member stations and eventually third parties to distribute this information however they see fit.

We’re going to spend the next six months figuring out exactly [the] rights [and metadata] issues, but the ultimate goal of this is to make this content available,” said Schiller. “Say there’s a blogger who is particularly focused on the BP crisis in the Gulf — they will be able to pull out still photographs, national and international reporting, reporting from local stations, video from PBS, data, and mash that all up together.

(found via Nieman Journalism Lab)

"Frontline" founder decries commercialism in public journalism

In a speech at USC, David Fanning, the founding producer of "Frontline," criticized public television and public radio stations for the "shameful" act of using sponsorships to sell products. Here's part of what he said:

I am particularly concerned about a threat to our essential public identity. This is already happening. They're called “sponsorships”, but they are essentially commercials all over public broadcasting websites, local and national, radio and television. I’ve argued strenuously that we are threatening our special status as non-commercial media ... we all swim in a sea of commercialism, and that’s precisely why we need to keep ourselves clean of it.

One day, I’m afraid, when most of our work is experienced on the web, we will wake up and the public will say we’re no different from the rest of them. Why should we give you our membership money? And why should the government give you our tax dollars?

(via Romenesko)

NPR exec tells conservative pranksters exactly what they want to hear*

Yesterday, NPR's president gave a speech about the future of public radio at the National Press Club. But no one is talking about that. Instead, it's the words of NPR fund-raising executive Ronald Schiller, that are ringing out across the interwebs today.

Here's a summary of what went down from the New York Times:

The executive, Ronald Schiller, was recorded secretly by the Republican filmmaker and mischief-maker James O’Keefe. On the videotape, Mr. Schiller tells people posing as Muslim philanthropists that the Republican party has been “hijacked” by the Tea Party and that Tea Party supporters are “seriously racist, racist people.” Mr. Schiller indicates that he is sharing his personal point of view, not NPR’s.

Dana Davis Rehm, a spokeswoman for NPR, said in a statement Tuesday, “We are appalled by the comments made by Ron Schiller in the video, which are contrary to what NPR stands for.”

The release of the video comes at a sensitive time for NPR. Republicans in Congress who view NPR as biased are trying to cut federal funding for its local stations across the country. They are likely to seize on the video as further evidence of their views and further reason to reduce funding for the stations.

Schiller, who is no relation to NPR President Vivian Schiller, was already on his way out at NPR after taking a job with the Aspen Institute. But, well, whatever.

*Update: If you want to see how conservatives are playing this story, here are two links the influential Heritage Foundation recommended in its daily email blast: "Bad Timing for NPR" and "NPR's Diversity Doublespeak". All of this comes as public radio advocates, including KCRW's Jennfer Ferro, urge the Senate to keep the Corporation for Public Broadcasting funded.

NPR wants to expand statehouse reporting

National Public Radio has accepted a $1.8 million grant from the Open Society Foundations, a group started by billionaire and liberal activist George Soros, as part of an effort to hire 100 reports in 50 states to keep an eye of state politics. NPR president Vivian Schiller described the project to the New York Times, which summarized it this way:

The journalists would not be part of typical statehouse coverage, but instead would work on enterprise journalism that looks at how state government decisions play out over years, and extend beyond a single state’s borders.

On abortion

National Public Radio has adopted new etiquette for discussing the abortion debate. "Pro-choice" and "pro-life" are out. "Abortion-rights advocates" and "Abortion-rights opponents" are in. NPR

(found via Romenesko)

Four in the morning

1. Out of work? The San Gabriel Valley Newspaper Group (Pasadena Star-News, SGV Tribune, Whittier Daily News) wants your story for a new feature called "faces of the recession." - "Our goal is try to help you get back on your feet again in the midst of a tough recession." Star-News

2. The New York Times reports on National Public Radio's efforts to add more news content to its website, which has NPR affiliates - of which KCRW is one - worried that listeners and resources will be drawn away from local stations. NYT

3. Ron Kaye at OurLA.org has obtained pension records for the Los Angeles police and fire departments and listed the 286 highest earners - all pulling in over $100,000 a year. OurLA.org

4. Newspaper company A.H. Belo, whose publications include the Press-Enterprise in Riverside and Dallas Morning News, posted a $7.1 million loss in the second quarter of the year. Stock prices are up slightly, however. Dallas Morning News

Who's dying in L.A.

National Public Radio recently did a feature on the Los Angeles Times' homicide blog. Reporter Jill Leovy explains why she started the blog back in 2007 and the truth she hoped to capture:

"The truth about homicide," she says, "is that it is black men in their 20s, in their 30s, in their 40s. The way we guide money and policy in this country, we do not care about those people. It's not described as what's central to our homicide problem, and I wanted people to see that. I wanted people to see those lives and to see that that's our real homicide problem in America.

"The money needs to go to black male argument violence," she continues. "Anything else … you're dealing with the margins of the problem, statistically, and it's not right."

-snip-

"As a middle-aged white lady, my death rate is probably 1 or 2 per 100,000 — maximum," Leovy says. "These young men are dying at 140. They're in a war zone, and the rest of us are living in a different country."

Four in the morning

National Public Radio plans to layoff 13 employees and institute furloughs for rest of its workers. In addition, NPR will eliminate three paid holidays from its calendar. WaPo

The Wall Street Journal has put together a graphic documenting the biggest cuts at the biggest daily newspapers across the country. WSJ

Journalists who don't want to actually go into the streets to find a man on the street can rent one instead from journopimp HARO. ROAN

The New York Times and the Boston Globe head to a May 1 showdown. Boston Globe

NPR West to go dark?

Kevin Roderick of LA Observed first reported on Friday about speculation that NPR would pull the plug on "Day to Day" and "News and Notes" sometime this week. Here's part of the post:

I'm told that the mood at today's holiday lunch at the NPR West studios in Culver City turned dark as a rumor swept the place that "Day to Day" and "News and Notes" would be shut down. No official word from National Public Radio, but a source in Culver City says VP for News Ellen Weiss is coming out next week to swing the hatchet...

From what little I hear the speculation appears to be true, which just adds to an avalanche of bad news out this week for the L.A. media market (scroll down for more).

More public broadcasting money for local journalism

The Corporation for Public Broadcasting has $7.5 million to pay public radio and television stations to do original reporting on issues of local interest, the New York Times reports.

The seed-money-to-foster-local/national-collaboration sounds quite similar to NPR's Project Argo, which was launched last summer with money from CPB and the Knight Foundation.

Also, "collaboration" is the trendiest word in public broadcasting these days.

Fallows at CMC

James Fallows, national correspondent for The Atlantic, will be speaking about foreign policy, China and the presidential election on Tuesday, Sept. 23, at Claremont McKenna College's Athenaeum. The event is free and open to the public - although packed houses often mean late-comers are relegated to watching the speech on a video screen in a nearby building.

Fallows was raised in Redlands, California - technically a part of the 'Inland Empire' - before leaving to earn his bona fides as an elitist at places like Harvard, Oxford, the Washington Monthly and, worst of all, public radio.