Making a good thing even better: NPR
Jeff Jarvis wrote about how to improve NPR. Not the content, but the organization. He’s got some excellent ideas.
I love NPR’s programs. I wish they were on a radio station that interspersed new and diverse music with their stories. But like many NPR affiliates, mine is all day classical and (retch) opera. So I listen to a tiny number of programs and then turn it off. The jazz and other music I would like to listen to is only on at night, mostly late night.
Jarvis points out that NPR is not “radio” — it’s a network. While I agree completely, it’s also the case that a radio is easy to use and offers that wonderful bonus I can’t get from my iPod — serendipity. But not when it’s turned off.
I know, I know, I could “build my own” by downloading podcasts and putting them into a playlist. I’m sorry — that is too much work! I’m talking about in a car, spinning the dial, and finding something. Spur of the moment. Ad hoc. Spontaneous.
So I would add one thing to Jarvis’s list: Give us some radio stations we can actually listen to if we are younger than, like, 80 years old — and we hate opera.
Technorati tags: podcasting | radio | audiences
it’s also the case that a radio is easy to use and offers that wonderful bonus I can’t get from my iPod — serendipity. But not when it’s turned off.
I actually like Pandora (pandora.com), for finding radio-like serendipity in the musical sphere. I’ve discovered a number of artists whose styles are closer to the ones my ears appreciate through this streaming service.
But it doesn’t have a news component, which is something that I like about NPR’s general interest programs.
February 16, 2007 at 3:27 pmYes, I have used Pandora too. But I would really like the combination of audio stories (a la All Things Considered) and news and music. I would listen both in the car and while I’m working online.
February 16, 2007 at 3:36 pmI know, I know, I could “build my own” by downloading podcasts and putting them into a playlist. I’m sorry — that is too much work!
Sounds like something for NPR or its stations to provide for you - custom, on-demand podcast playlists.
February 18, 2007 at 4:50 am